Maybe a better question is "where should the outrage be directed?" Just like agribusiness, mining, oil/gas.....all being regulated by former employees or proponents. Capitalism run amok...
As a Democrat with strong feelings about protecting the environment, I can criticize the President for supporting more offshore drilling and I think he deserves it. Why? If you are going to call for the resumption of an activity off our shores with such an incredible potential for disaster, then why don't you insure that in the bill were the highest possible requirements for preventing and containing any such disaster? Did he insist on that? Did the President and the Congress do that? Not to my knowledge. And to be dependent on the industry's word that they have all this covered is, pardon me, something I would expect from the previous administration and amazingly naive. In my opinion.
Latest info: Unified Command Home Page: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/ Contingency Plans for LA/MS can be found here: http://homeport.uscg.mil/mycg/portal/ep/portDirectory.do?tabId=1&cotpId=39 Contingency Plans for AL/FL Panhandle can be found here: http://ocean.floridamarine.org/acp/mobacp/ Contingency Plans for West Coast of FL can be found here: http://ocean.floridamarine.org/ACP/STPACP/StartHere.html Shoreline Cleanup Manual can be found here: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/posted/2931/900_tropical.539351.pdf Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Procedures can be found here: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse..._Response_Action_Plan_FINAL_050410.540723.pdf
Status report from this morning... So, in the last 24 hours, they've added about 2,000 people. Not coincidentally, today is when it's expected the oil will start impacting larger swaths of land.
Honestly three weeks ago how much of a possibility did you think a disaster like this was going to happen? As far as I can tell there was very little information being mentioned about something this catastrophic. As Rhad's article above and other info being presented shows that such an accident was being considered as extremely unlikely. Should the Obama Admin. have known? Possibly but it looks like they were going on the best info available at the time. Unfortunately that info was supplied by the Oil industry and the previous Admin.. Also keep in mind Obama's executive order wasn't to start oil production right away. It was to expand exploration and research of the reserves. 20/20 is hindsight and given the stakes of what Obama is trying to accomplish his executive order doesn't seem that controversial.
When the consequences are so grave, industry assurances that the event is 'unlikely' just don't cut it. Imagine if something like this had happened in an ecologically sensitive area of Alaska. The ecology is much more vulnerable, takes much much longer to heal, is harder to access and there's no way to mobilize 2500 volunteers. Obama's consideration of expanding drilling to these areas is ill-advised. No hindsight needed.
bnb and Deckard; Do either of you think that we should expand nuclear energy or even continue with it?
what could possibly go wrong? I'm not a fan. (the safeguards had better be pretty damned good. Actually, better than pretty damned good. A level I don't think is currently possible for deep sea drilling in sensitive areas).
If it were 3 years ago oil prices would've tripled given the destruction of a rig, the thousands of gallons of oil being leaked into the gulf daily, and the expense of the cleanup. Funny how that doesn't happen now. Remember how anything oil related then would push prices more and more? The CEO of Exxon could have had an ingrown toenail and oil would have went from $70 to $80 off that.
QUESTION: If this had happened off the East Coast . . .would this be getting more urgency? I know it is not 'NEW NEWS" anymore but the lack of anything being down about it is getting disturbing? This isn't Global Warming. This is NOW This is INSTANT and folx seem ok with this thing becoming an ongoing issue. I am not saying it is easy to patch up but d*mn . . . How long has it been leaking? How long can we expect it to Leak? At this rate. . I think the Oil below will be drained completely before they cap it off Rocket River
Three weeks ago they had predicted oil would already be on land a week earlier. Its suprising and lucky that it has just now made it into some of the outlying marhes.
I don't know. Some people tell me I glow in the dark, if that's helpful. It's all the black lights over the years. Probably. You should try black light ping-pong! It's really groovy... any cat pushin' nuclear energy would dig it. In 1967, we contructed one in a screened porch at the back of a house that was in the neighborhood between Broadway and Park Place, in Southeast Houston. Two 48" black light bulbs hanging over a regulation ping-pong table. Paint all the lines with black light paint, as well as the paddles and the balls, of course. (I had a chick try to paint my balls one time, but I digress. The top of a ping-pong table is pretty hard, by the way) Aren't the interwebs amazing? I actually found an image of a modern black light ping-pong table. By the way, who posted an out-size image that distorted the page? Not cool!
