BP, shortcuts never cut it!

BP p.l.c. has yet again been blamed for a massive oil spill. The last incident in 2006  was caused by the corrosion in one of  BP pipelines in Alaska which cause 270,000 gallons of crude oil to spread into the Alaskan tundra.  This last incident had very poor coverage and had given BP a successfully “greenwashed”¹ image whilst “maintaining environmentally unsound practices” ¹. But this time the spill in the Gulf of Mexico has had full media coverage and BP among other companies have been given the blame.  One of the causes of this oil spill was, cited by key government reports, “bad cement job, poor management by BP and its subcontractors and risky shortcuts.” ² thus proving once again that there really are no shortcuts in life. Had BP followed protocol and had not debased the structure, they could have avoided over $40 billion in fines, compensation and restoration costs, a cost that is constantly growing.  So could BP have avoided these costs had they been run in a more ethical fashion?

So the two main ethical concerns in this case are:

Is it ethical to complete a contract while debasing the material and the final product?

Is it ethical to market and project a “green” image of a company or product while partaking in practices that are environmentally unsound?

1. Monbiot, George (13 June 2006). “Behind the spin, the oil giants are more dangerous than ever”. The Guardian(London). Retrieved 26 April 2010.
2. http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/US-report-spreads-blame-BP-afp-4120032063.html;_ylt=Am_ahBremyRduS57_6n5wqnCzJpG;_ylu=X3oDMTFldWlsdXA3BHBvcwMxMARzZWMDbmV3c0h1YkFydGljbGVMaXN0BHNsawN1c3JlcG9ydHNwcmU-?x=0