BP Says It Was Too Generous in its Settlement in the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

How is That Even Possible?

Last year the negligence of the BP oil company and its subcontractors resulted in the death of oil platform workers and the very large oil leakage into the Gulf of Mexico.  The event was a personal and economic and environmental catastrophe.

Now BP is saying its economic settlement was too generous.

BP has long taken issue with the formula created by Kenneth R. Feinberg, who oversees the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which is dispensing BP’s $20 billion compensation fund. Under the formula, settlements would generally be double the demonstrable losses from 2010, with money previously paid by the fund subtracted.

BP has been arguing that this “future factor” is too generous. That argument is revisited in its 29-page filing, pointing out the strong revenue figures for lodging in coastal tourism areas in the fall and spring, most surpassing figures from comparable times in 2009 and early 2010.

Well yes, the region is doing much better this year, no thanks to BP and yes the economic injury is easing. 

Meggan Haller for The New York Times

 The message The Dismal Political Economist has for BP is however,

“pay the money, keep quiet, and be thankful the peopole of the Gulf Coast and the United States is letting you operate in the Gulf at all.  You can never ever pay for the amount of emotional damage and ecological destruction your acts had, and your best strategy is to not even bring up the level of compensation."

Is that too difficult for  you BP, do we need to repeat it?