Reply #3: Oil companies pass the buck for Gulf of Mexico spill

[ozymandius]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Oil executives braced for a second day of grilling by angry US lawmakers Wednesday over their failure to prevent a giant slick threatening environmental and economic calamity.

British oil giant BP has accepted responsibility for the cleanup of what could become the worst oil spill in US history, and is leading frantic efforts to stop an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil from spewing into the sea each day.

In a preview of Wednesday's hearing before a House of Representatives subcommittee and others scheduled in the coming weeks, key executives from BP, Halliburton and Transocean traded blame Tuesday at two Senate hearings examining the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers.

Operator BP said rig owner Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, was responsible for the failure of a giant valve system to stop the blast.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100512/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollution

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The strategy is obvious. Blame is dissipated after so many parties toss the hot potato of responsibility among themselves.