As expected, President Obama is planning to lift the drilling moratorium and to return to his planned drilling program off pristine areas of the East Coast. While Obama is no longer claiming that oil rigs really do not spill much, it really does not matter much. Bureau head Michael Bromwich has announced that the six-month ban is unlikely to be renewed in a blow to environmentalists. One lasting change? The Obama Administration changed the name of the scandal-laden Minerals Management Service to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The Administration has been putting on a full court press with officials expressing relief that they can find no large amounts of oil left — brushing over the millions of gallons of toxic chemicals that they allowed BP to dump into the ocean to disperse the oil. Experts have objected that the Obama Administration has been actively downplaying research showing these chemicals remain in the food chain for many years. Administration officials have said that the health impact of these chemicals remains uncertain — leading others to question the decision to dump millions of gallons into the ocean.
The recent public offensive appears calculated in part to lift the ban. In the ultimate example of “out of sight out of mind,” Bromwich insists that he can “see no information so far that would justify extending the moratorium.”
Source: CNN
From Huffington Post (8/4/2010)
The Crime of the Century: What BP and the US Government Don’t Want You to Know, Part I
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-cope/the-crime-of-the-century_b_662971.html
(This article includes photographs.)
Excerpts:
The unprecedented disaster caused by the BP oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon 252 site continues to expand even as National Incident Commander Thad Allen and BP assert that the situation is improving, the blown-out source capped and holding steady, the situation well in hand and cleanup operations are being scaled back. The New York Times declared on the front page this past week that the oil was disolving more rapidly than anticipated. Time magazine reported that environmental anti-advocate Rush Limbaugh had a point when he said the spill was a “leak”. Thad Allen pointed out in a press conference that boats are still skimming on the surface, a futile gesture when the dispersant Corexit is being used to break down oil on the surface. As the oil is broken down, it mixes with the dispersant and flows under or over any booming operations.
To judge from most media coverage, the beaches are open, the fishing restrictions being lifted and the Gulf resorts open for business in a healthy, safe environment. We, along with Pierre LeBlanc, spent the last few weeks along the Gulf coast from Louisiana to Florida, and the reality is distinctly different. The coastal communities of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida have been inundated by the oil and toxic dispersant Corexit 9500, and the entire region is contaminated. The once pristine white beaches that have been subject to intense cleaning operations now contain the oil/dispersant contamination to an unknown depth. The economic impacts potentially exceed even the devastation of a major hurricane like Katrina, the adverse impacts on health and welfare of human populations are increasing every minute of every day and the long-term effects are potentially life threatening.
Over the Gulf from the Source (official term for the Deepwater Horizon spill site) in to shore there is virtually no sign of life anywhere in the vast areas covered by the dispersed oil and Corexit. This in a region previously abundant with life above and below the ocean’s surface in all its diversity. For months now, scientists and environmental organizations have been asking where all the animals are. The reported numbers of marine animals lost from BP fall far short of the observed loss. The water has a heavy appearance and the slightly iridescent greenish yellow color that extends as far as the eye can see.
On two, unrestricted day-long flights, on July 22nd and 23rd, we were fortunate enough to be on with official clearance. We saw a total of four distressed dolphins and three schools of rays on the surface. As the bottom of the ocean is covered with crude and only the oil on the surface broken up by dispersant, the rays are forced up to the surface in a futile attempt to find food and oxygen. Birds are scarce where one would usually find thousands upon thousands. The Gulf of Mexico from the Source into the shore is a giant kill zone.
*****
The reason BP has gone to such great lengths to hide the devastation caused by the irresponsible drilling operations and blow out at Mississippi Canyon 252 is financial. Every death that results from the oil spill has a cash value, whether animal or human. Images of dead animals are difficult to spin in the media, and they resonate across all demographics. BP also has a strong interest in maintaining a business-as-usual model for the beach resort communities along the Gulf Coast that have been economically devastated and lost the majority of their annual revenue during the summer season of 2010. The only sharks circling the Gulf waters now are based on land.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/ken-buck-is-third-leg-of_n_678504.html Ken buck is the third leg of the tea party. He is against abortion in the case of rape and incest.
Byron,
Just thought I’d point this out “one by a company with an historical sketchy record (BP).”
The point isn’t that one bad actor’s actions caused a spill. The point is that one bad actor was ABLE to cause the spill.
Swarthmore mom,
Very even handed discussion on that link … Thanks
Elaine,
This is a most disturbing article … and calls to mind the video you posted a few days ago
A good article on progressives and the administration by Nate Silver:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/08/as-liberals-lose-hope-white-house-is.html
And this is exactly the sort of change we were all expecting when we voted for Obama . . . right?
The wingnuts want to wreck everything & well will die in a giant fireball of our own creation. The Dems seem content to have us die slowly in a fetid pool of our own waste. Some choice, I guess I am now part of the “professional left”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/obama-and-the-left-part-2_b_678443.html Good discussion of Obama and what progressives in the democratic party want from him.
Byron,
Canada requires a pre-drilled relief well and apparently companies are still willing to drill offshore… Buddha’s right, the ‘expense’ argument doesn’t hold water.
Bdaman
1, August 11, 2010 at 12:03 pm
The Obama Administration changed the name of the scandal-laden Minerals Management Service to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Change you can believe in.
Suckers
==========================================================
And I raise you one “drill, baby, drill”
Byron,
With the record profits oil companies have been posting? I’m not buying the expense argument. Although I agree that we should focus on shallow waters over anything below 1000 ft.
The science games being played by BP are directly related to its ongoing efforts to limit its civil liability. The games being played by the Administration are merely favors to the industry.
The Obama Administration changed the name of the scandal-laden Minerals Management Service to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Change you can believe in.
Suckers
From Raw Story (8/11/2010)
Gulf scientist: Justice Department is gagging me from studying oil spill
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0811/gulf-scientists-hampered-restrictions-confidentially-agreements/
Excerpt:
In May, a US Fish an Wildlife officer took away ant samples from some of Hooper-Bui’s PhD students because their project had not been approved by Incident Command, a joint program of BP and federal agencies.
“Because I choose not to work for BP’s consultants or NRDA, my job is difficult and access to study sites is limited.”
The media also felt the effects of limited access to the Gulf through restrictions on plane and boat traffic that made it difficult to document the worst spill in U.S. history.
Although Hooper-Bui could gain almost infinite access to the Gulf by choosing to work for BP or a government bureaucracy like the NRDA, she notes that discussing her research would be limited by stringent confidentiality agreements.
“The price of secrecy involved with participating in [National Resource Damage Assessment] or conducting research under the auspices of BP is too high. My students and I couldn’t discuss our data, results or experiences for three years or until the litigation against BP is settled,” she wrote.
As Raw Story reported, scientists in the Gulf of Mexico have already found that the larvae of blue crabs has been tainted with oil. An ominous finding, according to Bob Thomas, a biologist at Loyola University, because, “it would suggest the oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water.”
“Something likely will eat those oiled larvae … and then that animal will be eaten by something bigger and so on,” Thomas noted.
Like the blue crabs in the Gulf, the effect of the spill on the insects and arthropods studied by Hooper-Bui is an important indicator of the impact on the coastal ecosystem.
“Insects were not a primary concern when oil was gushing into the Gulf, but now they may be the best indicator of stressor effects on the coastal northern Gulf of Mexico,” wrote Hooper-Bui. “Those stressors include oil, dispersants, and cleanup activities.”
With the tight regulations imposed by BP and federal agencies, Hooper-Bui worries that “the independent researcher may be added to the list of species that will be endangered by this ecological disaster.”
Buddha:
not a bad idea. But then wouldn’t the expense be an issue because for every well you would need 2 rigs. Maybe only on deep water wells? But had BP done that it would have saved them hundreds of millions of dollars so would it really be that much more expensive?
Personally I think we ought to concentrate on wells closer to shore in less than a 1,000′ of water. Although one outcome of this disaster is that a good deal has probably been learned. The best teacher is a screw up of large proportion. It would be interesting to see what lessons were learned.
I am sorry, but not surprised to see our President, Bush 44, continue on his course of corporate servitude. I voted for him with no great enthusiasm, but I can proudly state that I voted for Dennis Kucinich in the Wisconsin Primary and would love to vote for for him in the 2012 Presidential Election. Are you listening, Robert Gibbs? If the Tea Party splits the Republicans and the Progressives walk away from the corrupted Democratic Party and form a new Bull Moose party, there might be an entirely new alignment of political parties in the U.S.
Buddha,
Should be mandatory.
You can trust me when I tell you:
1. Most of the oil from the spill in the Gulf has disappeared.
2. The dispersants used weren’t really very toxic.
3. Seafood from the Gulf is safe to eat.
4. The check’s in the mail.
5. Of course, I’ll still respect you in the morning.
😉
My view is that the six month moratorium was merely a political reaction to the situation. Six months for what? I’ve yet to hear an explanation of what was to be done during that period of time and, to my knowledge, we know nothing more now than we did when the moratorium was first announced.
Slarti,
In re Wikileaks: You’re a boon of good ideas this morning.