BP gusher to spew 2 billion barrels?

[partypup]

[quote=briansd1][quote=Veritas]

Obama is smart not to bash big oil too much otherwise the debate will turn into whether we are turning into socialist Venezuela or France — too quick to nationalize businesses. [/quote]

Seriously, aren’t we all past the point of even thinking that Obama is *smart* about anything?

“Most troubling of all, the government has allowed BP to continue deep-sea production at its Atlantis rig – one of the world’s largest oil platforms. Capable of drawing 200,000 barrels a day from the seafloor, Atlantis is located only 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, in waters nearly 2,000 feet deeper than BP drilled at Deepwater Horizon. According to congressional documents, the platform lacks required engineering certification for as much as 90 percent of its subsea components – a flaw that internal BP documents reveal could lead to “catastrophic” errors. In a May 19th letter to Salazar, 26 congressmen called for the rig to be shut down immediately. “We are very concerned,” they wrote, “that the tragedy at Deepwater Horizon could foreshadow an accident at BP Atlantis.”

The administration’s response to the looming threat? According to an e-mail to a congressional aide from a staff member at MMS, the agency has had “zero contact” with Atlantis about its safety risks since the Deepwater rig went down.

…

And instead of putting the brakes on new offshore drilling, Salazar immediately throttled it up to record levels. Even though he had scrapped the Bush plan, Salazar put 53 million offshore acres up for lease in the Gulf in his first year alone – an all-time high. The aggressive leasing came as no surprise, given Salazar’s track record. “This guy has a long, long history of promoting offshore oil drilling – that’s his thing,” says Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “He’s got a highly specific soft spot for offshore oil drilling.” As a senator, Salazar not only steered passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which opened 8 million acres in the Gulf to drilling, he even criticized President Bush for not forcing oil companies to develop existing leases faster.

…

Nowhere was the absurdity of the policy more evident than in the application that BP submitted for its Deepwater Horizon well only two months after Obama took office. BP claims that a spill is “unlikely” and states that it anticipates “no adverse impacts” to endangered wildlife or fisheries. Should a spill occur, it says, “no significant adverse impacts are expected” for the region’s beaches, wetlands and coastal nesting birds.The company, noting that such elements are “not required” as part of the application, contains no scenario for a potential blowout, and no site-specific plan to respond to a spill. Instead, it cites an Oil Spill Response Plan that it had prepared for the entire Gulf region. Among the sensitive species BP anticipates protecting in the semitropical Gulf? “Walruses” and other cold-water mammals, including sea otters and sea lions. The mistake appears to be the result of a sloppy cut-and-paste job from BP’s drilling plans for the Arctic.Even worse: Among the “primary equipment providers” for “rapid deployment of spill response resources,” BP inexplicably provides the Web address of a Japanese home-shopping network. Such glaring errors expose the 582-page response “plan” as nothing more than a paperwork exercise. “It was clear that nobody read it,” says Ruch, who represents government scientists.

…

Scientists were stunned that NOAA, an agency widely respected for its scientific integrity, appeared to have been co-opted by the White House spin machine. “NOAA has actively pushed back on every fact that has ever come out,” says one ocean scientist who works with the agency. “They’re denying until the facts are so overwhelming, they finally come out and issue an admittance.” Others are furious at the agency for criticizing the work of scientists studying the oil plumes rather than leading them. “Why they didn’t have vessels there right then and start to gather the scientific data on oil and what the impacts are to different organisms is inexcusable,” says a former government marine biologist. “They should have been right on top of that.” Only six weeks into the disaster did the agency finally deploy its own research vessel to investigate the plumes.

This man is either a complete Tool, an idiot, or some combination of both.

All of which I predicted a year before this clown took office. Got Buyer’s Remorse? I’m sure Mother Earth wishes that she’d had an opportunity to vote.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965

[Arraya]

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

There are more examples than one can even try to sum up when it comes to painting the picture of the perversity and ineptitude of the US political system. The so-called grilling of Tony Hayward a few days ago was one prime example. The BP CEO started out with a “so sorry” statement that was an almost exact copy of a recent BP mea culpa TV ad.

When responding to the subsequent questions, Hayward mainly repeated the same line over and over: he wasn’t there when it happened, he had no influence on the decision-making process concerning the Macondo well, it was not his personal fault, and moreover, he was the very man who had announced strict safety measures when he took the job. Absolute habberdash, obviously, all of it, but it didn’t matter one iota to Tony Hayward.

The reason why, or at least a major one, became clear the day after the “grilling”: Tony Hayward was “relieved of his duties” that same day, to be replaced by some American deputy director at the company. Not replaced as CEO, mind you, but as BP’s “face” in the US.

Capitol Hill, therefore, looks like the bunch of ass-clowns they are. Any further or follow-up questions will not be answered by the company’s CEO anymore. They can now complain, whine and yell at his servant. Obviously, this was a decision that had been made a while ago; let Tony take the flack, he’s leaving anyway.

In the past two weeks, despite Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling, the White House (through The Department of Interior’s Minerals (Mis)Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects. That all by itself provides a much clearer idea of where the power lies, and where the truth, than all the made-for-media show trials together.

BP has signed off on a $20 billion escrow fund, but it may well be liable for damages totaling over $100 billion. Judging from Tony Hayward’s performance, the fourth-largest company on the planet doesn’t seem too worried, or at least its directors don’t. It may be wise not to underestimate BP’s political clout, in London, Washington and many other capitals around the world.

Possibly even more perverted, and more telling of how Washington works, is this from the Huffington Post:

White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay

The White House is intervening at the last minute to come to the defense of multinational corporations in the unfolding conference committee negotiations over Wall Street reform. A measure that had been generally agreed to by both the House and Senate, which would have affirmed the SEC’s authority to allow investors to have proxy access to the corporate decision-making process, was stripped by the Senate in conference committee votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Five sources with knowledge of the situation said the White House pushed for the measure to be stripped at the behest of the Business Roundtable. The sources — congressional aides as well as outside advocates — requested anonymity for fear of White House reprisal.

The White House move pits the administration against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who told Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to stand strong against the effort. “I met with the Speaker today and she said, ‘Don’t back down. I’ll back you up,'” Frank, the lead House conferee, told HuffPost. “Maxine Waters is very upset, as are CalPERS and others.” Advocates said that the corporations fought the issue primarily over executive compensation concerns. Given proxy access, investors could rein in executive salaries. The Business Roundtable is a lobby of corporate CEOs.

Yes, BP would be a natural member of the Business Roundtable. The fishermen and tourist operators on the Gulf Coast would not. If I’ve said it once, I must have said it a thousand times: there will be no economic recovery in the US, and neither will there be any meaningful reform, whether financial or political, as long as the final say rests with those who have the most money.

They’ve gotten where they are through, and because of, the system as it is, and they will successfully resist any significant changes that would hurt their interests. That’s the light in which to view for instance Obama’s bizarrely numb Oval Office speech, and that’s why the White House deems it necessary to intervene on Capitol Hill on behalf of its friends and masters in the Business Roundtable.

It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?

[Zeitgeist]

Partypup,

Brian is an Obama philistine. Enough said. He always brings up Palin when he has no other arrows in his quiver. Palin from Brian is like other people bringing up Hitler. He just does not get it!

[Arraya]

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

There are more examples than one can even try to sum up when it comes to painting the picture of the perversity and ineptitude of the US political system. The so-called grilling of Tony Hayward a few days ago was one prime example. The BP CEO started out with a “so sorry” statement that was an almost exact copy of a recent BP mea culpa TV ad.

When responding to the subsequent questions, Hayward mainly repeated the same line over and over: he wasn’t there when it happened, he had no influence on the decision-making process concerning the Macondo well, it was not his personal fault, and moreover, he was the very man who had announced strict safety measures when he took the job. Absolute habberdash, obviously, all of it, but it didn’t matter one iota to Tony Hayward.

The reason why, or at least a major one, became clear the day after the “grilling”: Tony Hayward was “relieved of his duties” that same day, to be replaced by some American deputy director at the company. Not replaced as CEO, mind you, but as BP’s “face” in the US.

Capitol Hill, therefore, looks like the bunch of ass-clowns they are. Any further or follow-up questions will not be answered by the company’s CEO anymore. They can now complain, whine and yell at his servant. Obviously, this was a decision that had been made a while ago; let Tony take the flack, he’s leaving anyway.

In the past two weeks, despite Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling, the White House (through The Department of Interior’s Minerals (Mis)Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects. That all by itself provides a much clearer idea of where the power lies, and where the truth, than all the made-for-media show trials together.

BP has signed off on a $20 billion escrow fund, but it may well be liable for damages totaling over $100 billion. Judging from Tony Hayward’s performance, the fourth-largest company on the planet doesn’t seem too worried, or at least its directors don’t. It may be wise not to underestimate BP’s political clout, in London, Washington and many other capitals around the world.

Possibly even more perverted, and more telling of how Washington works, is this from the Huffington Post:

White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay

The White House is intervening at the last minute to come to the defense of multinational corporations in the unfolding conference committee negotiations over Wall Street reform. A measure that had been generally agreed to by both the House and Senate, which would have affirmed the SEC’s authority to allow investors to have proxy access to the corporate decision-making process, was stripped by the Senate in conference committee votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Five sources with knowledge of the situation said the White House pushed for the measure to be stripped at the behest of the Business Roundtable. The sources — congressional aides as well as outside advocates — requested anonymity for fear of White House reprisal.

The White House move pits the administration against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who told Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to stand strong against the effort. “I met with the Speaker today and she said, ‘Don’t back down. I’ll back you up,'” Frank, the lead House conferee, told HuffPost. “Maxine Waters is very upset, as are CalPERS and others.” Advocates said that the corporations fought the issue primarily over executive compensation concerns. Given proxy access, investors could rein in executive salaries. The Business Roundtable is a lobby of corporate CEOs.

Yes, BP would be a natural member of the Business Roundtable. The fishermen and tourist operators on the Gulf Coast would not. If I’ve said it once, I must have said it a thousand times: there will be no economic recovery in the US, and neither will there be any meaningful reform, whether financial or political, as long as the final say rests with those who have the most money.

They’ve gotten where they are through, and because of, the system as it is, and they will successfully resist any significant changes that would hurt their interests. That’s the light in which to view for instance Obama’s bizarrely numb Oval Office speech, and that’s why the White House deems it necessary to intervene on Capitol Hill on behalf of its friends and masters in the Business Roundtable.

It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?

[Zeitgeist]

Partypup,

Brian is an Obama philistine. Enough said. He always brings up Palin when he has no other arrows in his quiver. Palin from Brian is like other people bringing up Hitler. He just does not get it!

[Arraya]

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

There are more examples than one can even try to sum up when it comes to painting the picture of the perversity and ineptitude of the US political system. The so-called grilling of Tony Hayward a few days ago was one prime example. The BP CEO started out with a “so sorry” statement that was an almost exact copy of a recent BP mea culpa TV ad.

When responding to the subsequent questions, Hayward mainly repeated the same line over and over: he wasn’t there when it happened, he had no influence on the decision-making process concerning the Macondo well, it was not his personal fault, and moreover, he was the very man who had announced strict safety measures when he took the job. Absolute habberdash, obviously, all of it, but it didn’t matter one iota to Tony Hayward.

The reason why, or at least a major one, became clear the day after the “grilling”: Tony Hayward was “relieved of his duties” that same day, to be replaced by some American deputy director at the company. Not replaced as CEO, mind you, but as BP’s “face” in the US.

Capitol Hill, therefore, looks like the bunch of ass-clowns they are. Any further or follow-up questions will not be answered by the company’s CEO anymore. They can now complain, whine and yell at his servant. Obviously, this was a decision that had been made a while ago; let Tony take the flack, he’s leaving anyway.

In the past two weeks, despite Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling, the White House (through The Department of Interior’s Minerals (Mis)Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects. That all by itself provides a much clearer idea of where the power lies, and where the truth, than all the made-for-media show trials together.

BP has signed off on a $20 billion escrow fund, but it may well be liable for damages totaling over $100 billion. Judging from Tony Hayward’s performance, the fourth-largest company on the planet doesn’t seem too worried, or at least its directors don’t. It may be wise not to underestimate BP’s political clout, in London, Washington and many other capitals around the world.

Possibly even more perverted, and more telling of how Washington works, is this from the Huffington Post:

White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay

The White House is intervening at the last minute to come to the defense of multinational corporations in the unfolding conference committee negotiations over Wall Street reform. A measure that had been generally agreed to by both the House and Senate, which would have affirmed the SEC’s authority to allow investors to have proxy access to the corporate decision-making process, was stripped by the Senate in conference committee votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Five sources with knowledge of the situation said the White House pushed for the measure to be stripped at the behest of the Business Roundtable. The sources — congressional aides as well as outside advocates — requested anonymity for fear of White House reprisal.

The White House move pits the administration against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who told Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to stand strong against the effort. “I met with the Speaker today and she said, ‘Don’t back down. I’ll back you up,'” Frank, the lead House conferee, told HuffPost. “Maxine Waters is very upset, as are CalPERS and others.” Advocates said that the corporations fought the issue primarily over executive compensation concerns. Given proxy access, investors could rein in executive salaries. The Business Roundtable is a lobby of corporate CEOs.

Yes, BP would be a natural member of the Business Roundtable. The fishermen and tourist operators on the Gulf Coast would not. If I’ve said it once, I must have said it a thousand times: there will be no economic recovery in the US, and neither will there be any meaningful reform, whether financial or political, as long as the final say rests with those who have the most money.

They’ve gotten where they are through, and because of, the system as it is, and they will successfully resist any significant changes that would hurt their interests. That’s the light in which to view for instance Obama’s bizarrely numb Oval Office speech, and that’s why the White House deems it necessary to intervene on Capitol Hill on behalf of its friends and masters in the Business Roundtable.

It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?

[Zeitgeist]

Partypup,

Brian is an Obama philistine. Enough said. He always brings up Palin when he has no other arrows in his quiver. Palin from Brian is like other people bringing up Hitler. He just does not get it!

[Arraya]

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

There are more examples than one can even try to sum up when it comes to painting the picture of the perversity and ineptitude of the US political system. The so-called grilling of Tony Hayward a few days ago was one prime example. The BP CEO started out with a “so sorry” statement that was an almost exact copy of a recent BP mea culpa TV ad.

When responding to the subsequent questions, Hayward mainly repeated the same line over and over: he wasn’t there when it happened, he had no influence on the decision-making process concerning the Macondo well, it was not his personal fault, and moreover, he was the very man who had announced strict safety measures when he took the job. Absolute habberdash, obviously, all of it, but it didn’t matter one iota to Tony Hayward.

The reason why, or at least a major one, became clear the day after the “grilling”: Tony Hayward was “relieved of his duties” that same day, to be replaced by some American deputy director at the company. Not replaced as CEO, mind you, but as BP’s “face” in the US.

Capitol Hill, therefore, looks like the bunch of ass-clowns they are. Any further or follow-up questions will not be answered by the company’s CEO anymore. They can now complain, whine and yell at his servant. Obviously, this was a decision that had been made a while ago; let Tony take the flack, he’s leaving anyway.

In the past two weeks, despite Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling, the White House (through The Department of Interior’s Minerals (Mis)Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects. That all by itself provides a much clearer idea of where the power lies, and where the truth, than all the made-for-media show trials together.

BP has signed off on a $20 billion escrow fund, but it may well be liable for damages totaling over $100 billion. Judging from Tony Hayward’s performance, the fourth-largest company on the planet doesn’t seem too worried, or at least its directors don’t. It may be wise not to underestimate BP’s political clout, in London, Washington and many other capitals around the world.

Possibly even more perverted, and more telling of how Washington works, is this from the Huffington Post:

White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay

The White House is intervening at the last minute to come to the defense of multinational corporations in the unfolding conference committee negotiations over Wall Street reform. A measure that had been generally agreed to by both the House and Senate, which would have affirmed the SEC’s authority to allow investors to have proxy access to the corporate decision-making process, was stripped by the Senate in conference committee votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Five sources with knowledge of the situation said the White House pushed for the measure to be stripped at the behest of the Business Roundtable. The sources — congressional aides as well as outside advocates — requested anonymity for fear of White House reprisal.

The White House move pits the administration against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who told Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to stand strong against the effort. “I met with the Speaker today and she said, ‘Don’t back down. I’ll back you up,'” Frank, the lead House conferee, told HuffPost. “Maxine Waters is very upset, as are CalPERS and others.” Advocates said that the corporations fought the issue primarily over executive compensation concerns. Given proxy access, investors could rein in executive salaries. The Business Roundtable is a lobby of corporate CEOs.

Yes, BP would be a natural member of the Business Roundtable. The fishermen and tourist operators on the Gulf Coast would not. If I’ve said it once, I must have said it a thousand times: there will be no economic recovery in the US, and neither will there be any meaningful reform, whether financial or political, as long as the final say rests with those who have the most money.

They’ve gotten where they are through, and because of, the system as it is, and they will successfully resist any significant changes that would hurt their interests. That’s the light in which to view for instance Obama’s bizarrely numb Oval Office speech, and that’s why the White House deems it necessary to intervene on Capitol Hill on behalf of its friends and masters in the Business Roundtable.

It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?

[Zeitgeist]

Partypup,

Brian is an Obama philistine. Enough said. He always brings up Palin when he has no other arrows in his quiver. Palin from Brian is like other people bringing up Hitler. He just does not get it!

[Arraya]

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

There are more examples than one can even try to sum up when it comes to painting the picture of the perversity and ineptitude of the US political system. The so-called grilling of Tony Hayward a few days ago was one prime example. The BP CEO started out with a “so sorry” statement that was an almost exact copy of a recent BP mea culpa TV ad.

When responding to the subsequent questions, Hayward mainly repeated the same line over and over: he wasn’t there when it happened, he had no influence on the decision-making process concerning the Macondo well, it was not his personal fault, and moreover, he was the very man who had announced strict safety measures when he took the job. Absolute habberdash, obviously, all of it, but it didn’t matter one iota to Tony Hayward.

The reason why, or at least a major one, became clear the day after the “grilling”: Tony Hayward was “relieved of his duties” that same day, to be replaced by some American deputy director at the company. Not replaced as CEO, mind you, but as BP’s “face” in the US.

Capitol Hill, therefore, looks like the bunch of ass-clowns they are. Any further or follow-up questions will not be answered by the company’s CEO anymore. They can now complain, whine and yell at his servant. Obviously, this was a decision that had been made a while ago; let Tony take the flack, he’s leaving anyway.

In the past two weeks, despite Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling, the White House (through The Department of Interior’s Minerals (Mis)Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects. That all by itself provides a much clearer idea of where the power lies, and where the truth, than all the made-for-media show trials together.

BP has signed off on a $20 billion escrow fund, but it may well be liable for damages totaling over $100 billion. Judging from Tony Hayward’s performance, the fourth-largest company on the planet doesn’t seem too worried, or at least its directors don’t. It may be wise not to underestimate BP’s political clout, in London, Washington and many other capitals around the world.

Possibly even more perverted, and more telling of how Washington works, is this from the Huffington Post:

White House Flip Flops On Reining In CEO Pay

The White House is intervening at the last minute to come to the defense of multinational corporations in the unfolding conference committee negotiations over Wall Street reform. A measure that had been generally agreed to by both the House and Senate, which would have affirmed the SEC’s authority to allow investors to have proxy access to the corporate decision-making process, was stripped by the Senate in conference committee votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

Five sources with knowledge of the situation said the White House pushed for the measure to be stripped at the behest of the Business Roundtable. The sources — congressional aides as well as outside advocates — requested anonymity for fear of White House reprisal.

The White House move pits the administration against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who told Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to stand strong against the effort. “I met with the Speaker today and she said, ‘Don’t back down. I’ll back you up,'” Frank, the lead House conferee, told HuffPost. “Maxine Waters is very upset, as are CalPERS and others.” Advocates said that the corporations fought the issue primarily over executive compensation concerns. Given proxy access, investors could rein in executive salaries. The Business Roundtable is a lobby of corporate CEOs.

Yes, BP would be a natural member of the Business Roundtable. The fishermen and tourist operators on the Gulf Coast would not. If I’ve said it once, I must have said it a thousand times: there will be no economic recovery in the US, and neither will there be any meaningful reform, whether financial or political, as long as the final say rests with those who have the most money.

They’ve gotten where they are through, and because of, the system as it is, and they will successfully resist any significant changes that would hurt their interests. That’s the light in which to view for instance Obama’s bizarrely numb Oval Office speech, and that’s why the White House deems it necessary to intervene on Capitol Hill on behalf of its friends and masters in the Business Roundtable.

It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?

[Zeitgeist]

Partypup,

Brian is an Obama philistine. Enough said. He always brings up Palin when he has no other arrows in his quiver. Palin from Brian is like other people bringing up Hitler. He just does not get it!

[briansd1]

[quote=Arraya]
It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?[/quote]

Such is life, Arraya.

It’s not been pretty since day one. The game has always been rigged to the advantage of the establishment. That’s how it has always been and that’s how it will remain.

All we can hope for is a little more accountability than before.

The creation of the EPA was an improvement to the situation before Nixon created it.

If this Gulf oil gusher brings about EPA 2.0, it’ll be an improvement over 1.0.

[briansd1]

[quote=Arraya]
It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?[/quote]

Such is life, Arraya.

It’s not been pretty since day one. The game has always been rigged to the advantage of the establishment. That’s how it has always been and that’s how it will remain.

All we can hope for is a little more accountability than before.

The creation of the EPA was an improvement to the situation before Nixon created it.

If this Gulf oil gusher brings about EPA 2.0, it’ll be an improvement over 1.0.

[briansd1]

[quote=Arraya]
It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?[/quote]

Such is life, Arraya.

It’s not been pretty since day one. The game has always been rigged to the advantage of the establishment. That’s how it has always been and that’s how it will remain.

All we can hope for is a little more accountability than before.

The creation of the EPA was an improvement to the situation before Nixon created it.

If this Gulf oil gusher brings about EPA 2.0, it’ll be an improvement over 1.0.

[briansd1]

[quote=Arraya]
It’s not a pretty picture that you get to see when you peer behind the curtain of spin, is it?[/quote]

Such is life, Arraya.

It’s not been pretty since day one. The game has always been rigged to the advantage of the establishment. That’s how it has always been and that’s how it will remain.

All we can hope for is a little more accountability than before.

The creation of the EPA was an improvement to the situation before Nixon created it.

If this Gulf oil gusher brings about EPA 2.0, it’ll be an improvement over 1.0.

[Author]

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