Dirty Energy Isn’t Cheap
Yesterday we learned that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was five times worse than first thought. The oil is spilling at a rate of 210,000 gallons of oil per day. That oil is now hitting the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Unlike what we were told, offshore drilling is not so technologically advanced that they can prevent oil spills. The failsafe mechansims meant to prevent the disaster did not work and drilling companies did not have experience with spills in the deep part of the ocean. The robots could not turn off the valves. The capture domes do not exist yet (BP is working on one, which may be available in 2 weeks). People are trying everything they can think of to contain the spill:
While BP prepared to drill a relief well and finished up the design and fabrication of a pollution dome system to capture the oil flow at it source, the company also began investigating lowering coiled tubing to douse the three oil leaks with chemical dispersants.
The leaks are in the rig’s mangled riser, a pipe that once connected the well on the ocean floor to surface equipment. Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said engineers believe the chemical might dissolve the oil and keep it from rising to the surface.
More than 100,000 gallons of the chemicals have been applied to the surface slick since the accident to help break up the spill. And on Wednesday, the Coast Guard conducted controlled burns to consume some of the oil on the Gulf’s surface.
The federal government has now declared the spill a “spill of national significance,” which means the navy and other federal resources will become available to help combat the environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf.
There is also a human cost. The explosion of the drilling rig killed 11 people. Just yesterday we learned that 2 coal miners were killed in a coal mine collapse in Kentucky, of course from a mine with numerous safety violations. These deaths are in addition to the 29 miners killed in West Virginia earlier in the month. That makes the recent energy death toll 42 people, just in one month.
The spill has perhaps halted plans (at least temporarily) to expand offshore drilling. Even the dirty hippies that read the Wall Street Journal now believe offshore drilling shouldn’t be expanded, by a 2:1 ratio.
I no longer care if conservatives believe in the science of global warming anymore. Switching to a clean energy economy is in the nation’s best interest. It will create jobs, since it will take research and investment to learn how to harness solar, wind and geothermal energy. Becoming our own producer of energy will also mean that we’re no longer dependent on unstable countries and regions to provide us with energy. Yes, it will take money to switch our economy but our current system is not free.
Tags: Deepwater Horizon, Energy, Environment, Oilpocalypse
“drill, baby, drill” – Sarah Palin
British Petroleum is responsible for all costs of cleanup and repair under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which was passed after the Exxon Valdez disaster. The ironic thing is, less than a year ago, when the government was trying to enact more effective safety measures, BP strongly opposed enhanced regulation due to the cost, preferring a voluntary set of safety measures instead. Due to their negligence and inaction and opposition to regulation, this spill cost BP in cleanup costs and lost profits a thousand times more than saftey measures would have cost.
Let that be a lesson for all you idiot conservatives out there. And speaking of idiot conservatives, to quote Bill Maher, if you have ever in your life shouted or said or typed “Drill Baby Drill,” then get your ass down to the Gulf Coast to help clean up your mess. That includes President Obama, who unwisely included expansion of drilling in a new energy proposal earlier this year.
There is no proof this oil spill exists. It is all a haox by Al Gore and “Big Nature”. The whole idea of “protecting the environment” is a scheme thought up by Pagan Socialist Kenyans.
Let’s just hope New Orleans gets a pass on this one. We know how this country reacts when a major city filled with minorities gets hit hard….. 2 months of fruitless outrage followed by the new season of Survivor.
oh, and i blame sarah palin for this.
just in time for crab season too
a.p.,
I’m waiting for the first wingnut to propose that Obama did it on purpose.
I heard this morning on the radio that they’re estimating $100M for the clean-up. I think that’s lowballing it.
I know BP is supposed to be liable but we’re going to be paying for it. BP will fight the fines, declare bankruptcy, whatever it takes to get out from the burdensome regulation.
These people look extremely foolish:
President Obama also looks extremely foolish. He pre-emptively gave in on offshore drilling without getting anything in return. He may not look as foolish as people who chanted “drill baby drill” but he’s in the same boat with them.
“Every asshole who ever chanted ‘Drill Baby Drill’ should have to report to the Gulf Coast today for cleanup duty.” Bill Maher
Newt Gingrich looks foolish. “Drill here, drill now, pay less.”
I think he did that as a compromise. The argument that “we have oil here, why not use it in addition to our other resources while we wean ourselves off of the middle east crap” makes sense to someone who is Vulcan like Obama.
Besides, if he had opposed it, what could he have used as a reason the Right would not have tried to shoot down with their Lie Guns? (.. lie guns also being hidden from the secret obama SS who wants to take all gun)
Remember, these people don’t think anything man can do can POSSIBLY hurt any part of the environment. And even if we could, it doesn’t matter because the rapture is coming soon and we “good christian americans” wont need the Earth anymore. Sadly, people in this country are SO self involved, or ignorant, or just plain crazy that unless the consequences already happen they don’t want to fix it.
I dont think anything effective will be done. How are our bridges coming since that collapse? i know New Orleans has been abandoned by all the “help” they were getting… MIssion Accomplished there! You KNOW republicans will try and use this as a reason to drill more somehow, and they will get their hordes of oil snorting hicks to follow them.
If this disaster happened on a Republican watch, the media and democrat operatives would be in full blame the administration mode.You have to know this to be true.
Also, why did the administration send in a paramilitary group to other oil rigs ? Do they suspect some sort of armed resistance, or is this some sort of new gestapo tactic we can look forward too.
fightingbluehen talking points for the day. Have fun with them. I have to go work with the illegals now.
If this happened during George Bush’s watch, Republicans would not have bothered to respond to the crisis for, I dunno, 4 days, and they would have bailed out their oil buddies, so the taxpayer would be on the hook for it.
And if the Gulf had stayed pristine and gas prices went down, Republicans would be crowing about their genius no matter who was president.
Democrats’ worst policies are the ones they let Republicans sucker them into.
Drill Here, Drill Now is a Republican idea – own it.
If this disaster happened on a Republican watch, the media and democrat operatives would be in full blame the administration mode.You have to know this to be true.
I’m glad you have things all worked out in your hypothetical world.
In previous disasters, Republican administrations were very slow to respond. Also, Bush did a lot of devastation to regulatory agencies – specifically the mine safety agency and the FEC.
This is Obomba’s Katrina. That fool called the environmental arguments against offshore drilling “tired debates”. This leak will to destroy lives and livelihoods. If it had been done by terrorists, we’d be invading another country right now, but because it was done by a corporation: nothing.
Why weren’t the U.S. defense forces called into help a week ago?
Obomba is incompetent. I am angry beyond belief this morning.
The Katrina analogy is not apt since Obama did respond to it as soon as it happened. So the incompetence charge doesn’t stick. But I agree with you that he is partly to blame since he included drilling in his energy program.
That fool called the environmental arguments against offshore drilling “tired debates”.
Sometimes triangulation doesn’t work out the way you intended. Maybe Obama will now rethink his centrist compulsions.
Oh, and by the way:
“U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil said Thursday its first quarter profits jumped 38 percent over the year-ago period, thanks to rising oil prices in the first three months of the year.
During the first three months of this year, Irving, Texas-based Exxon posted a profit of 6.3 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 4.55 billion in the same period last year.”
Notice the wingnuts inability to comment on th actual topic: dirty energy is not cheap.
Wingnuts are caught in a logic trap: If they blame Obama for not responding quickly or forcefully enough, they are calling for a socialist bailout of the oil industry.
Bush responded to Katrina as soon as it happened, too, just incompetently and too little and too late. Remember Brownie?
“Heck of a job, Barack”
The problem for the GOP is they can’t blame Obama for not responding quickly or forcefully enough, since he is responding quickly and forcefully, and they can’t attack him for Drill Baby Drill because their hands are just as dirty (pun intended) as Obama’s.
Bullshit, DD. He didn’t respond quickly or forcefully enough. He did nothing while the spill grew and grew and grew. Stop making excuses for this incompetence.
“The leak from the ocean floor proved to be far bigger than initially reported, contributing to a growing sense among some in Louisiana that the government failed them again, just as it did during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. President Obama dispatched Cabinet officials to deal with the crisis
Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice, worried that his livelihood will be destroyed. He said he did not know whether to blame the Coast Guard, the government or BP.
“They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels when I think they knew it was more. And they weren’t proactive,” he said. “As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_bi_ge/us_louisiana_oil_rig_explosion
“Heck of a job, Barack”
they can’t blame Obama for not responding quickly or forcefully enough, since he is responding quickly and forcefully, and they can’t attack him for Drill Baby Drill
Just you watch. You forget that Republicans are not constrained by facts. And they have the media to build the narrative they want.
No big surprise, offshore drilling is off again.
It’s definitely not true that Bush responded quickly to Katrina. He waited 3 days before flying over NO to take a look.
Well, by that standard of “response,” has Obomba been to LA?
“As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms.”
“Heck of a job, Barack”
I agree with DD that it will be hard for the GOP to blame Obama for Drill, Baby, Drill. That doesn’t mean that Luntz isn’t making a memo right now.
Stepping into the hornets nest…
Holy Distraction, Batman!
This DISASTER has nothing to do with “Drill-Baby-Drill” (one of the dumbest chants I heard in 2008, btw, among others), but rather gave a view of what could happen, given negligence, with additional platforms in the oceans. Speaking of negligence, by the way, has it been determined or only theorized if this was mechanical failure or human-error in not invoking some safety procedure to alleviate that pressure that led to this disaster?
All of the Gulf platforms pre-dated that stupid chant, let alone that many pre-dated lifetimes of many that participate on this blog. As cool and easy as it is to score points, it is 100% disingenious to pit this disaster on those fools whose future-energy-solution was focused completely on more drilling. There are parallels in supporting the cause, sure, but those fools aren’t any more responsible for what happened than anyone commenting or posting on this blog today are.
The responses to the disaster have been pitiful, but I have a hard time thinking any of this was on the level of a shrug, as many in the media and here imply. I think what is woeful is the obvious unpreparedness of just about everyone to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. Unfortunately, response-preparedness comes more from experience than it does a series of ‘what-ifs’. Well crafted theory is a good base to use, but in the case of any theory, when the reality hits, one small difference early on can lead to huge disparities at the end. I think response teams are trying to their extent to deal with this, but the lack of understanding of total scope to which they are facing is crushing them, as well as the people and animals in that area, and the environment. This response is ignorance to the literal definition of the word, but I don’t think it’s wanton desire to turn backs on the issue, as what I think is being implied here.
This is an effing environmental disaster to a magnitude we haven’t seen in how long, if ever? As far as we can tell, and I fully believe, there was no sabotage, there was no attempt in it to dirty anyone’s or any thing’s public image. What we are presented with right now is some kind of failure of either mechanical or human cause, or some of both and the magnnitude of the ensuing disaster. Eff the political points of either side, else risk it becoming the level of the truthies, seriously.
FWIW, while Jindal is right about some of the response, he also needs to STFU and get to work. People can blame later, and they most certainly will. The focus needs to be on stopping the leak and cleaning it up.
Republicans will figure out a way to work the oil spill into their campaigns. Rove 101, blame the other guy for your failures.
Remember we are talking about the same people who called for financial deregulation for 30 years, and when the meltdown finally came, blamed Democrats for not regulating enough, and are now back in Congress fighting bank regulation.
Um, yes, it’s related to ‘drill baby drill’. It’s related to that because increased drilling, dredging, and reliance on petroleum as a source of energy increases the risk that such disasters will occur. As we learned from Gil Scott Heron “”If you want perfection, if that’s what it takes / Then you can’t use people, don’t use people, you know people make mistakes.”
A1: You’re becoming as tiresome and unhinged as our conserva-trolls. Congratulations.
I think that the point of calling out the Drill Baby Drill crowd is to show just how shortsighted that particular call is.
There were few objections to the response to this disaster until the plume was ready to make landfall. Which demonstrates to me that the real original sin here is that people bought — hook line and sinker — the oil company propaganda that they can do this deep water drilling (or that they could go to places like ANWR) and do it completely safely. That the kind of blowout we see here and its consequences were not really possible, because they had all of this whizbang technology.
And now you are looking at the limitations of this whizbang technology. Even though the drilling and the rig technology is much better than it ever was, better technology may reduce that risk, but it never eliminates it. So when we take this back to the Drill Baby Drill crowd, how do you get that message about risk past all of that certainty? You don’t. And taxpayers and their environment stay at a very high risk because Americans get sold over and over again on solutions that never quite live up to the risk management advertised by all of that certainty.
You should google the Timor Seal Oil Spill. A spanking new deep water well and state of the art rig blew out AND caught fire in the Timor Sea (off the Australian coast) back in August. They had difficulties estimating the amount of oil being released at the well too but the spill area eventually reached about 9,000 square miles. More importantly — and a key bit of instruction — it took them 10 weeks to cap that well.
10 weeks people. 10 weeks and 4 or 5 tries to shut down that well. And that was from a relatively new well. This is the risk of deep and ultra deep water drilling. Too many people are way too willing to hand over our environment for this kind of risk.
As for the size of the leak — it was NOAA that discovered that BP was lowballing the flow and it was NOAA who raised the flag for a much bigger response. Once again, a lesson in the risk of just trusting the corporate interests involved here.
The response to this is certainly not “ignorance”, there is a massive effort by alot of people to overcome what we were all told WOULD NOT HAPPEN. Why would you ask the government to be prepared for the thing that oil companies sold Americans on? And it turns out that it was the government that discovered that the effort was undersized — based previously on the BP estimates.
Some months back there was a hearing at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about oil and gas drilling offshore in the US. A group called Sky Truth who has been watching impacts of oil spills all over the world via satellite images testified on the potential disaster (including some detail on the Timor spill). Mary Landrieu accused this group of lying to Americans and brushed off the Timor spill and fire as “these things happen”.
So they do. Which is ground zero of the entire problem.
Gee, Geezer, a few weeks ago you were saying that drilling off the east coast was fine and dandy with you because the likelihood of a spill was so small. Like your buddy Obomba who called environmental arguments against offshore drilling “tired debates”, you were flat-out wrong.
You’re becoming as much of an apologist for Obomba as the republicans were for Bush.
Katrina 2005 = BP Oil 2010 “Heck of a job, Barack”
Posted for the people interested in real information about this spill:
SkyTruth Blog. They have satellite imagery of the spill. This blog also has good info about the Timor spill.
And best of all — their post detailing their testimony in front of the Senate Committee complete with Mary Landrieu’s dismissive response.
Everyone relax, Obama has deployed SWAT Teams to the Gulf. That will solve everything.
Obomba lying on April 2, 2010:
“I don’t agree with the notion that we shouldn’t do anything. It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore.”
Reminiscent of the “Nobody could have predicted” that we heard again and again from the repubs.
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/04/28/obama-katrina-spill/
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse. “Heck of a job, Barack”
especially since Obama is in his 5th year as president. He has had SO much time to address every single problem with everything in the world. Both foreseeable and hypothetical. It isnt like there has been anything else going. A1 is right! it is EXACTLY the same thing. Im also sure the oil companies were upfront and honest about how their rigs were doing, Yes A1, oh sage of sages. With your infinite wisdom and well researched, fair opinions. This is Obama’s fault EXACTLY the same way Reagan deserved credit for the freeing of the Iran hostages. Or how the financial disaster in 2009 was his fault. FAIL.
and i cant WAIT for a1 to be elected president so every time a cloud obstructs the sun in my back yard i can go all teabag on him and blame all my problems on his failure as the Messiah.
You’re like an abused spouse, a.price. No matter how much this guy lies to you, you keep defending him.
Saying “Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs” was a lie. And “on April 23, three days after the rig caught fire, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama’s support for offshore drilling was unchanged.”
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse.
Some shrimpers are suing, and the law suit includes Halliburton.
All bets are off now.
“BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse.”
More absurdities. If price is like an abused spouse, what are you but a spurned lover?
A1, you jumped ship inside of a month. most of the administration policies haven’t even been fully implemented and cant yet be judged. All you are is a troll. Is the administration perfect? hell no.
Are you a fool for expecting every single desire of your be filled? and an even bigger fool for being so upset? YYYOOOOOUUUUP!
“Some shrimpers are suing, and the law suit includes Halliburton.
All bets are off now.”
If that is true FBH, and since it is you i dont expect it to be, maybe we can finally hamstring the evil empire of Darth Cheney
why would I make that shit up ?
More like a “lied to one too many times” lover, Geezer. Since Obomba keeps sending me e-mails asking for more money, I don’t think that I am the spurned one. 🙂
a.price: Obomba’s policy of constantly lying, trying to appease republickins, and selling out to corporations was implemented long ago.
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse.
You are wingnut and making shit up is SOP. We need to add the A1 rule to that which would include him in the making shit up category too.
But Halliburton is being sued, because they were contracted for a bunch of rig services, including cementing of the production well.
No idea why this means all bets are off, but hey, we’re back to the making shit up part of your post I guess.
was Obama’s secret strategy to make A1’s life difficult implemented around the same time his birth certificate was forged? It must suck to have no one take you seriously at all. Interesting you should gripe about more money. does someone with better archival finding skills than me have a gem from A1 about how we didn’t spend enough on the stimulus or HRC? i know it exists he was bitching then too. Why cant you man up and admit you just hate Obama and will find problems with everything to feed your rage? I fully admit will actively look for reasons to continue to be against the Right Wing. i dont have to do as many reality gymnastics as you do, but i still do it.
and FBH, i dont know. but you make up so much it is just default to assume you are lying. You also provided no link so im sure it was your Sarah Palin blow up doll that told you.
By the way, just imagine for a moment what the people along the coast are about to experience: destroyed eco-systems, destroyed livelihoods, and weeks, maybe months, of breathing in smelly carcinogen-laden air. Ultimately, the human death toll from sicknesses resulting from this catastrophe will easily exceed Katrina and may exceed 9/11 although it may not be apparent until 15 or 20 years from now when the cancers from breathing in aromatic hydrocarbons for a couple of weeks start showing up.
They’re already telling people to stay indoors.
But Obomba was willing to risk all of that on the east coast to satisfy his corporate benefactors. Did I mention that Exxon made $6 billion in profits last quarter? And the oil companies could spend any money to develop a fail-safe plan to stop an undersea oil leak?
Around here, I guess that pointing out Obomba’s irrefutable and documented lies is now “making stuff up.” And having the opinion that it is wrong to open up the east coast to off-shore drilling is verboten.
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse.
” Ultimately, the human death toll from sicknesses resulting from this catastrophe will easily exceed Katrina and may exceed 9/11 although it may not be apparent until 15 or 20 years from now when the cancers from breathing in aromatic hydrocarbons for a couple of weeks start showing up.”
…. you hope, or else it will be hard ot keep up this irrational angry teabaggery.
Yes, it is terrible and the foreign own BP who isnt beholden to very many US regulations (Bush’s Fault) will hopefully be held to account. Good thing insurance cartels can no longer deny people coverage for pre existing cancer brought on by a foreign own corporation’s gross negligence. It is too early for the DOJ to take action. Would you really want the admin to make a big show about going after them, then not be able to do anything because they jumped the gun and BP’s multi billion dollar lawyers get them off? is that what you want?
We had another mining disaster. It is time for industrial regulatory reform, but with a constant filibuster and a gutless democratic party what, pray tell do you expect the president to do? should he declare himself king of everything and make decrees and dictates? that is what you seem to want A1, a dictator who bends to YOUR will.
I don’t hope that at all, a.price, and you’re being despicable for implying that.
hilarious YOU should talk about disrespect and assigning dubious meaning to another commenter’s remarks.
you also constantly dodge the “so what would you have the president do” question. You clearly have no answer. just whine whine whine
Good god, a1, you reading comprehension is shit. I think it is pretty obvious that the collective we at Delaware Liberal disagree with Obama’s opening of the East Coast to drilling.
Idiot.
and he has since reversed that bad decision and closed the coastline for future drilling. I might point out that this disaster was from a site already built before Obama took office. SO a1’a irrational opposition to his own demons is moot.
He hasn’t closed the coastline for future drilling; he has put it “on hold.” Get your facts straight. And what would I like Obomba to do? Keep his campaign promises and stop lying, just for starters.
nemski, apparently anything that differs from cassandra_m’s understanding of the facts is “just making stuff up” and in violation of some “rule” in her mind.
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse.
nice little tag line campaign slogan there, slick. BUt that is a vague answer to my question. HOW with the republican taliban insurgency and a spineless democratic party…. aside from violating the constitution and grabbing power Bush-style do you expect to have your demands met?
(i know you wont answer)
Elect someone else in 2012. Having a gutless, lying, incompetent Democratic President hasn’t helped the progressive cause, just in case you haven’t noticed.
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse.
ok, how do you expect the new progressive dictator to accomplish your goals?
a.price @ 1:02 pm:
“… most of the administration policies haven’t even been fully implemented and cant yet be judged. All you are is a troll. Is the administration perfect? hell no”
Obomba capitulates to big pharma, the healthy profit insurance companies, Wall Street banksters, the MIC, the surveillance state and sells out the people who worked to get him elected at every opportunity.
To characterize duplicity as “not perfect”, is an extremely intellectually dishonest understatement.
You know who else calls the spill “Obama’s Katrina?” – Sean Hannity
Here’s Media Matters on the right wing talking point “Obama’s Katrina.”
Yes, it’s a horrible environmental disaster but not nearly the same as 1500 dead and many thousands more abandoned and forgotten people.
ah here is another lefTeabag who has nothing to bring to the table as far as fixes to their gripes. You guys are tea-baggers because you complain and complain and complain and when asked how you propose it be fixed you say “elect someone else” which amounts to “let someone else worry about it”
You just wallow in your conspiracy theories which started within a month of the inauguration. S’amatter didnt get the million dollars you dreamed Obama promised you personally? Delcrat and A1 are both totally useless trolls with nothing substantive to offer.
UI, remember ANYONE who dies ANYWHERE near the effected areas in the next 30 years will be Obama’s fault in A1 and Delcrat’s (and all the other Bagz) reality.
Unfortunately, if they can’t stop it soon, this will probably end up with more than 1,500 dead in the long run. And the environmental disaster is almost beyond imagination.
“It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills.”
President Obomba, April 2010
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse
“It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills.”
President Obomba, April 2010
generally…. seems like he didnt say “i promise you, A1, oil rigs NEVER cause spills EVER!” it was bad timing, but that tactic is pure teabaggery.
Agreed, Obama’s statement was foolish in the extreme. This post is criticizing him for this. Many commenters as well talk about his triangulation and how it wasn’t necessary and now he’s in the company of the drill baby drill fools.
Agreed it’s a disaster, and it may end up being one of the worst in the history of the U.S. Repeating Hannity’s lies is just wrong. There was no waiting for the response, the Coast Guard and other resources were available right away, as is detailed in the Media Matters link.
I think part of the problem is inadequate regulations for the deepwater operations. However, the industry assured lawmakers they knew what they’re doing (though as Cass showed, others thought differently). The safety mechanisms they had work in less deep water, so I’m assuming BP thought it was safe. They were wrong, of course.
I’m not sure where you’re getting your 1500 dead number. Fisheries, birds and the marshlands will see a huge impact and many people may lose their jobs but I don’t see a direct correlation to deaths of people.
Obama has not issued any new permits yet. This was an existing well. I’m not sure what more his administration is expected to do. They made resources available right away, but BP is the owner of the rig. It wasn’t until yesterday that the full extent of the leak was actually known.
they are expected to override due process and the constitution so everyone in the world is fully satisfied 100%
I don’t think there’s anything that the Obama administration could have done to prevent this tragedy or to stop the leak earlier. The fault was with BP and the equipment.
I think the questions we’ll need to ask when this is over are:
– How did this happen?
– What was the response?
– What did BP do before and after the explosion? Could they have prevented a worse disaster with different actions?
– Could it have been better/faster/more efficient?
– Were there barriers in the response that should not be there?
– Do we need stronger oversight of offshore drilling operations? Were the current laws inadequate?
Plus more.
We have to keep in mind that the initial response was to save the lives of the people who worked on the rig.
The technology to drill from platforms in the deeper waters far surpassed technology for cleaning up spills, or even acknowledging that one could occur. To my mind it is nothing more than “Titanic” thinking. Unsinkable, so no need to worry about lifeboats. Talked to my sister in NOLA last evening. There has been a foul, sickening stench in the city for a day and people are getting sick.
Life in the Gulf as we have known it, is dead.
Katrina redux:
“The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP, which was leasing the drilling rig that exploded in flames on April 20 and sank two days later. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead.
The Department of Homeland Security waited until Thursday to declare that the incident was “a spill of national significance,” and then set up a second command center in Mobile. The actions came only after the estimate of the size of the spill was increased fivefold to 5,000 barrels a day.
The delay meant that the Homeland Security Department waited until late this week to formally request a more robust response from the Department of Defense, with Ms. Napolitano acknowledging even as late as Thursday afternoon that she did not know if the Defense Department even had equipment that might be helpful.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/01gulf.html
People are getting sick over the fumes. It is going to get worse. Imagine living next to a boiling vat of roof tar. That is what the air is going to be like soon. Volatile aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene are powerful carcinogens. Can they evacuate?
The pictures of the birds make me want to cry.
“Heck of a job, Barack”
BP Oil 2010 = Katrina 2005, only worse