Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Oil spills and how it could affect the environment
Oil spills and how it could affect the environment
Effects of bp oil spill 2018
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Oil spills and how it could affect the environment
According to BP website (“BP at a Glance,” n.d.), “BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.” Currently, they are the world’s third largest oil company and the largest oil and gas producer in the United States (Hoover’s, Inc., 2012). Prior to 2010, BP attempted to brand itself as an environmentally friendly company by expanding its markets into alternative energies, such as wind and solar. On April 20, 2010 a BP-licensed oil rig located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and killed 11 people (Kinver, 2011). In addition to the people killed, the oil spill released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf (Kinver, 2011). At the time, the effect on the environment, people, and BP were not fully realized. It is known that the Gulf of Mexico is home to many different types of wildlife including shrimp, fish, and pelicans. Although it is still too early to measure the full impact of the spill, scientists are doing their best to study it. Some conclude that the long-term effects could be devastating while others figure that it will not be as bad as originally speculated (Kinver, 2011). In addition to the wildlife, the people of the Gulf area experienced great loss as a result of the oil spill. Many of the residents rely on the fishing industry either directly or indirectly. Since the fishing industry took a hit, the people and towns suffered as well. In fact, many of the people have left and businesses shutdown (Dymond, 2012). The oil spill of April 20, 2010 was the worst in U.S. history (“BP p.l.c.,” 2012). While BP learned many valuable lessons from t... ... middle of paper ... ...rieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17186786 Gulf of Mexico Restoration. (n.d.). Retrieved on April 7, 2012, from www.bp.com Hoover’s, Inc. (2012). BP p.l.c. Overview. Retrieved April 7, 2012, from Hoover’s database. Jennings, M. (2010). What bp teaches us about ethics, risk, and business management. Corporate Finance and Review, 15 (2), 38. Kinver, M. (2011, April, 19). BP oil spill: The environmental impact one year later. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13123036 Raymond, M. A. and Tanner, J. (n.d.). Principles of marketing. Retrieved from http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/1.0/principles-marketing Vranica, S. (2010, June 7). BP steps up bid to fix image: Company readies series of tv spots to address its response to gulf oil spill. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from ABI/Inform Global
The purpose of this research paper was to investigate the news media’s depiction of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The coverage provided by the newspapers was compared to that of scientific journals to access their validity and insight. The reactions the coverage evoked on the public were also studied. The paper specifically addressed the media’s portrayal of the oil company versus that of environmental groups. It was found that the news media did not include the benefits the oil company had had on the people and economy of Alaska. It was also found that up until 1989, many Alaskans were opposed to environmental groups. Next, the paper followed the role the media played on the public’s emotions and subsequent government policy. In addition, the use of exaggerated statistics in the wake of the spill are examined and corrected. Finally, the debate over the recovery of the area is tackled. And while the debate remains open, the apparent discrepancies in data are discussed.
Ethical issues in this case are the impact on tourism industry of Gulf of Mexico and its beaches, unemployment around area because of closure of business, wildlife and the environment destruction and concerned with human health and post incident trauma. It has been almost year but world is still recovering from the devastation of disastrous oil spill. It destroyed the environment and wildlife all over the place and its total impact is still unknown. Environmental impacts may be noticeable for years to come.
In my opinion, BP's response to the oil spill wasn't the best. Plus their spokesperson Tony Hayward's comments did little to help the situation. The response should have been about damage limitations. Hayward's responses made the company seem aloof and unconcerend about the environmental damage being done. When they gave an amout of barrels that were leaking into the ocean, they gave the wrong amount which hurted their credibility. They deflected the blame for the accident. BP would call the oil spill the "Gulf of Mexico oil spill" while the rest of the world called it the "BP oil spill." They might have took the blame but they said it wasn't their accident however they would take responsibility to clean it up even though it wasn't their fault. I think the fact that they used social media to show show updates and progress was a smart move since it is probably now the biggest media median. However, everything else was not the best way to handle this whole situation.
Green washing: The disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. In order for big companies to stay on top of the market today, they are forced to think of advertising strategies to help their public image and advertise their product. Over the years the system has become very complex and also very questionable. Companies are willing to lie, change their logo, and sometimes even their company name just to keep their name and image clean in front of the public just to make sure that they are making their money. Green washing helps this by advertising to the public that they are environmentally supportive and responsible. Most people that are into buying “green products” do not even realize that the company they are buying from is green washing in some sort of way just so that they can attract attention to the public. Green washing companies may advertise that they are “eco-friendly”, but when it comes down to it, the facts hidden behind the curtains beg to differ. Just like in the green washing video we watched in class, the companies may look great compared to the worst companies, but that does not mean what they are doing is still productive for our environmental movement. One company that has been notorious for their green washing efforts for the past couple of decades is the Oil/energy company: British Petroleum a.k.a. Beyond Petroleum. They are one of the world’s largest leading oil companies who has also becoming a large energy supplying company with presence in petrochemicals, gas, and solar divisions. Over the past twenty years BP has been the cause of several deadly disasters in the oil business in the U.S. and around the world. Despite their green washing effor...
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases: 2011 custom edition (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
This is not the first time that BP is at fault. They have had criminal convictions in places such as Endicott Bay in Alaska, Texas City and Prudhoe Bay. Jeanne Pascal was a part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was assigned to watch over BP. Pascal was watching over companies such as BP that were facing debarment. Under her watch, BP was charged with four federal crimes. Over the past twelve years, Pascal’s seen BP patterns as misconducts. She attempted to warn the government about BP’s safety and environmental issues that would most likely lead to another disaster. While she was watching over BP, the company misinformed and misled her about things that resulted to the felonies that they have committed. Sensing that some things were not right about the company, she presented a case of their unsafe working environments.
Verschoor, CMA, Curtis C. "Ethics: Do The Right Thing." Strategic Finance (2006). Retrieved on 18 September 2006 .
BP was founded in 1908 under the name Anglo-Persian Oil Company. They changed their name to British Petroleum in 1954 and merged with Amoco in 1998. (BP Public Website, 2010) “The Texas City Refinery is BP’s largest and most complex oil refinery... It was owned and operated by Amoco prior to the merger of BP and Amoco.” (Michael P. Broadribb, 2006) Throughout their history, there have been a number of accidents that have been caused by negligence and disregard of safety precautions. Unfortunately many lives have been cut short or seriously injured as a result. My research will focus on the 2005 Texas City Oil Refinery Explosion. I will attempt to look into the ethical implications that surrounded this disaster before and after the event and suggest what BP could have done to prevent the incident then and in the future.
The Exxon Valdez and the BP oil spill were caused by different disasters but had just as great of effects. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill began to reek havoc on the Pacific Ocean. The oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, left from Valdez, Alaska and was headed for Los Angeles, California. The tanker ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska. After six hours of being grounded, the Exxon Valdez spilled about 10.9 million gallons of oil (53 million gallons aboard). The BP oil spill occurred a little differently. On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded and caused the largest marine oil spill in history. The platform sank about 5,000 feet underwater. The BP oil spill poured 4.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. These oil spills are largely compared but were cause by completely different events. They had similar effects/damage, however.
In the three months that it took to finally put a stop to the leak, 4.9 million barrels of oil were released into the ocean. The spill caused considerable damage to marine and wildlife habitats and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. The White House energy advisor, Carol Browner, goes as far as to say that the Deepwater oil spill is the “worst environmental disaster the US has faced”. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has had an extremely negative effect on the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem. Oil spreads across the gulf, contaminating any living organism that comes into direct or indirect contact with it.
Winston A, 2010, Five Lessons from the BP Oil Spill, Harvard Business Review, accessed 1 April 2014,
“ Effects of Oil Spills on Marine and Coastal Wildlife” Holly K. Ober. WEB. 19 May 2014
On a Monday afternoon, A couple of friends and I drove about forty-five minutes to El Dorado to see a movie. A movie in which we didn’t know anything about. None of us had even seen the trailer. I sent my friend a link to the movies that were showing at the cinema in El Dorado, and she had chosen Deepwater Horizon solely on the fact she liked the actors that had been cast for the movie. A few of these actors included Mark Wahlberg and Kate Hudson. Deepwater Horizon, as I came to find out on the car ride there, is about the most devastating oil spill in United States history. Since this event occurred only roughly six years ago, I recognized it after my friend called it the BP oil spill. Growing up in south Arkansas, I know many people that work on oil rigs so the spill was something that came close to home. The movie portrays the events leading up to the rig explosion and the aftermath concerning the people aboard the rig.
2. How should BP have handled an external environmental analysis ties and what environmental changes and trends (opportunity and threats) might they have discovered?
12) Brad A. Andres (1997) The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Disrupted the Breeding of Black Oystercatchers. The Journal of Wildlife Management. Vol. 61, no. 4 pp. 1322-1328