Thread: Obama's bumbling of the oil spill

Originally Posted by Mrs. M

Even if I didn't have family and friends affected by the leak, I'd still expect them to get it done faster than they're doing. .

There is already 11 dead men, Mrs. M. And any attempts to stop the leak will be dangerous and must be done with all due caution. This is no time for heroics.

The bigwigs were playing the blame game in front of congress. And there is probably plenty of blame to go around. In the end, it is quite likely that it was one incompetent dude in charge of operations trying to cut corners to get things done faster that caused the initial explosion that killed those men.

Originally Posted by hairballxavier

There is already 11 dead men, Mrs. M. And any attempts to stop the leak will be dangerous and must be done with all due caution. This is no time for heroics.

The bigwigs were playing the blame game in front of congress. And there is probably plenty of blame to go around. In the end, it is quite likely that it was one incompetent dude in charge of operations trying to cut corners to get things done faster that caused the initial explosion that killed those men.

In these kinds of accidents, its never "one incompetent dude." Its almost always one incompetent dude who gets scapegoated, but that dude was hired in the first place for a reason, and the reason might be that competent dudes refused to do the job in an unsafe manner.

Originally Posted by Bearman

The point of the post wasn't enviro-impact per se. The point was, they were excused, by this administration, from obtaining the legally required permits.




The Minerals Management Service, or M.M.S., also routinely overruled its staff biologists and engineers who raised concerns about the safety and the environmental impact of certain drilling proposals in the gulf and in Alaska, according to a half-dozen current and former agency scientists.

Those scientists said they were also regularly pressured by agency officials to change the findings of their internal studies if they predicted that an accident was likely to occur or if wildlife might be harmed.

Under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Minerals Management Service is required to get permits to allow drilling where it might harm endangered species or marine mammals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is partly responsible for protecting endangered species and marine mammals. It has said on repeated occasions that drilling in the gulf affects these animals, but the minerals agency since January 2009 has approved at least three huge lease sales, 103 seismic blasting projects and 346 drilling plans. Agency records also show that permission for those projects and plans was granted without getting the permits required under federal law.



BP gave more money to candidate obama than anyone. I wonder, if any of these facts were about candidate or President Bush, what the overall reaction would be.

OK so given what you know about Republicans and Democrats, which party do you think wants stricter regulation of offshore drilling, and which party favors letting the oil companies do whatever they want?

Originally Posted by goober

OK so given what you know about Republicans and Democrats, which party do you think wants stricter regulation of offshore drilling, and which party favors letting the oil companies do whatever they want?

This is what gets to me. Do you Republicans REALLY think the people disturbed by this are going to vote for the party that chanted "Drill, Baby, Drill" at their convention because this disaster happened while a Democrat was in office?

Originally Posted by John Drake

This is what gets to me. Do you Republicans REALLY think the people disturbed by this are going to vote for the party that chanted "Drill, Baby, Drill" at their convention because this disaster happened while a Democrat was in office?

As this unfolds, you can see the wind coming out of the sails of the GOP juggernaut that was scheduled for November, how do you think those numbers will look after 5 more months of news from the Greasy Beach?

Originally Posted by goober

OK so given what you know about Republicans and Democrats, which party do you think wants stricter regulation of offshore drilling, and which party favors letting the oil companies do whatever they want?

Hmmmmm, speculation? Given what we know, it's obvious which party DID let them do whatever they want. That's pretty solid.

As for the speculation, I'd have to say, as a party, whichever one wants to see off-shore, & on-shore for that matter, drilling succeed would be the most likely to make sure the rules were followed. If, on the other hand, a different party had alterior motives such as, ending drilling all-together, maybe they might be inclined to let some stuff slide. You know, the ends justifying the means & all that.

Originally Posted by goober

As this unfolds, you can see the wind coming out of the sails of the GOP juggernaut that was scheduled for November, how do you think those numbers will look after 5 more months of news from the Greasy Beach?

Since they'll have a nice bunch of democrats to blame for it...who were actually in office at the time, pretty good I'd say.

The worse it gets the worse the news will be for the people actually IN office right now.

Originally Posted by goober

As this unfolds, you can see the wind coming out of the sails of the GOP juggernaut that was scheduled for November, how do you think those numbers will look after 5 more months of news from the Greasy Beach?

Mentally ill people suffering from BDS wouldn't vote for Republicans whether this spill happened or not.

Originally Posted by Bearman

Hmmmmm, speculation? Given what we know, it's obvious which party DID let them do whatever they want. That's pretty solid.

As for the speculation, I'd have to say, as a party, whichever one wants to see off-shore, & on-shore for that matter, drilling succeed would be the most likely to make sure the rules were followed. If, on the other hand, a different party had alterior motives such as, ending drilling all-together, maybe they might be inclined to let some stuff slide. You know, the ends justifying the means & all that.

Are you new to America?
When Bush was in office the MMS partied with the oil companies, sex and drugs and rock and roll. LITERALLY.Sex, Drugs And Oil - Forbes.com

The permit for this well was issued less than two months after Obama took office, and four months before the Senate was able to confirm his nominee to head up the MMS.

In general, the GOP favors less regulation, especially when it comes to oil companies, and the Democrats favor more regulation, and most people know that.

In the meantime....

NEW ORLEANS -- A longtime Hollywood star is now in the Metro area and in the business of cleaning up oil.

Motivated by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, Kevin Costner began assembling a team of scientists to construct a machine that could clean up massive spills. A decade and a half later, that technology might now be put to use off the coast of Louisiana.

A massive oil slick creeping to the coast, vulnerable Louisiana wildlife just miles from its path, and Kevin Costner mingling on the lakefront. These are unusual times, and the Hollywood star is introducing his unusual machine -- one designed to separate oil from water.

"It's not anymore about talk," said Costner. "It's about doing the walk, and that phrase was probably invented down here."

With a tub of oil at his side, Costner unveiled what he's been financing for the last 15 years.

"It's like a ... big vacuum cleaner and it brings the water up and oil up and it will actually separate the oil and separate the water," said John Houghtaling, Costner's business partner.

Houghtaling said the biggest machines can handle 200 gallons per minute. That's more than 50 gallons faster than what the leaking oil well is spewing out each day.

Costner’s team said the machines can be taken out into the water on barges, where giant tanks attacked to the machines’ pipes can be used to store the collected oil.

The invention works by first sucking out both the water and oil, a second pipe spits out the oil, and a third spews out the water, which Costner's scientists claim is nearly free of crude.

"More than 99 percent of the oil, out of the water," said Eric Hoek, professor of engineering at the University of California.

A more expensive model by the Costner team boasts even clearer water, but Hoek said it's still years away from production.

Costner’s pitch, however, is just one of many.

Some ideas have even gone viral, like the online clip showing hay being used to soak up oil or oil booms constructed of nylon stockings and human hair. Canadians are even urging the use of finely shredded tires to absorb and filter the oil.

But inventor Wayne Bennett said despite his constant calls to BP, he’s yet to hear back.

"So far we've had no luck,” said Bennett.

And he’s far from the only one. But Costner is confident, wealthy and popular. The who’s who of area parishes from Jefferson Parish councilmen, to parish presidents from St. Bernard and Plaquemines, appeared more than convinced -- they're eager.

"To me this is a major tool for a tool box that should be tested," said Craig Taffaro, St. Bernard Parish President.

Costner's team says they already have 20 machines and could start pumping the gulf as early as tomorrow if BP gives the okay. A representative from the oil company was at the demonstration, but wouldn't comment, only to say he plans to report back on what he saw.

In the meantime, area leaders are already talking about negotiating a daily rate for the machines during a trial period.

"Do it at cost for the first seven days," said Billy Nungessor, Plaquemines Parish president. "Then after that, if it works, you're happy, it stays on that day rate until the oil is cleaned up."

It's unclear when BP will decide whether to give Costner’s machine a thumbs up or a thumbs down, but area leaders say they'll push the company to start using the new technology, and soon.

Kevin Costner hopes his solution to the BP oil crisis will become a reality | wwltv.com | WWLTV.com News

Obama gonna do his part. Shut the whole shootin match down. No more off-shore drilling.

Originally Posted by Mrs. M

In the meantime....


Kevin Costner hopes his solution to the BP oil crisis will become a reality | wwltv.com | WWLTV.com News

LET FREE ENTERPRISE REIGN!... Let BP pay a bounty of, say, 50 cents a gallon of crude from the leak delivered to it's docks. No questions asked, just write the checks and off-load the crude so the bounty hunters can go get some more.

Originally Posted by francopinion

Obama gonna do his part. Shut the whole shootin match down. No more off-shore drilling.

grrrr..... Did you see where, yes, he shut down the new drilling, but his agency has kept right on issuing permits for new drilling anyway? 5 new permits in the last week alone?


Some heads have got to roll.