Watching ExxonMobil, the company behind the Exxon Valdez oil spill, respond to the BP disaster is nothing short of amazing.
ExxonMobil's chief spin merchant Ken Cohen has gone out of his way to distance Exxon Mobil from BP in this posting on the company blog.
Cohen writes: "ExxonMobil and others have, over the course of many years, developed and implemented procedures and equipment that have proved very effective in safely managing our offshore wells. What we do know is that when you properly design wells for the range of risk anticipated; follow established procedures; build in layers of redundancy; properly inspect and maintain equipment; train operators; conduct tests and drills; and focus on safe operations and risk management, tragic incidents like the one in the Gulf of Mexico today should not occur."
This is from the company that succeeded in getting the US Supreme Court to slash the additional amount it was originally ordered to pay Alaskans harmed by the 1989 Valdez oil spill from the original $5 billion to $500 million. The environmental damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill are still being felt 21 years after the oil started spilling into Prince William Sound, mostly because of the unfavorable weather, the rocky coves, and what many say was the slow response of Exxon in cleaning up the spill which all made the environmental disaster even worse.
And to think ExxonMobil has the temerity to seize the moral high ground from BP?
As I pointed out in a blog entry earlier this year, oil companies have a shocking reputation because they are secretive, sneaky and not transparent. BP is only one example.
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