BP chief apologizes for "small people" remark
WASHINGTON, June 16 |
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg on Tuesday apologized for speaking "clumsily" by referring to those hurt by his company's oil spill as "small people."
"I spoke clumsily this afternoon and for that I am very sorry," Svanberg said in a statement, after remarks he made following a White House meeting with President Barack Obama earlier on Wednesday drew widespread ridicule and condemnation.
"What I was trying to say -- that BP understands how deeply this affects the lives of people who live along the Gulf and depend on it for their livelihood -- will best be conveyed not by any words but by the work we do to put things right for the families and businesses who've been hurt," Svanberg said.
After meeting Obama, the BP executive, who is Swedish, apologized for the oil spill and tried to convey his concern for those affected by the environmental disaster.
"I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies who don't care. But that is not the case in BP. We care about the small people," Svanberg told reporters. (Reporting by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Alan Elsner)
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It is arrogant for the American media to be harping on this linguistic gaffe… most reporters in the US are so ignorant and uneducated they don’t even speak a second language.
The reality is the purpose of a large corporation is to maximize profit, meet the needs of its customers, satisfy stakeholders and grow. Compassion is not a trait of a large corporation.
The problem with Big Polluter is not the broken English of its CEOs but their broken promises to the community. The problem is their single-minded desire for profit above all else including the health of the environment it works in.
The fact that Big Polluter has the worst safety record in the industry only underscores what they really care about.
Big Oil for decades now have caused massive oil disasters (not to be confused with a spill) throughout the world. From Central to South America, to Africa, Asia and parts of Europe.
And their response to this issue has always been to payoff the right politicians and if that fails to work dole out a few dollars to the community.
Twenty billion dollars to the communities of the Gulf Coast may seem like a lot of money, but how can you even think of putting a price tag on an ecosystem which has taken millenniums to develop.
When America decides to no longer act like a Third world country regarding its energy policy, and decide they no longer want Mega Wealthy Foreign Oil corporation to control its energy supply, then maybe Big Polluter will no longer see us as ‘small people’.
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