UPDATE (4:20 pm) – Call run by Denis McDonough, with Commandant Thad Allen (the go-to guy after Hurricane Katrina), and John Brennan notes: Tweets here. Thad Allen said the history making BP oil spill in the Gulf began with a “catastrophic explosion.” Goal is to 1) “stop this thing at the source; extensive pressure on BP; 2) attack oil on the sea; 3) protect resources; 4) recover and mitigate what happens in the area. Thad Allen: “impossible” to ascertain how much oil being released, from 1,000 – 5,000 gallons, but it doesn’t matter if the source leak cannot be stopped. John Brennan: Obama “fully engaged from beginning.. no effort be spared.” Clear Obama is leaning forward on this disaster. Reuters’ question on BP: Will be judged by whether they can stop the oil at the source. “BP is the responsible party,” says Allen. Com. Thad Allen has talked to Adm. Mike Mullen on possible suport. 1st goal is to “stop this thing @ source… extensive pressure on BP.” Dept of Defense and BP are working together. Allen said C130s, which can cover 250 acres of oil, are dropping dispersants from the air, which is being effective. Thad Allen, good news: BP put pipe 5,000 ft down using dispersants as test; “appeared visually to have impact.” Watching ecosystem. Contact with shoreline depends on weather, said Thad Allen; close to Louisiana right now, including Mississippi and Alabama; booms at “1 million feet.” A lot of oil out there, so the “real question is when and where.” Question on relief well: “staging equipment in preparation to drill; put platform in place… that has all started… vessels have arrived on scene.” Couple of rigs have shut down due to “proximity of oil,” but will follow up. Most incidences deal with water level problems, “until we cap the well we have a indeterminate amount of oil,” so the history making part of this spill is the depth of the well at 5,000 ft, as well as the equipment required (including robots) to get the job done. The total number of breeches of the BP catastrophe is now three, according to Denis McDonough, who closed the call. Further updates available at deepwaterhorizonresponse.com
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Documents obtained by the AP reveal British Petroleum wasn’t at all prepared for the calamity their incompetence has produced. A BP “environmental study” judged it “unlikely” that a major oil spill would occur.
The plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, filed with the federal Minerals Management Service, said repeatedly that it was “unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities.” Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs, Miss.-based environmental lawyer and board member for the Gulf Restoration Network, said he doesn’t see anything in the document suggesting BP addressed the kind of technology needed to control a spill at that depth of water.
But spill, baby, spill BP did.
From the National Audubon Society.
The “drill here, drill now” crowd’s slogan seems even more sophomoric than it was when they first uttered it. Never mind that Pres. Obama took up their charge.
However, for an Alaskan, let alone a former governor who lived through the trauma, economic calamity, and environmental catastrophe of Exxon-Valdez spill, Sarah Palin’s Facebook musings on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig Gulf disaster, that may be bigger than what Alaska experienced, is all platitudes, no substance.
That said, Pres. Obama’s statement isn’t anything to write home about either: he’s still behind his offshore plan, but just wants to wait to learn more on how the BP disaster occurred.
None of our leaders understand what BP has done, the possible negligence, which perhaps rises to the level of corporate indifference mixed with sheer, unadulterated incompetence. They look like the Mickey Mouse of oil production at this point, no offense intended to the great mouse.
That BP was never concerned about the wildlife damage, the horrible consequences to bird life seems obvious, otherwise they would have had a plan in place in case the worse happened. Calling it “unlikely,” then not preparing is beyond contemptible. Beyond the birds, there are sperm whales, as well as bluefin tuna, with sea turtles in danger as they make their way to nest in Southern states, all of them at risk.
This is part of what Sarah had to say:
… As an Alaskan, I can speak from the heart about the tragedy of an oil spill. For as long as I live, I will never forget the day the Exxon-Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef and millions of gallons of North Slope crude poured into the waters of our beautiful Prince William Sound. The spill was devastating to so many Alaskans who, like my own family, make their living on the water from our commercial fishing industry. “Heartbreaking” was the word my husband Todd, an Alaska Native and trained oil spill responder, used to describe the scene as we watched it unfold on land and water that we feel is sacred.
Alaskans understand the tragedy of an oil spill, and we’ve taken steps to do all we can to prevent another Exxon tragedy, but we are still pro-development. We still believe in responsible development, which includes drilling to extract energy sources, because we know that there is an inherent link between energy and security, energy and prosperity, and energy and freedom. Production of our own resources means security for America and opportunities for American workers. We need oil, and if we don’t drill for it here, we have to purchase it from countries that not only do not like America and can use energy purchases as a weapon against us, but also do not have the oversight that America has.
In the coming days, there will be hearings to discover the cause of the explosion and the subsequent leak. Actions will be taken to increase oversight to prevent future accidents. Government can and must play an appropriate role here. If a company was lax in its prevention practices, it must be held accountable. It is inexcusable for any oil company to not invest in preventative measures. They must be held accountable or the public will forever distrust the industry. [...]
Breton Island Bird Sanctuary
Spokespeople for spill, baby, spill like Sarah should take a breath before jumping from Oh This Is Terrible, Prayers Go Forth to We Can Still Drill Here, Drill Now, You Betcha!
Oh, and by all means, after the tragedy occurs let’s make sure BP is held accountable.
What about legislators acting like stewards of our great nation, while holding corporations like BP accountable for being prepared for the worst before it actually (and inevitably) occurs?
The BP oil rig that collapsed on the ocean floor is the size of two football fields. This BP drilling site was 5,000 feet down, with no one ever having to deal with a leak of this size at this depth. However, from the looks of things BP has simply left this mess in the Coast Guard’s lap. That they’ll pay for it isn’t enough.
When corporations go exploring down to the depths of 5,000 feet, public officials and politicians, even spill, baby, spill spokespeople like Sarah Palin, should be prepared with more than platitudes when catastrophic environmental and economic disaster threatens a region. Politicians like Palin and, yes, even Pres. Obama need to put down their drill down, drill deep sloganeering on behalf of an industry that is flying blind in the deep blue sea, to take a moment to put in place an immediate release emergency clean up policy in case the inevitable happens.
As for BP, I’m obviously no oil expert, but you don’t have to be one to guess that this corporation had absolutely no clue what they were doing down at 5,000 ft. below sea level, drilling where few have gone before. Robots and remotely operated vehicles on the ocean floor aren’t enough to guarantee no damage will be done, with a blow-out preventer valve not seeming near enough of a back up. We’re finding out what happens when it fails to work, with the added horror that BP had absolutely no back up if the blow-out preventer valve didn’t seal.
Pres. Obama is headed towards the Gulf region to survey the damage. You know, because after Rush, Sean Hannity and the entire wingnut radio band started calling this “Obama’s Katrina” (with the New York Times jumping in too) he has to look like he isn’t George W. Bush. However, Rush’s carnival barking went beyond bizarre when he implied it was all some big plan. It’s not as good as his Bill Clinton drug runner rant, but it’s still sci-fi worthy:
RUSH: I want to get back to the timing of the blowing up, the explosion out there in the Gulf of Mexico of this oil rig. Since they’re sending SWAT teams down there now this changes the whole perspective of this. Now, lest we forget, ladies and gentlemen, the carbon tax bill, cap and trade that was scheduled to be announced on Earth Day. I remember that. And then it was postponed for a couple of days later after Earth Day, and then of course immigration has now moved in front of it. But this bill, the cap-and-trade bill, was strongly criticized by hardcore environmentalist wackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants, nuclear plant investment. So, since they’re sending SWAT teams down there, folks, since they’re sending SWAT teams to inspect the other rigs, what better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig? I’m just noting the timing here.
Idiocy reins on the right.
But as the oil reaches perishable wetlands, once again because of the short-sightedness of her leaders, America is reduced to the pathetic, fossil fuel dependent, indebted lumbering empire, with no energy enlightenment to be seen over the oil slicked shores of the Southern Gulf coastal region, which is just the latest proof of a reality that no politician in America wants to face.
The problem with the April 20 spill is that it isn’t really a spill: It‘s a gush, like an underwater oil volcano. A hot column of oil and gas is spurting into freezing, black waters nearly a mile down, where the pressure nears a ton per inch, impossible for divers to endure. Experts call it a continuous, round-the-clock calamity, unlike a leaking tanker,which might empty in hours or days.” – BP’s containment problem is unprecedented
$3 bucks a gallon at the pump, but what is the true cost per gallon of burning oil? $1.2 trillion dollars to fight two oil wars since 2003. $800 billion dollars a year for the Defense Department to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Who knows how many trillions of dollars will be required to reverse the affects of global warming caused by burning coal and oil? Somebody estimated that the hidden cost (which we all pay) of a gallon of gas was about $12.00. The question is why we are allowing BP or any other foreign corporation to rent a deep water drilling rig then drill in the Gulf of Mexico and sell on the open market whatever oil they find? The oil industry should be nationalized and all foreign corporations should be excluded from drilling off our coasts. Period. Peace
The oil industry should be nationalized and all foreign corporations should be excluded from drilling off our coasts.
It would be great if you were actually talking about solutions that could happen.
The question is why we are allowing BP or any other foreign corporation to rent a deep water drilling rig then drill in the Gulf of Mexico and sell on the open market whatever oil they find?
I don’t think this is the question at all, especially given we’re a capitalistic country, which also goes to what I mentioned at the top.
The question is why we never learn when history repeats itself by destroying our precious environment for energy that will never be enough, while investment in other sources of energy waste away, as even a Democratic president genuflects to fossil fuels, without flinching.
Sarah Palin’s platitudes are ridiculous, but not much worse than Obama’s wait now, drill later patter.
What in the world does being a capitalist country have to do with nationalizing the oil industry? Because we are a capitalist country we shouldn’t have a single payer universal health care system? Because we are a capitalist country we shouldn’t have a tax payer funded interstate highway system? We shouldn’t regulate our “public utilities?” How about the military? Should that be a private enterprise run by corporations for profit? At the moment, how we get our oil is a national security issue and the industry should be controlled by “we the people” and not Dick Cheney and his buddies. Peace
You don’t understand a thing about politics in the real world, Imhotep.
I operate in that world where you have to navigate through what politicians will do, not irrational nationalization rants that have a snowball’s chance in hell to manifest, though whether your idea passes the smell test of what America stands for is another issue entirely.
I have no idea whether you’ve actually ever met any oil men, though using the Dick Cheney model to demonize them all is always good to take out for a spin, regardless that it is wrong.
im glad he is coming down here to the gulf coast. its a very distrubing event here- with impacts worse than a hurricane. thousands of people are going to to la,ms area to help right now. working folks who fish, clam etc may be out of jobs. as the days go on with this i cant see drill later being teneable for the nergy bill. sen nelson, whose constituents in fl are wildly opposed to oil drilling for fear of ruining their tourist industry are putting rpessure on him to get the drilling expansion out fo the bill. i think the bill is likely dead now anyway.
Obama is in this sorry mess because he is unprincipled. He has revealed himself to be a political hack with no core beliefs. He will do what is expedient at a moments notice to placate his enemies for questionable political gain. Hence, this support for drilling in the Gulf which he once adamantly opposed.
Now instead of being able to instinctively do what is right, he finds himself reacting to his critics on the right. Pulled here, pulled there, with no control over his agenda. Now he gives us these platitudes.
The Republicans may be shameless hypocrites but at least they stick to their shamelessness & their hypocrisy, with conviction.
“no core beliefs”
Here you have stated our problem with Obama.
I really like your postings.
Thank you, Pilgrim. I enjoy your posts as well.
I was stunned last night listening to an environmental lawyer say that these types of deep oil drilling catastrophe’s are most certainly foreseeable and in fact, when BP does this type of drilling in waters off Scandanavia, France, etc. they are apparently required to have an added safeguard, a remote controlled acoustic switch that allows them to shut off the oil if the two other primary fail-safes don’t work during a disaster like this. The acoustic switches that countries like Norway require are different than the primary shut-offs which failed in this accident. The added remote safety back up switches apparently cost something like an extra 500K per rig(chump change for them). So why didn’t the US require this added safety precaution? Too burdensome. We made many of our added safety precautions voluntary during the Bush years. Because, you know, big oil always *voluntarily* chooses to do the right thing.
What are we going to learn next week? That the nuclear industry only has to adhere to safety regulations if they believe it’s not too burdensome?
Watching these pictures come in of birds and animals covered in oil makes me want to scream.
That’s what got me too, secyclintonblog. Evidently the capitalists in Scandnavia and France give a fig about their citizens and their environment and somehow their leaders do too.
I find this depressing beyond words. Let’s just try to count up all of the unprecedented disasters this country has had in the last few years both man made and natural.Greed and a complete disregard for the people or the land can be found in even the natural disasters,the levies failed,that’s what drowned NO and now those poor people along the gulf coast have to endure another hideous blow.
Taylor, if you call what we have now, in this country capitalism, then you have to add the adjective crony.
Exactly. I am sickened by this whole thing. It was preventable.
This is just aweful. I hate what happening in the gulf. We as americans can do more to save energy and to help the environment. I hate when things like this happen. It would seem that the gulf states can’t catch a break. It seems there are greedy people that don’t care about safe guards and just want that money. As since this is a British company, should they be helping us with this oil spill. I have heard this oil spill is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. People depend on the gulf of mexico for fishing and the animal and marine life will be hurt by this also. And I am so ticked off at the government response !! federal and state level was aweful. This country is just not prepared for disasters anymore !!!
Too busy spending all their time and attention making sure the ruling oliarchy are fed and happy.
On a call run by Denis McDonough, with Commandant Thad Allen (now in charge), and John Brennan. Notes at the top of the post.
This is tragic and sad.
Look, the reality is the insane quest for endless energy and money and everyone in the world “enjoying” the same matirialistic, UNrealistic standard of living as US caused this. And GREED caused this. And STUPIDITY as in Darwiniancapitalism caused this.
“We as americans can do more to save energy and to help the environment.”
There isn’t a damned thing we can do to effect the government on this subject short of a wholesale awakening of the public to reality and that just-ain’t-gonna-happen.
There are those who moan and whine for a “third party” or for “independents” to form a party. Fat f–kin chance. What would be nice would be a SANE party, but that would be a permenant minority here in da NEWniited States of MURica.
Could somebody please define for me what “real world politics” is? I suppose that it means what the politicians will or won’t do for “we the people.” That my friends is exactly backwards. The politicians work for us. We are the boss of them. We pay their salaries. The politicians will do whatever we tell them to do or it will be 1776 all over again. That’s “politics in the real world.” At this point in our history the time has arrived to nationalize the oil industry. It’s time to cut the crap. Are you listening real world politicians? Peace
Halliburton strikes again
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-investigation-20100501,0,2641014.story
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/44349
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20100501_Waves_curb_bid_to_fight_oil_spill.html
huffpo has a report that this oil will make it into the gulf stream at some point affecting most the fl coast, nc, va etc.. another fear- the ruptured well blows up. there are apparently no protocal on how to deal with that if it occurs. also- soem republicans appear to be reconsidering their positons on drilling. obama faces another massive test here.