Disturbing Info - BP Oil Spill

Sad sad sad. DH & I were just talking about how much must go on behind the scenes and how awful it all is....
 
What makes me insanely angry is that BP and other oil companies drill in deep water and evidently have no regard for safety measures and no idea how to fix a leaking well. This type of drilling should be banned until stricter safety guidelines are put in place and enforced.
 
Government regulations have pushed them to have to drill in deeper water, which is more risky no doubt about it.
I think they are covering their own ineptitude and not that of BP.
 
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double t said:
Government regulations have pushed them to have to drill in deeper water, which is more risky no doubt about it.
I think they are covering their own ineptitude and not that of BP.
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I was thinking the exact same thing. If it was solely the fault of BP, the govt would feed them to the wolves w/out a care in the world. The more I learn about this whole fiasco the angrier I get. I already had little faith in our gov but this really tops it.
 
Feel free to flame away if you disagree but for me this boils down to 1---extreme incompetence on the part of the government and BP or 2 ---this whole thing is by design and they are trying to maximize this catastrophe for political reasons. It's really quite a strange thing to sit back an observe.
 
I agree, but part of the reason for this I believe, is to prevent the resulting outrage (completely justified) to end up causing BP to go bankrupt. If they do, they will be completely protected and we/the citizens of the Gulf/taxpayers will get nothing from them. The problem, unfortunately, is letting this companies do this drilling in the first place (thanks, Dick!!). Shockingly, people still support it (oil company employees and the not-so-bright). Unfortunately this is just like the former policy on not photographing the coffins of dead soldiers returning from Iraq. If you don't see them, you can pretend they aren't really dying. It's all very sad.
 
It's not that regulations forced them to drill in deeper water. There are shallower sites all over the world they could've used, but they wanted to be near the US b/c it's more profitable. To blame this on the govmt is absurd. And we don't know what the feds have been doing behind the scenes to fix this. I don't think they were just sitting on their hands waiting for it to be fixed. And I don't think BP employees were either. I feel badly for BP's lower level employees. They've probably been frantic trying to fix this mess while their execs did nothing but obfuscate & lie. Oh, & go on yachting trips.

It's BP's & only BP's fault for not having a plan for this kind of emergency. You can blame MMS for not regulating them & ensuring such a plan was in place (although deregulation was the name of the game for 8 years in this country), but BP should've shelled out some money to create that plan instead of drilling drilling drilling without a care in the world other than making a profit.

News says it's finally capped. Huge sigh of relief. Now all we can do is sit back & see what the long term ramifications will be.
 
I blame the government for the inept response to the spill. They fumbled that thing terribly in my opinion and were caught lying about the number of cleanup ships, failed to rescind the Stafford Act to allow foreign countries to help out, and in general failed to line up appropriate resources in a timely manner. Lack of leadership and the slowness of the bureaucratic monstrosity of government was on display in all of it's ugliness.
Minerals Management is part of the fed govt unless I am mistaken. So, their failure is a fed failure.
Is BP to blame for most of this? Darn right they are. And they are paying big time. All of us are in the end.
It's true, the BP CEO watched yacht races during the crisis. But, Obama has been doing a bunch of golfing during this thing and has taken 3 vacations too so, to be fair, if you call one out then you have to call both out.
My understanding is that they are drilling in 5000 ft of water because of the environmental regulations for drilling on land and in shallower areas where the oil is located. It's very risky for sure.
Anyway, glad we could discuss it a bit. Needless to say it's going to be a long time before we get over this one.
Trevor
 
double t said:
I blame the government for the inept response to the spill. They fumbled that thing terribly in my opinion and were caught lying about the number of cleanup ships, failed to rescind the Stafford Act to allow foreign countries to help out, and in general failed to line up appropriate resources in a timely manner. Lack of leadership and the slowness of the bureaucratic monstrosity of government was on display in all of it's ugliness.
Minerals Management is part of the fed govt unless I am mistaken. So, their failure is a fed failure.
Is BP to blame for most of this? Darn right they are. And they are paying big time. All of us are in the end.
It's true, the BP CEO watched yacht races during the crisis. But, Obama has been doing a bunch of golfing during this thing and has taken 3 vacations too so, to be fair, if you call one out then you have to call both out.
My understanding is that they are drilling in 5000 ft of water because of the environmental regulations for drilling on land and in shallower areas where the oil is located. It's very risky for sure.
Anyway, glad we could discuss it a bit. Needless to say it's going to be a long time before we get over this one.
Trevor
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I was wondering how long it would take before you laid this nightmare on Obama. Not long. The U.S. Coast Guard was on site within hours. Yeah right, slow response. Under your theory President Obama is responsible for everything that goes wrong in this country. Ok. Then you'll agree that George Bush was responsible for 9/11 because TSA workers (govt employees) let terrorists on the plane with box cutters. Right? What specifically, do you think Obama could have done (that would effect the outcome) that he did not? Note: I'm looking for more than descredited right wing talking points here.

So I guess we should expect a president who works 24 hours a day right? Do you? He, like us, is a human being entitled to some time off for relaxation. Did you expect that he should swim down and plug the hole himself.

Oil companies drill where oil is. This was one of BP's most productive wells. Really, your blaming this on environmental law? Listen to that idiot Palin much? That's exactly what she said. She also said Drill, baby, drill. Whose to blame here?
 
Well said, Buffy. Obama walked into multiple disasters and I think he's been doing a pretty decent job trying to resolve them (although I wish he'd be a little stronger when it comes in getting legislation passed--bipartisanship is clearly not something Republicans are interested in).

I also find it fascinating that conservatives do not want the govmt interfering w/private business, then complain when the govmt does not interfere w/private business enough. You have Rand Paul saying the govmt should've stayed out of the BP disaster b/c it has no place interfering w/private business. Republicans complained that Obama wasn't doing enough, then when he required BP to set up an escrow account Republicans (Joe Barton, TX congressman, apologizing to them for a "shakedown," to be specific--he happens to be the minority leader of the House's energy committee) complaining about that.

Yes, MMS is part of the federal govmt. And during the Bush admin they did zero to enforce regulations, b/c the Bush admin was full force behind deregulation.

And just b/c Obama played golf doesn't mean his staff wasn't working on this disaster. I just love this comparison--shall we look at George Bush's vacation days during his term? 487 days at Camp David, 490 at Crawford. I'll do the math for you. That's 977 days--2.7 years--of an 8 year term.

Drill baby drill. Seriously? That's a good part of what got us into this mess. And instead of being ashamed of such a ridiculous position that is hardly good for this country, Scarah turns around & blames the feds for "forcing" oil cos. to perform hazardous drilling. It's baffling & hypocritical.
 
I know. I voted for Obama mostly for his environmental policy. I am so disappointed right now. the oil companies really have a lot of control. And, to add to this crap, BP is one of the biggest oil suppliers to the US military...go figure.
 
BuffyR said:
I was wondering how long it would take before you laid this nightmare on Obama. Not long. The U.S. Coast Guard was on site within hours. Yeah right, slow response. Under your theory President Obama is responsible for everything that goes wrong in this country. Ok. Then you'll agree that George Bush was responsible for 9/11 because TSA workers (govt employees) let terrorists on the plane with box cutters. Right? What specifically, do you think Obama could have done (that would effect the outcome) that he did not? Note: I'm looking for more than descredited right wing talking points here.

So I guess we should expect a president who works 24 hours a day right? Do you? He, like us, is a human being entitled to some time off for relaxation. Did you expect that he should swim down and plug the hole himself.

Oil companies drill where oil is. This was one of BP's most productive wells. Really, your blaming this on environmental law? Listen to that idiot Palin much? That's exactly what she said. She also said Drill, baby, drill. Whose to blame here?
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Agreed.

When Obama was 1st elected every one jumped on the bandwagon. Now, two years later, every one seems to be jumping off the bandwagon because things aren't going according to their plans. Obama didn't create this mess we're in. He's just trying to help clean it up. And I'm not just referring to the oil spill. I mean things like Healthcare, Unemployment etc....

As for BP, they should of had a plan in place incase something like this happened. They have all this technology out now. You mean to tell me, no one thought that this might happen. Yeah, right. :rolleyes:
 
BuffyR said:
Oil companies drill where oil is.
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That is the bottom line. We wanted off shore drilling. We got off shore drilling and the problems that come with it. BP didn't do this to us. We did this to ourselves. This problem is bigger than Obama or BP. This is the result of the entire world's unwavering dependence on oil, foreign or otherwise. We need alternative forms of energy now.
 
bonvivant said:
That is the bottom line. We wanted off shore drilling. We got off shore drilling and the problems that come with it. BP didn't do this to us. We did this to ourselves. This problem is bigger than Obama or BP. This is the result of the entire world's unwavering dependence on oil, foreign or otherwise. We need alternative forms of energy now.
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Could not agree with you more.
 
bonvivant said:
That is the bottom line. We wanted off shore drilling. We got off shore drilling and the problems that come with it. BP didn't do this to us. We did this to ourselves. This problem is bigger than Obama or BP. This is the result of the entire world's unwavering dependence on oil, foreign or otherwise. We need alternative forms of energy now.
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I agree to some extent--while I do think BP is responsible for the Gulf disaster, our oil consumption is certainly the cause of this type of drilling. And this is something the fed govmt should be initiating. The cost of hybrid cars is ridiculous--my lease is up in December & I was looking into them, I just cannot afford it. I understand the hybrid technology makes it more costly to manufacture the cars, it'd be really nice to see some kind of financial incentive from the govmt so the average person could afford them.

I even looked into the electric cars b/c I don't drive much--maybe 10-15 miles a week--& I almost passed out when I saw how much they cost! And that cost didn't even include the purchase & installation of the charging device.

And, of course, there's another very important reason to get off our dependence on foreign oil--we're essentially funding companies that support terrorism.

I wish I knew how to do it--the solutions are costly, & US companies aren't willing to cut into their profit margins. Better minds than mine will have to figure this one out, & stronger politicians than Obama will have to make it happen. :confused:
 
LauraMax said:
I wish I knew how to do it--the solutions are costly, & US companies aren't willing to cut into their profit margins. Better minds than mine will have to figure this one out, & stronger politicians than Obama will have to make it happen. :confused:
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Amen.

Kennedy challenged the science community to put a man on the moon by the end of the 60s, and it happened. Is getting us weaned off oil so much harder than that?
 
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Well said, Laura!!

And two other points - how about the recent revelations about BP and Libya? Trading terrorists for oil contracts!! Words can not express!!!!

As for golfing, has anyone ever been on a golf course with business-men/government folks? He wasn't alone - and trust me, he was working while in between shots! More business is done on golf courses than in board rooms.
 
NY25 said:
And two other points - how about the recent revelations about BP and Libya? Trading terrorists for oil contracts!! Words can not express!!!!
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I heard that, but it makes no sense to me. The Lockerbie case was under Scottish jurisdiction not British. Megrahi was held in a prision in Scotland. Also, Libya met the terms required to end the sanctions. It took 20 years, but they paid and admitted they were responsible.

It makes me think there is something else going on here.
 
The BP-Libya-Scotland Lockerbie bomber story is old news. A little less than a year to be exact. However, The Washington Post has a source who claims the Obama Administration knew about the whole thing and gave their blessing for it. Either way, the truth better get out there quickly. BP has to answer and now so does the White House. Obama has received a lot of donor cash from BP as you may know. I would be shocked if the US government didn't know ahead of time about the transfer of the bomber. The question for Obama is---did he give his blessing?
Bush and 9/11? He's not relevent anymore since he is not running the country. An FYI---I'm not a Republican. :)
A bad response is a bad response. Obama grades an F for his handling of the spill. It's almost criminal.
Have a great weekend everyone. We had a minor earthquake here in Annapolis. A whopping 3.6.....not quite California but big for us.
Trevor :)
 
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