U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen: Head of government operations in the Gulf? Public relations man for BP? Or both?
Allen knows who is boss. He has explained that BP “owns the means of production” and that’s why it must stay in the driver’s seat.
The Obama administration charged Allen with overseeing efforts to stem the massive flow of oil from BP’s exploded Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf. But despite the widespread anger toward the oil giant, Allen has acted as an apologist and virtual spokesperson for BP.
Asked by CNN host Candy Crowley on May 23 whether he trusts BP, Allen said, “I trust Tony Hayward,” referring to the CEO of BP. “When I talk to him, I get an answer.”
Allen went on to say that he “has Hayward’s personal cell phone number,” a statement presumably intended to reassure the public. Nothing about Hayward and the corporation he steers is reassuring, however.
As BP’s Chief Executive, Hayward has defended BP with outrageous statements like this: “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.”
Nonetheless, Adm. Allen has soldiered on to promote BP. “They’re exhausting every technical means possible to deal with that leak,” Allen said about BP on May 24. “I am satisfied with the coordination that’s going on.”
Allen has also sought to protect BP from any criticism from within the U.S. government. In Houston, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the government might move against BP if the company failed to stem the leak. “If we find that they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we’ll push them out of the way appropriately,” he said.
But Allen dismissed Salazar’s statement as “more of a metaphor.” Even though Salazar is a long-time backer of big mining and oil interests, his mild statements offended Allen’s loyalty to BP’s bottom line.
