In the midst of the worst environmental crisis in this nation's history, BP CEO Tony Hayward said he wanted his "life back."

Now, as he prepares to go before Congress today, Hayward is saying that he is "devastated" by the oil rig explosion that is now pumping as much as 60,000 barrels of oil per day in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the disastrous effects on the environment, the economic effects on industries such as tourism and fishing are massive.

Hayward is expected to tell Congress that the rig explosion "never should have happened."

This sudden bout of contrition is such a poor attempt at saving face that it's laughable. If Hayward was really as devastated as he claims to be, his company would have made better decisions before the explosion or come clean sooner about how much oil was spilling into the Gulf. The company would not have conspired to block media coverage, and Hayward would have avoided stupid comments like suggesting that cleanup workers who fell ill probably had food poisoning.

The AP writes:

Newly disclosed documents obtained by the AP show that after the Deepwater Horizon sank, BP made a worst-case estimate of 2.5 million gallons a day flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. That figure is far higher than the company had said publicly until this week, when the government released its own worst-case estimate of about that amount.

The undated estimate by BP, apparently made sometime last month, reflected the actual situation as it was understood by BP at the time, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, obtained the documents as part of an investigation into the oil spill and its aftermath. Grassley said it was not clear when exactly BP made the calculation. "Certainly Americans have a right to know that BP made these estimates, the date these estimates were determined and why they were not disclosed at that time," he said Wednesday.

The decisions by BP executives to ignore safety and other issues that may have prevented the explosion in favor of profits reflects a culture that values money more than lives. Let's not forget that 11 people were killed when the oil rig exploded.

Even yesterday's pledge by BP executives to place $20 billion in a fund to reimburse victims of the spill should have come before a meeting with President Barack Obama.

It sounds to me as if criminal charges are in order. The New York Times reported today that civil fines could run BP $280 million per day. Legal fees and criminal penalties could cost almost $63 billion.

The best way to penalize these corporate entities is to hit them in the pockets. If it is found guilty of criminal charges, BP could lose some of its government contracts as well. The Times reports that BP sold $1.6 billion worth of fuel and other supplies to the military last year.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee, said he expects Hayward to get "sliced and diced" by Congress today.

I hope they don't forget to take a few stabs at his pockets.