Hat Tip to NewsOne for this one!
This one examines some of the impact of the oil spill on daily lives in Louisiana.
Tag Archives: BP
Republican Judge Who Overthrew Oil Drill Ban Had Oil Interests
Another Republican appointed Judge…
Another dirty deal.
Martin Feldman was a Reagan Appointee to the Federal Court.
An Under the Table Conflict of Interest
Judge who overturned drilling bans had shares in the oil industry
Martin Feldman, who ruled against Barack Obama’s moratorium, accused of conflict of interests
The judge who overturned deepwater drilling bans allowing BP to resume oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico, had shares in Transocean and other firms in the industry, it was revealed today.
Yesterday, a Louisiana-based judge Martin Feldman ruled that Barack Obama’s six-month drilling moratorium in the Gulf was unjustifiedbecause it assumed that all deepwater drilling was as dangerous as BP’s.
The White House promised an immediate appeal.
Meanwhile environmental groups have said Feldman’s ruling may have to be rescinded because of the possible conflict of interests.
Feldman’s most recent financial disclosure forms show that he was paid dividends from his shares in Transocean, the firm that owned the Deepwater oil rig that exploded in April killing 11 oil workers, prompting America’s worst environmental disaster.
The forms, which relate to the calendar year 2008, also show that he sold shares in Halliburton, which was also involved in the disaster.
Feldman’s other interests included Ocean Energy, Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources, and Parker Drilling. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama Gets Pissed
Been waiting for this for a long time…
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Oil Spill? Why Bother…
Courtland Milloy produced a really on time piece yesterday –
Obama can’t seem to catch a break on his oil spill response
Which started out with the very telling paragraph –
So now the rap on President Obama is that his response to the oil spill along the Gulf Coast hasn’t been heartfelt enough. He comes off as emotionally detached, critics say, and, by the way, isn’t it a pity that the white folk from the coastal red states who never wanted a black man in the White House in the first place are complaining that he doesn’t care about them?
Governor Lester Maddux (with gun), and his son chase a black customer away from his segregated restaurant. Maddux would later have a change of heart, and during his term as Governor would appoint more African Americans to office than any Governor before him. He would remain though, a stanch states rights conservative until his death.
Lets take that one step deeper. The states most likely to be impacted by the massive spill, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama are all “red” states. If Obama could wave his hand and make the whole thing dissipate tomorrow – the white folks in those states are still not going to vote for him, or do a damn thing about the massive disparities in their states between white and black poverty, income, education, and incarceration.
Further – the Republican Politicians controlling those states have locked arms on the Courthouse steps, in acts of defiance similar to the infamous Lester Maddox against any proposal or bill promoted by the Obama Administration. They have blocked his nominees, whether for the Courts or appointees to Federal Offices. They have steadfastly refused to participate in governing the country, and have burned every single olive branch he has held out to them. There quite simply is no reason at this point for President Obama to enter into any agreement with any of these Republican stalwarts – simply because they have proven time and again not to be worthy of that trust.
Not inconsequentially these guys, and their political machinery have been in bed with big oil for decades. Their indignation at President Obama’s plan to hold BP fully accountable is an indication of just how deeply these whores have sold out their constituencies. During the Bushit Administration big oil had a large comfortable chair behind the desk in the Oval Office, fully acquiescent and accountable for the start of an unnecessary war for oil in Iraq, costing over 5,000 American lives and killing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. “Drill, Baby, Drill” as such, not mysteriously became the war chant of the McCain/Palin campaign.
When Katrina devastated Louisiana, the then Governor a Democrat had the temerity to complain about the Federal response. She was blackmailed by the White House, telling her to sit down and STFU…
Or get even less. All the while, instead of working towards the recovery, Republicans stabbed her in the back (including current Governor “Bobbity Jindal”), touting her “incompetence”. Now the shoe is on the other foot for Bobbity. WTF should President Obama trust him? He (Bobbity”) has already proven himself to be a rat when he rejected the TARP funds. Further, there is substantial evidence that Republicans in these states worked against NOLA’s recovery, based on the fact that eliminating a large portion of the City’s black population changed the political landscape in their favor.
Indeed the only ostensible reason I can see to hurry up and do anything on this deal…
Is to save the wildlife.
F34k the Republicans, whose goal is to make it a no-win situation…
For anyone.
BP Builds “Floatels” To House Gulf Workers
I had suggested this as a methodology to construct housing quickly post-earthquake in Haiti. It is not aesthetic, but it is a heck of a lot better than living under a tarp. Used shipping containers can be purchased under $2,000. Putting in windows and doors is a matter of cutting them out. Insulation is nothing more than shot foam. With a basic bathroom and kitchen – you are looking at $10-12,000 a unit in quantity…
About 1/3 to 1/4th of the cost of any modular. Set it up as a production line and 30-40,000 of these can be converted, shipped, and delivered a month. They are earthquake proof, hurricane proof is anchored properly, and nearly indestructible – which is why they aren’t recycled and sit in giant scrap yards surrounding major ports.
BP FLoatel
Oil companies often have to house exploration crews in remote locations. They are experts at design, building, an construction of modular housing and it’s support infrastructure (sewer/electric/plumbing). I have no idea why none of them has ever felt the need to help the disaster areas with some public service in terms of expertise at doing this…
BP establishes floating hotels for workers in preparation for massive cleanup on Gulf Coast
The 40-foot-long corrugated steel boxes, resembling oversized white shipping containers, are stacked two high and three wide atop a barge at Port Fourchon, the oil industry’s hub on the Gulf of Mexico. The words “Martin Quarters” painted in black offer the only clue that they’re not stuffed with cargo.
This barge is a floating hotel, or “flotel,” set up by BP and several subcontractors to accommodate more than 500 workers hired to clean up the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Temporary housing is the only way to station workers at Port Fourchon, a massive shipyard that serves offshore oil rigs and is surrounded by ecologically sensitive marshes and beaches…
“There are no permanent residents here on the port,” said Dennis Link, a manager from a BP refinery who’s handling logistics at the 1,300-acre site that’s easily accessible by ship, but reachable on land only by a state road that snakes through the bayous.
On Monday afternoon, the living quarters on the flotel sat empty. Generators pumped in cool air and powered the lights, and at the foot of each bunk sat a towel, washcloth and individually wrapped bar of soap. If necessary, four tents on dry land nearby can house 500 more workers. Workers will likely be trucked in on the two-lane state road. Read the rest of this entry »
Top Kill…No Kill at All
WRAPUP 4-BP fails to plug oil well with ‘top kill’
VENICE, La./HOUSTON, May 29 (Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L) said on Saturday the complex “top kill” maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day.
“We have not been able to stop the flow,” said Doug Suttles, the London-based oil giant’s chief operating officer.
“We have made the decision to move on to the next option,” he added.
That next option is called the lower marine riser package cap, one that captures oil from the well rather than plug it. Suttles said it could take four days or longer to show results.
U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Mary Landry, flanking Suttles at a daily briefing, said the news of the top kill failure was disappointing and that the best option for ending the spill was drilling a relief well which BP estimates will take two months.
The top kill maneuver started on Wednesday and involved pumping heavy fluids and other material into the well shaft to stifle the flow, then seal it with cement.
But it was fraught with risk because it had never been attempted at the depth of the well, a mile (1.6 km) beneath the sea.
The failure was a further blow to BP’s reputation and bottom line. The company has spent $940 million so far to try to plug the leak and clean up the sea and soiled marshlands vital to wildlife and fishing.
The news will also put further pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama, who is struggling to persuade Americans that his administration can handle the crisis. The plodding clean-up effort has sickened workers and left Gulf coast residents frustrated and angry.
Gulf Oil Spill Reaches the Marshes in Louisiana
This is the beginning of a wide scale environmental catastrophe. This is a total kill scenario impacting the area in a number of disastrous ways. Prior to the building of the MRGO Canal (and subsequent filling of it due to it’s role in the post Katrina collapse of the levies) the marshland to the south of New Orleans protected the coast from storms, buffering the waves and flooding. If the oil kills off the marsh, there is noting to impede that water during a storm.
Secondarily, the vast majority of the food supply for the marine environment starts right there in those coastal marshes. Many species of fish spawn there, or spend the early part of their lives protected from predators by the shallow water and reeds. Oysters, which start out as near microscopic “spats” swim in these marshes seeking tidal locations to attach themselves and grow, collecting nutrients in the currents.
The death of the marshland starts a cascade in the ocean food chain that reaches all the way up to the top.
Drill, Baby, Spill!… Indeed.
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Gulf Oil Spill Much Bigger Than Claimed By BP and Government
Hat Tip to the Destructionist who actually figured this one out and posted it two days ago –
How Bad is it? If Overlayed on the DC-Baltimore Area - This Bad
You can overlay the size of the surface spill on any Geographic area at Google Earth here. To get a feel of the damage so far, here is a great collection of images.
National Public Radio reported late Thursday that scientific analysis of a video of the spill, released Wednesday by British Petroleum, put the estimate closer to 70,000 barrels a day. It says those findings suggest the spill is already much larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska.
Rough calculations using satellite imagery suggested the leak could “easily be four or five times” the U.S. government estimate, Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University who is an expert in the analysis of oil slicks, told the New York Times.
The 5,000 barrels a day figure was produced quickly by government scientists in Seattle, the Times reports. It appears to have been determined using a method not specifically recommended for major oil spills…
Independent scientists estimate the renegade wellhead at the bottom of the Gulf could be spewing up to 25,000 barrels a day, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
Meanwhile, BP Execs continued to downplay the size of the spill, dis-inviting scientists from Woods Hole Laboratory to come and get accurate measurements –
Read the rest of this entry »
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