This afternoon, AP photographer Charles Riedel filed some of the most disturbing images yet of the effect the BP oil spill is having on Gulf Coast birds:
And as we see pictures like this being released, the right wingers are still crying Drill Baby Drill.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote President Obama a letter on Wednesday criticizing his decision to implement a temporary moratorium of deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Arguing that his state had already suffered crippling economic consequences, the Louisiana Republican urged Obama to rethink his decision to suspend activity at 33 previously permitted deepwater drilling rigs -- including 22 "currently in operation off the Louisiana coast."
Joining Jindal in his call to lift the moratorium is Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) who accused the Obama administration of pursuing a policy that "could kill thousands of Louisiana jobs."
Seriously?? Jindal and Vitter do realize this OIL DISASTER in the Gulf has already cost thousands their jobs, their generations old way of life has come to a halt because of deepwater drilling turned disaster, Right?? Who are they kidding, doesn't sound to me like they give a damn about the small business mans plight.
Here's some of the reply from the White House to Jindals cries for help,
The 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling was instituted for a clear reason: the President believes we must ensure that the BP Deepwater Horizon spill is never repeated. This will allow for the new safety equipment and procedures announced in Secretary Salazar's May 27th report to be implemented and for the independent commission to review the cause of the spill and analyze the rules and regulations governing offshore drilling.
A repeat of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill would have grave economic consequences for regional commerce and do further damage to the environment.Good for you President Obama! Do not cave to these greedy oil company addicted snakes. And speaking of snakes here's a good read from Think Progress. Can you say Halliburton??
Among the drilling rigs that have frozen exploration in the Gulf are 2 operated by BP, and 2 jointly operated by BP and another company. Proceeding without the moratorium would mean that BP would continue deepwater exploration in the Gulf.
Economic impacts were certainly taken into account - the moratorium is surgical and shallow water drilling, in which the risks are better known, is continuing under stricter safety rules. Additionally, oil and gas production is continuing at the existing set of production wells, so we are not expecting short term effects on our oil and gas supply.
Under the administration's legislative proposal to assist those harmed by the spill, workers unemployed because of the 6-month moratorium would be eligible for unemployment assistance. The proposal would also create jobs for cleanup, restoration, renovation and recovery. And the Small Business Administration is currently offering economic injury loans to impacted businesses on the Gulf Coast.
27 comments:
These are really disturbing pictures. They should be plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the country. Then, all the dead animals should be shipped directly to BP corporate headquarters.
Not to worry, we have Obama on the task working hard along with the best scientific minds the government can muster.
Certainly all will be well again soon.
tick tock,tick tock,tick, tock...
Everyone should immediately cease using all petroleum products in protest!
I agree SF.
We need to break our addiction. I think we should all go cold turkey.
No air conditoners,no driving,no electric,no hot water,no automatic sprinklers.
The Republicans are making a big mistake here. Obama's reasonable and cautious position is bound to be more popular with the people in the affected areas than further immediate drilling under the same lax enforcement regime that allowed this mess to happen in the first place.
Notice that all the right-wing comments on this post so far are misdirection -- attempts to change the subject. No one can defend the substance of what Jindal and Vitter said.
Scientists now project that the Gulf's "loop current" will carry the oil between Florida and Cuba into the Atlantic, where the Gulf Stream will sweep it up the coast as far as North Carolina before finally carrying it eastward out into the ocean.
In other words, just about the whole coastline of the red states will be devastated.
The Republicans had better start thinking about the actual interests of their constituents.
Everything has a cost, and we are seeing this now. There are no magic bullets.
You can amuse yourself with the Demican-Republicrat game all day, Infidel, but it resolves nothing.
Of course the pictures are sad and disturbing! This is a travesty of the first order.
Stop all drilling and oil prices will spike and the Louisiana economy that depends on drilling will tank. This on top of tourism and fishing already being devastated by the spill.
The six month moratorium was simpletonism at its finest. Why not reinspect existing rigs for safety and make a case-by-case determination?
Why doesn't the government do it's damned job and have pre-positioned assets and plans in place?
I'm still waiting for evidence that this president is smarter than the average American.
If you would read the White House response SF, he is doing what you propose he do...
OK. I'll go read it. I just keep hearing "six month moratorium."
Sue, the one think I don;t understand is how some right ring fools think it rational to blame Obama for the GOP Gusher. Was it Obama who created the GOP culture of corruption in the MMS? Was it Obama who let the Big Oil deregulate themselves in Cheney's office?
The problem is that the GOP allowed Big Oil to exceed our technological capability to undo the mess. The fallout from this will go on for years, and nothing anyone can do will change that.
To blam Obama for the absense of technology before the GOP allowed drilling at depth is irrational.
A six month moratorium will give them time to inspect existing offshore platforms.
Part of the companies response plans are to "have pre-positioned assets and plans in place", not the government.
"Part of the companies response plans are to "have pre-positioned assets and plans in place", not the government."
Glad to see you support private enterprise doing this instead of the government.
Cut through TomCat's partisan blather, and I agree with the central point: Prudent measures must be put in place and enforced by the government. It is their constitutional duty.
This deep water drilling is actually a trade-off. We want oil but we don't want to see the rigs from our coastline. The logical conclusion is to go farther out, which means deeper.
For those of you who doubt market forces, BP stock is taking a beating, and some analysts think this could be their downfall.
Which do you think is a greater threat to a company? A gaggle of porn-surfing government bureaucrats, or financial failure?
BP took a calculated risk with this clamp device, and we all lost. What are the odds some other company will be foolish enough to do the same thing?
Unfortunately, private companies left to their own devices have lied about having "pre-positioned assets and plans in place". BP lied with the Exxon Valdez spill and they lied with the current gusher. They did not have adequate assets or plans in place.
They are drilling in deep water because there is a lot of oil there. It has nothing to do with their desire not to place offshore rigs where you can see them. It is purely an economic decision.
The infrequency of big spills is extraordinary considering the size of the offshore oil industry that provides Americans with affordable energy.
According to the Interior Department's most recent data, in 2002 the Outer Continental Shelf had 4,000 oil and gas facilities, 80,000 workers in offshore and support activities, and 33,000 miles of pipeline. Between 1985 and 2001, these offshore facilities produced seven billion barrels of oil. The spill rate was a minuscule 0.001%.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342604575222472358019534.html
Of course, one oh shit wipes out a thousand atta-boys.
Such an accident is still unacceptable, which is why the drilling industry has invested heavily to prevent them. The BP well had a blowout preventer, which contains several mechanisms designed to seal pipes in the event of a problem. These protections have worked in the past, and the reason for the failure this time is unknown. This was no routine safety failure but a surprising first.
Go read the whole article. It's a balanced, informative piece.
I tried to get back to that WSJ link and now I get a preview only. Rotten capitalist bastards! Making me pay for news!
I apologize for the bum link...
As a confirmed Pinko Commie Capitalist, and now also a member of the "I don't give shit anymore" club, I will benefit from the destruction of the Gulf. It's already ruined so soon Sarah Palin and other right wing loonie my club no longer gives a shit about will call for unlimited drilling in the Gulf because it's already fucked up beyond salvaging. Might as well create a bunch of oil rig jobs and make the best of the situation like any good concientious corporatist would.
My Exxon stock should soar and I can retire early. Just not to one of the Gulf States as I said in my current post. I'm thinking Minnesota. With global warming the Winters aren't as bad as they were when I was a kid. The mosquitos aren't near as bad either. And with the longer growing season I've been catching some really good size Smallmouths and Largemouths. Got a 5 1/2 pound LM last year plus loads of Northern Pike. Not big ones but good numbers.
Drill baby drill!
Good call, Truth. I see you have the right-wing-wacko thinking down pat. This is probably Sarah long range plan to turn Alaska into a warm weather resort area.
Palin and the rightwing wackos have a much more sinister plan. They are salivating over the second coming, In fact they are single handedly bringing it on with their pollute baby pollute policies. KILL THE EARTH!!! YAY!!
fuckin sickos....
Now there's an image for you. Sarah salivating over a "second coming".
Frodo has spent many hours in the Parish known as Plaquemin(e), and offers a suggestion or two for those suffering from the debacle before us. Have you seen any black people being interviewed on Grand Isle, or anyplace else? Why not? Google "Leander Perez" and read about one of the worst human beings to ever draw breath.
Jon Stewart last night talked about the Vietnamese fishermen, and Frodo thought of the gentle people who netted the bays behind the lonely fisherman, and offered him part of their catch.
The racist bastards of Judge Perez complain about losing their way of life. Perhaps, muses Frodo, it is merely Nature's pay-back.
The shame is that we all lose.
Frodo I read some about Leander Perez, what a racist buffoon, sorta reminds me of a modern day Limbaugh! The meek shall inherit the earth....and racist evil men like Perez will get theirs...
My spies tell me Lisa and Sarah Palin are happy that they will save money on pelican cooking oil. The pelicans are already covered with it.
I looked at all 72 pictures on Huff Po yesterday and they are heart breaking. I felt it was my duty as a consumer of oil.
All I know is that BP should pay for this mess - all of it. Those pictures were haunting me all day
I'll admit I have bee critical of the President initially in his handling of the situation....I wanted him to be as pissed off about it as I am, and to show it.
Not that I wanted him to put on scuba gear and go try to plug it himself, but Chris Matthews asked this question awhile ago; how would Harry S. Truman reacted to this crisis?
Harry probably would have done what he threatened to do to the railroads and steel industry when they threatened to strike after WWII- if you go out I'll national both industries. To hell with worrying about a second term or the legality of the situation, this is a national emergency. Truman would have shown a little more fire in his belly than Barack- saving OUR Gulf is more important than any second term for any president. Of course had Obama tried to commandeer private vessels or take over BP and their assets he would have been accused of being a commie socialist....again.
But then in a strange ironic twist, on the floor of the House of Representatives a Republican representative from Minnesota blasted Obama for NOT commandeering vessels to fight the spill.
The speaker was none other than Michelle Bachmann...I'd venture to say she isn't flipping. Politically, that is.
I did not have sex with either Nikki Haley or Michelle Bachman!
Curse my manly demeaner and irresistable good looks in my sunglasses, safari hat and judicial garb!
One more thing....this from TWITTER-
billmaher
Every asshole who ever chanted 'Drill baby drill' should have to report to the Gulf coast today for cleanup duty
This Nikki Haley republican hottie gives new meaning to "drill baby drill."
Truth you beat me to it, I was coming back here to call you a hottie!
Hugh thanks, I was in the middle of my last post when you left that comment. The American people who live nowhere near the Gulf and are not affected by it yet side with the GOP, they should be forced to clean up the beaches too!! What a bunch of idiots, and they want to put the GOP back in power....
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