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: oil spill
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Meanwhile environmental groups have said Feldman’s ruling may have to be rescinded because of the possible conflict of interests.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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New Projections Show Gulf Oil Surging Up Atlantic Coast
Just in case you thought the worst was over with the Oil disaster in the Gulf, new projections now call for the spill to travel up the Atlantic coast, possibly all the way to Delaware or New Jersey.
Potential Map of Oil Spill Route
New Projections Show Gulf Oil Surging Up Atlantic Coast
New projections show that currents will soon carry oil from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean and up the Eastern seaboard — but won’t hit New York, probably.
The projections, released today, on day 45 of the BP oil spill, come from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) — which, despite its name, routinely studies ocean currents as well.
The NCAR released a video from a computer model, which shows that the oil will begin to drift around the tip of the Florida Peninsula around day 72 of the spill — and then currents will quickly carry it around Florida and up the East coast.
It will reach North Carolina by day 80 and then flow east into the Atlantic Ocean.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask me, ‘Will the oil reach Florida?’ Actually, our best knowledge says the scope of this environmental disaster is likely to reach far beyond Florida, with impacts that have yet to be understood,” said NCAR scientist Synte Peacock, in their report.
However, Peacock and the other researchers also emphasize that this is a “simulation” and not a “forecast.”
The results were achieved using a computer program that simulates dye traveling through ocean currents. So no actual dye was released into water; the computer instead reached its projection by calculating the dispersal rate of a “dye tracer.”
The report admits that the programmed “dye” has little physical similarity with oil. The dye in the model “has the same density as the surrounding water, does not coagulate or form slicks, and is not subject to chemical breakdown by bacteria or other forces,” the report indicates.
“It is impossible to accurately predict the precise location of the oil weeks or months from now,” NCAR said in its report, instead calling its projections “an envelope of possible scenarios for the oil dispersal.”
Nevertheless, Tri-Staters are on alert.
“I think everybody who has a fishing boat or goes fishing is thinking about it a lot,” New Jersey fishing boat captain Howard Bogan told NBCNewYork last week.
The Other Oil Disaster – Real Estate Value On Gulf Drops Through The Floor
The “Redneck Riviera”, the oceanfront properties running from Louisiana over to Florida’s northwestern coast had been a booming area until the Real Estate Meltdown…
Property values are currently running up to 65% below their 2005 peak.
The oil spill, expected to impact the beaches in many of the areas will further devalue properties – possibly forcing thousands of foreclosures as people find themselves sitting on vacation properties worth only 5-15% of what they paid for them.
Oil Spill Expected To Trigger Thousands Of Foreclosures Of Gulf Real Estate
Homes along the immediate path of the Gulf Coast oil leak are forecast to decline at least 30% in value as a result of the environmental catastrophe produced by British Petroleum’s gushing oil well 42-miles off of Louisiana, according to a new forecast by Housing Predictor.
The forecast is being issued after more than a month of research and monitoring the impact of the oil leak, which has poisoned the eco-system along the marshes of the Louisiana coast line and as far east as Alabama. Housing analysts contend that the projected losses in housing value will top that of any oil disaster in the nation’s history and will send tens of thousands of additional homes into foreclosure as a result. Read the rest of this entry »
Spike Lee – “BP, Oil Companies, the Government – They All In Cahoots”!
Mr President –
“One time, go off!” director Spike Lee urged on CNN’s “AC 360°.” “If there’s any one time to go off, this is it, because this is a disaster.”
Here’s the deal. This United States ship of state has been reduced to a leaky old scow by years of mismanagement, “Starve the Beast”, the fallacy of smaller government, and disastrous deregulation. At this point in time, to keep it afloat – EVERYBODY needs to be rowing, bailing, or patching the holes.
It isn’t just BP you need to “go off on” Mr President…
It’s those Republicans who keep trying to drill more holes.
Back after Katrina, Republicans argued it wasn’t the Federal Government’s job to help the states. This from Uncle Tommie Sowell after Katrina –
“The Federal Government should not give bail out money. People should get private insurance. Because the government causes people to live in dangerous areas. If the market could decide without government intervention, people would be less likely to live in disaster prone areas.
He lives in an earthquake prone area and feels if his house is destroyed, that he does not have a right to have taxpayers in other parts of the country paying to rebuild his house.”
The states in the Gulf region have encouraged oil development with low (or no) taxes, favorable laws, and have turned a blind eye to the risks and environmental damage…
By Uncle Tommie’s logic – the taxpayers in other parts of the country aren’t responsible for the Gulf States foolishness…
That IS after all – what “small government” means.
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.
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 »
Heck of a Delusion – Brownie!
This is the sort of guy put into power by the Bushit Administration, and should the current crop of right wingers win another Presidency – will be put into power to fail again.
Michael Brown maxxed out on his Peter Principle, sometime shortly after grade school – yet by being a loyal Bushite was put into position to do vast harm to the American People.
His current theory? The Obama Terrorists blew up the oil well int he Gulf to destroy the coal and oil industries…
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Second Civil War In Virginia – McDonnell Supports Offshore Drilling
Decided to take a few days of down time combining two of my favorite things – a relaxing view of the ocean, and fishing. Limited out yesterday on Flounder Fishing in the Intercoastal back bays of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and I’m headed out this evening to (try and) catch some Drum surfcasting. The Land that time forgot, indeed!
Fortunately, time didn’t forget Internet Service, which in my case is DSL provided (barely) by Verizon – and is about a crappy as it gets and still be sorta functional. I’ll probably do a blog later about how, in the US, the quality (not quantity) of DSL Service in the areas reached is the worst in the world.
IN any event, the news from the Gulf of Mexico continues to be bad. As I gazed out over the beach to the surf, I tried to imagine the beaches covered in black oil, the birds dying, fish kills – and the oyster and clam beds destroyed…
For no other reason than greed and avarice.
This area has survived numerous hurricanes, and the even more destructive NorthEasters, and just off the coast is one part of the Graveyard of the Atlantic, where German UBoats during WWII sank hundreds of ships, spilling their contents (and fuel bunkers) along the coast. It is not unusual even today to see the imprint of man along these beaches with parts of those ships washing ashore – and every once in a great while, even a Spanish Piece of Eight from a bygone era. These disasters large and small have, over time been swallowed by the winds and the waves. IN the 20 years I’ve been coming here, I’ve watched the crash site of a WWII Douglass Dauntless Bomber, which splashed down in one of the back bays, degrade each year – until only a few rusty colored spars are left from this intrusion by man 65 years ago.
But what of an environmental disaster the size of the Gulf? Will it be 20-30-40… 50 or 100 years before the fisheries recover? Will they ever recover?
This area is the center of the major migratory path for everything from fish to Butterflies. Our last Republican pro-business Governor damn near killed off the Bluefish fishery by allowing the Japanese Fleet to stretch a net across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. That has still not recovered 15 years later.
Governor Bob McDonnell in the face of this disaster recently re-iterated his support for oil drilling off Virginia’s Coast.
Bob McDonnell Reaffirms Support for Offshore Drilling
Now, we had on Civil War fought in majority in this State…
Maybe it’s time for another.
Shrimp Oyster Production In Gulf Dead Due to Oil Spill
And they want to do this shit off the East Coast of Virginia? The rig that blew up is one of the new deep water rigs of the type which would be used to drill off of Virginia’s coast. Anybody out there know where I can get a few dozen unused Exocet missiles…
Cheap?
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The oil disaster plaguing the Gulf of Mexico and our coastal states puts our desperate need for a new clean energy economy in stark relief. We need to move away from dirty, dangerous and deadly energy sources.
We are pleased that the White House is now saying it will suspend any new offshore drilling while the explosion and spill are investigated, but there should be no doubt left that drilling will only harm our coasts and the people who live there.
Taking a temporary break from offshore drilling is an important step, but it’s not enough. We need to stop new offshore drilling for good, now. And then we need an aggressive plan to wean America from dirty fossil fuels in the next two decades.
This BP offshore rig that exploded was supposed to be state-of-the-art. We’ve also been assured again and again that the hundreds of offshore drilling rigs along our beaches are completely safe. Now, we’ve seen workers tragically killed. We’ve seen our ocean lit on fire, and now we’re watching hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic oil seep toward wetlands and wildlife habitat.
This rig’s well is leaking 210,000 gallons of crude every day, wiping out aquatic life and smothering the coastal wetlands of Louisiana and Mississippi. As the reeking slick spreads over thousands of square miles of ocean, it rapidly approaches the title of worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, even worse than 1989’s Exxon Valdez oil spill. The well is under 5,000 feet of water, and it could take weeks or even months to cap it.
This disaster could unfortunately happen at any one of the hundreds of drilling platforms off our coasts, at any moment. It could happen at the drilling sites that the oil industry has proposed opening along the beaches of the Atlantic Coast.
Indeed, even before this spill, the oil and gas industry had torn apart the coastal wetlands of the Louisiana Bayou over the years. These drilling operations have caused Louisiana to lose 25 square miles of coastal wetlands, which are natural storm barriers, each year…
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Video: Worst case: ‘We won’t have shrimp’// // //
Video: Blame game in oil spill//
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Video: Fishermen help along Louisiana coast//
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Video: Fed scrambles against oil spill//
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RELATED TOPICS
Indeed, even before this spill, the oil and gas industry had torn apart the coastal wetlands of the Louisiana Bayou over the years. These drilling operations have caused Louisiana to lose 25 square miles of coastal wetlands, which are natural storm barriers, each year.
Oil Disaster Threatens Gulf Coast Fisheries
Get ready for a little WD40 with those Oysters on the half shell…
How did we get here?
Drill Baby, Spill…
And you wonder why I am not thrilled about the possibility of drilling off the Virginia Coast?
This is rapidly shaping up to the worst environmental disaster since Exxon Valdez, eclipsing the massive spills after Hurricane Katrina.
Save a Duck – Shoot a Republican, indeed…
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