The Atlantic – Obama’s BP Oil Spill Commission Gets It Wrong

Obama’s BP Oil Spill Commission Gets It Wrong

A few weeks ago, when the Presidential Commission on the Gulf Oil Spill announced that the Macondo blowout was NOT the result of decisions that BP made trying to save money, I was surprised. Much of the reporting we’ve seen has suggested that cost-cutting decisions on the over-budget well contributed to the disaster. But there was Fred Bartlit, chief counsel for the Commission, saying, “to date, we have not found a single instance where human beings made a conscious decision to favor dollars over safety.” A Wall Street Journal blog said he “all but acquitted BP of the gravest charge it faced.”

The Atlantic
11/24/10