Shoulda Coulda Woulda
by Khan
"What would you have done to prevent the spill?" seems to be a prevalent theme in the questions from committee members thus far. Rep. Waxman probes enough to produce specific problems with BP’s well that the other executives assert would not exist if they were in charge–"casing design", for example.
The executives seem to be trying to demonstrate an awareness of the operational concerns with BP’s well that will comfort the public into believing that Deepwater would not have occured under their watch. As Rep. Barton points out, though, this kind of shoulda coulda woulda talk sounds an awful lot like Monday morning quarterbacking.
Coupled with almost unanimous praise for U.S. drilling regulations in answers to Rep. Upton’s questions (asking the execs to grade U.S. regulations in comparison to other governments)–praise that seems disingenous considering the clear regulatory superiority that countries near the North Sea hold–the oil executives are determined to emerge from this crisis without any new regulation.