Spintested: 05/23/10

Gulf Oil Spill: Salazar Threatens To 'Push' Out BP, But Offers No Terms Or Deadlines

Sunday, May 23, 2010

And, the only reason to use dispersant is for covering up the real extent of this disaster. To sink the oil, try to keep it off the coasts because if the People actually see it, that will be the end of offshore drilling. The dispersant is toxic; even Great Britain has banned its use. When the outcry got loud enough, Obama's EPA told BP to find another, less toxic dispersant. Not "don't use any", but "find another". BP said, "Stuff it". What's Obama's response? He's "running out of patience" - I predict he'll have run out of patience about the time that well runs out of oil.

If Louisiana's industries are 1) oil, gas, chemicals, and 2) fishing and tourism, and fishing and tourism is destroyed, they're going to have to increase offshore drilling to make up the state's lost revenues.

I'm not saying BP is intentionally not plugging the well, but an argument can be made that they would have a motive.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Gulf Oil Spill: Salazar Threatens To 'Push' Out BP, But Offers No Terms Or Deadlines

BP has a vested interest in getting that well capped ASAP as they are liable for the environmental damage that will be caused.

==========================

Actually, they don't (have a vested interest in getting it done ASAP) and they are only liable for $75 million.

An argument can be made that by destroying the entire region ecologically, BP & all pro-drilling interested parties (politicians included) can & will push for an increase in offshore drilling increase, "since it's all ruined anyway".

We've already seen Mary Landrieu make a pitch for more drilling the very day after this disaster began. Obama hasn't shut down BP's other operations in US waters (Atlantis is potentially a worse nightmare than Deepwater Horizon and is still operating). Obama also hasn't revoked the drilling permits that were handed out AFTER Obama announced he was suspending new permits.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Gulf Oil Spill: Cleaning Wetlands May Be Impossible, Scientists Say

White House in Denial; Public Wants Real Action on BP Oil Disaster NOW

Rayne's Top 11 Things That Obama Needs To Do Now!:

1) Obama needs to use that g0dd@mned unitary executive power he’s been clinging to and declare a state of emergency in federal waters along the Gulf of Mexico, using an Executive Order. This is now an international situation, not just an American one, because the oil will eventually end up in the North Atlantic.

2) Declare BP in violation of its lease and kick them off the site. Threaten to seize all American assets of BP-America immediately if they do not assist in setting up a claims system which will be administered and overseen by the U.S. and paid by BP. (Hire all those poor Sallie Mae folks who were going to lose their jobs because of student loan reform for this purpose. /snark)

KEEP READING
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Robert Gibbs Defends White House On Oil Spill Response

The U.S. government will move aside BP from the operation to try to halt the Gulf of Mexico oil spill if it decides the company is not performing as required in its response to the well leak, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Sunday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/23/gulf-oil-spill-salazar-th_n_586639.html
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Robert Gibbs Defends White House On Oil Spill Response

On NBC's Nightly News just now, they just showed shrimpers amid the red goo "out for a last run".
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Robert Gibbs Defends White House On Oil Spill Response

Obama has not taken the steps that one would expect any pro-environmental president to take in this situation. He hasn't curtailed BP's other very risky operations in US waters, nor has he revoked the drilling permits issued after he had announced he was suspending the issuance of new permits. He also is behind the use of dispersants, even this most toxic one (Corexit), which is all about hiding the truth.

He has had the live feed since the day it happened, and has let BP l!e about the quantity of oil that is gushing, and letting BP keep independent scientists and observers away. It's not idle curiosity, but vital to making determinations as to protecting the coastlines and preparing for clean-up.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Robert Gibbs Defends White House On Oil Spill Response

"US Military Mobilized To Assist Oil Spill Cleanup" means that the Navy sent some equipment.
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Obama Talks LeBron James Free Agency During Marv Albert TNT Interview

Our president works well past midnight most week night on briefing papers and...meeting(s) prep.

=====================================

Where did you get this idea from?
About Basketball
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BP: Mile-Long Tube Collecting Less Oil Than Before; Obama Administration Officials Dispatched To Gulf

I think your ability to reason is being held hostage to, 1) a misguided sense of loyalty to politicians who aren't what you think they are, 2) overall ig.no.rance about the subject itself (you're not alone in that boat), 3) specific ig.no.rance with regard to propaganda and large-scale crowd control, and 4) a naive desire to want to believe and trust that there are grown-ups driving this bus.

Obama has not taken the steps that one would expect any pro-environmental president to take in this situation. He hasn't curtailed BP's other very risky operations in US waters, nor has he revoked the drilling permits issued after he had announced he was suspending the issuance of new permits. He also is behind the use of dispersants, even this most toxic one (Corexit), which is all about hiding the truth.

He has had the live feed since the day it happened, and has let BP l!e about the quantity of oil that is gushing, and letting BP keep independent scientists and observers away. It's not idle curiosity, but vital to making determinations as to protecting the coastlines and preparing for clean-up.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

BP: Mile-Long Tube Collecting Less Oil Than Before; Obama Administration Officials Dispatched To Gulf

I think you need to read it thoroughly, & start using your mind & reasoning skills:

April 20 - [T]the administration has continuously anticipated and planned for a worst-case scenario.

How does that square with this on April 29 & May 1 & May 19:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100429/NEWS03/100429419

http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=2146

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/19/gulf-oil-spill-louisiana_n_582796.html

Once the oil's in the water, the only way to keep it from the wetlands, the coast period, is to surround it with booms & burn it off. While not environmentally friendly, burning's certainly more ecologically healthy than using Corexit - The only reason for using a dispersant is to hide it, send it beneath the surface so that it can't be seen by the media & the People.

After enough protests, Obama's EPA finally told BP it had 24 hours to find another dispersant, less toxic (Obama wants to hide it, too, apparently) and 72 hours to start using it. BP then told the EPA to "take a hike, we're sticking with Corexit". http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/bp_is_sticking_with_its_disper.html

The WhiteHouse has had the live feed from day one of this catastrophe & has let BP continue to l!e about the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf.

Those are just 3 on a long list of failures by this administration in this clusterfvck of a disaster.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

I believe all parties involved have NO idea how to stop this flow, which could have possibly been ebbed if things were not deregulated in the first place

==============================

Deregulation, overall, is a problem. But what happened here went beyond deregulation -- The few regulations that were in place, the government did not enforce.

Mis-, mal- and non-feasance took place here, it began years ago, and continues today in the Obama MMS. Still. Obama suspended the issuance of new drilling permits after the explosion and MMS has continued issuing them. Obama's response to the criminal conspiracy operating out of MMS is to make two departments out of it, separating out the issuance of drilling permits from the inspections. That's madness, and it won't have any affect on what caused this.

Everything else you've said, yes, I agree.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

Whether it happened under Bush's watch (and it did) no longer matters because Obama chose to block all investigations and prosecutions into that administration's activities.

By doing that, Obama (for all intents and purposes) was certifying that what went on wouldn't be going on, and that it was all now his responsibility. Obama would make it all better. What we're finding out is that Obama has continued Bush's policies throughout all of the government. It's not that he hasn't gotten to it yet -- He's rubber-stamped and is continuing what Bush and Cheney did.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

==5 Reasons Why You Won't See The Worst Of The Spill

The press has been repeatedly forbidden to enter impacted areas by the Coast Guard, BP, or the Fish & Wildlife Service. I was on the ground in the Gulf, and trying to get the story from one of the fishermen contracted to work with BP was like asking them if they’d like a root canal on the spot. Word is that cleanup workers are told if they talk to press, they’re fired. And then there are the toxic chemical dispersants, which plays the biggest role in masking the extent of the disaster’s damage by breaking the oil up and spreading it out — at who knows what cost.==

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/22/5-reasons-you-wont-see-the-worst-of-the-gulf-oil-spill/

So much for transparency.

You can not have a healthy robust democracy without a fully informed electorate.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

Then by your same logic, Bush didn't do anything wrong, it was Cheney or Gale Norton, et al.

The buck stops at the Oval Office because that is who has been hired to manage the departments of government. MMS is under the president's authority. If there is mis-, mal- or nonfeasance going on (and it appears that there was all 3), that's the president's responsibility.

Whether it happened under Bush's watch (and it did) no longer matters because Obama chose to block all investigations and prosecutions into that administration's activities. By doing that, Obama (for all intents and purposes) was certifying that what went on wouldn't be going on, and that it was all now his responsibility. Obama would make it all better. What we're finding out is that Obama has continued Bush's policies throughout all of the government. It's not that he hasn't gotten to it yet -- He's rubberstamped and is continuing what Bush and Cheney did.

I don't know what your story is, jmpurser, and why you hold Obama to a different standard than you would hold Bush or any other president, but loyalty to Obama isn't the same as loyalty to the nation and your own well being. That's true for all of Obama's (& Bush's, & Democrats' & Republicans') most ardent supporters. Stop supporting your 'team' and start supporting the nation's and your own best interests -- That's the real allegiance of a patriotic American/human being.
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

The Deepwater Horizon rig is not in international waters. It is 48 miles from the Louisiana coast, and is in the US's outer continental shelf* and considered part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the US.

*'Outer continental shelf' refers to all submerged lands, its subsoil, and seabed that belong to the United States and are lying seaward and outside of the states' jurisdiction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Continental_Shelf
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge?

Obama Sheltered BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig from Regulatory Requirement

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19027
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

Directs the President to designate areas for Area Committees within six months after enactment of this Act. Sets deadlines for implementation of related measures.

Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to ensure that vessels designed and built to replace buoy tenders are equipped with oil skimming systems that complement the vessels' primary mission of servicing navigation aids.

Requires the President to determine the quantities of oil and hazardous substances that may be harmful to the environment as well as to public health or welfare.

Permits the issuance of coastwise certificates to not-for-profit oil spill response cooperatives whose foreign ownership is not more than 50 percent.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d101:HR01465:@@@D&summ2=m&
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to establish a National Response Unit at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to: (1) compile a list of oil spill removal resources, personnel, and equipment worldwide; (2) coordinate use of private and public personnel and equipment in worst case discharges; (3) administer Coast Guard strike teams and provide technical assistance; and (4) review and keep area contingency plans. Requires the same Secretary to establish in each Coast Guard district a Coast Guard District Response Group.

Establishes an Area Committee of presidentially-appointed Federal, State, and local agency personnel for each area designated by the President. Requires each Area Committee to submit an Area Contingency Plan for the President's approval.

Directs the President to issue regulations requiring an owner or operator of a tank vessel or facility to submit for presidential approval a worst case discharge response plan. Requires him to review promptly and periodically any response plan for an onshore facility which could reasonably be expected, because of location, to cause significant and substantial environmental damage with a discharge. Requires periodic removal drills. Denies any Federal liability for damages arising from actions or omissions relating to a response plan.

KEEP READING
About Gulf Oil Spill
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

"The law prevents the government from just taking over", Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said. "After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents – including paying for all cleanup – with oversight by federal agencies".

This is not true.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 makes oil companies FINANCIALLY responsible, but in no way requires them to be in charge or even involved in dealing with accidents or clean-up.

Subtitle B alone parks this FUBAR directly at the Oval Office:

Subtitle B: Removal - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) to require the President to ensure effective and immediate removal of a discharge, and mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of discharge, of oil or hazardous substances into the Exclusive Economic Zone or onto adjoining shorelines or in any way threatening natural resources under exclusive Federal management authorization. Requires the President to direct all Federal, State, and private actions in the event of an actual or potential discharge which is a substantial threat to the public health or welfare. Exempts from liability, with certain exceptions, any person acting pursuant to the National Contingency Plan or as otherwise directed by the President. Requires the Plan to establish procedures for: (1) removing a worst-case discharge or threat; and (2) coordinating the activities of Coast Guard strike teams and specified others. Requires revision and republication of the Plan by a certain date.

KEEP READING
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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