BP: Out of Government’s Favour

It’s not really surprising that the old „evil” philosophy of doing business at a corporate level is apparently still alive and kicking. Well, perhaps it’s a little surprising to BP, who probably thought themselves out of hot (and oily) water 2 years after the worst oil spill ever, the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

It’s not the first time that the company is facing financial repercussions long after the bad deed itself has been done. Back in ’05 the company’s Texas refinery exploded – apparently, due to technological oversights and various safety hazards. People have died and press had a field day with BP’s complete lack of corporal responsibility. Five years later (it took them FIVE years!) they agreed to some fines and settlements – and that was pretty much it.

Sure, since then BP has steadily climbed on the list of green companies, but did their business practices and overall profit-hungry entrepreneurship change much? Not really, as it’s now apparent. Deepwater Horizon caused untold damage to the ecosystem, but mostly smeared the yellow-green logo with that ugliest coat of paints, black of being guilty.

On November 16 of this year they finally admitted in court that they were indeed the guilty party in the catastrophe, and the American government swiftly (considering it’s already past election season, 2 weeks is a very modest delay) reacted by shutting down any government contracts, including those yet to come BP’s way, for an indefinite period of time. What this means is huge losses from being left out at the government-sponsored meal, to say nothing of the further damage to BP’s reputation.

Tough luck BP – 4.5 billion dollars in reparations and penalties is apparently not enough punishment, and your big brass will have to REALLY think about something more than the bottom line for once.

VOCABULARY

apparently – najwyraźniej
alive and kicking – dobrze się miewać
to be out of hot water – wybrnąć z opałów
oil spill – wyciek ropy naftowej
disaster – katastrofa
to face sth – stawać w obliczu czegoś
deed – czyn, uczynek
refinery – rafineria
to explode – wybuchnąć
due to – z powodu
oversight – tu: omyłka, niedopatrzenie
various – rozmaity
safety hazard – zagrożenie bezpieczeństwa
to have a field day – mieć używane, urwać się ze smyczy
corporate responsibility (CR) – odpowiedzialność korporacyjna
fine – grzywna
settlement – ugoda (powiązana z wypłatą odszkodowania)
steadily – stale
overall – ogólny
profit-hungry – łasy na zyski
entrepreneurship – przedsiębiorczość, sposób prowadzenia interesów
untold damage – niewypowiedziane szkody
to smear – usmarować, utytłać (np. w błocie)
coat of paint – warstwa farby, pokrycie farbą
guilty – winny
to admit – przyznać
the guilty party – winny (przestępstwa)
swiftly – szybko
condering sth – zważywszy, że coś…
modest – skromny
delay – opóźnienie
to shut down – zamknąć, tu: anulować
to come sb’s way – należeć się komuś, przydarzyć się komuś
indefinite – nieokreślony
loss – strata
to be left out of/at sth – zostać ominiętym/usuniętym skądś
tough luck – trudno, trudno się mówi
reparations – reparacje, odszkodowania
penalties – kary (tu: pieniężne)
punishment – kara
big brass – wierchuszka, szefowie
the bottom line – rachunek zysków i strat, podsumowanie