- 07/26/10 09:38 AM ET
A top Democrat expressed reservations on Monday toward BP's choice to replace outgoing CEO Tony Hayward with Managing Director Bob Dudley. Rep. Edward Markey (Mass.), a leading Democrat on energy and environmental issues who helms several committees on those topics, said he was hopeful that Dudley could change the culture at BP, but held out some skepticism.
"Well, Bob Dudley was part of the team all along. And in fact, he's the one who announced that they would have the relief well completed by July 27, which also happened to be the day when the quarterly financial reports of BP are due," Markey said on "The Early Show" on CBS. "That was too much of a coincidence, in terms of limiting liability, increasing the share value of BP."
Reports emerged over the weekend that the gaffe-prone Hayward had finally negotiated a deal to leave as the top official at BP. Those same reports suggested that BP was likely to name Dudley, a Mississippi native, as its next chief executive.
Markey said that Hayward "had to go" because of his work at the company, which the Massachusetts Democrat said was too focused on BP's bottom line, and not enough on the relief and cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
It was that culture that caused Markey some pause in fully endorsing Dudley.
"So I'm hopeful that Mr. Dudley will be more responsible, but a total change in culture of this company is necessary," he said on CBS.
"Ultimately, I think that many people in the Gulf of Mexico — and the United States — believe that BP has been much too interested in its own liability, and not the livability of the Gulf of Mexico," Markey said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
"Mr. Dudley now has to turn the page and move beyond the era that Mr. Hayward presided over," he added.
See the video of the CBS interview
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