Senator Mary Landrieu of Lousiana seeks to blame environmentalists for the BP rupture and seeks to drill for more oil at 'near shore' locations.Typical Louisiana response. Politics as usual with complete abandon to the facts. The same dynamics can play out near shore as one mile down. It is the blow out preventer and grossly corrupt and negligent practices that has caused the rupture. There is absolutely no reason to drill anywhere with a chance of repeating this tragedy.
The appropriate response to this disaster is NOT to drill for more oil at any USA shoreline, but, to seek better solutions for energy and transportation. What is it that Louisiana just doesn't get?
As Congress gears up for a legislative response to the oil spill in the Gulf and energy reform more broadly, some political observers are increasingly worried that the deck may be stacked in private industry's favor.
That's because in the first three months of this year alone, the company at the heart of the current crisis, BP, has hired at least 27 lobbyists who formerly worked in Congress or the executive branch. The revolving door between the oil giant and elected office is spinning fast -- so much so that good government officials are hard-pressed to name a comparable organization with that much institutional clout on tap....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/bps-lobbying-clout-27-for_n_597510.html
The political right wing AGAIN is trying to make 'hey' with this disaster rather than seeking real solutions for the country. They are demanding near shore drilling now for what amounts to 3% of the world's oil supply. Someone needs to 'get real' already.
And there aren't that many jobs that will result from any offshore drilling operation. Some revenues to states and the federal government, but, those are offset by the danger and potential damage that results in emergency spending and long term rehabilitation of the any land problems.
I tell you what, why don't we simply overlook any and all facts to this disaster and get on with business as usual while we watch BP, the Gulf Coast and global ocean circulation go down the tubes. And in addition, we can watch more people die as well.
June 1, 2010 3:25 PM
BP Lobbying Team's Revolving Door
Posted by Laura Strickler
In the two years leading up to the catastrophic spill in the Gulf, BP hired twelve lobbying firms and paid them $32 million to press their agenda in Congress, at the White House and in the halls of at least fourteen federal agencies, according to lobbying records.
For Obama's first three months in office, BP hired the Duberstein Group led by President Reagan's former chief of staff Ken Duberstein to exclusively lobby the White House on "Energy security proposals". Duberstein brought along heavy hitters such as former Carter Administration veteran Mike Berman and Eric Ueland who served as the former chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).
BP also hired the Podesta Group, led by uber-lobbyist Tony Podesta, to lobby Congress. Podesta is a top Washington insider whose brother is former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta. The firm also counts David Marin among its lobbyists - he once served as a top GOP investigator for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee....
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20006472-10391695.html
Now Florida is involved and quite frankly I believe Florida has the right to sue Louisiana for its lousy policies regarding oil drilling. Florida's policies are far more prudent and seek to protect their shorelines and citizen's interests. In such a reality lies the idea that Louisiana is grossly negligent to any outcome in regard to oil and the way it effects neighboring states. I am sure there is a provision somewhere in the Clear Water Act that provides legal action against polluting states by those that don't.
BP faces another setback; oil slick threatens Fla. (click title to entry - thank you)
By MELISSA NELSON and ADAM GELLER
Associated Press Writers
The Associated Press
June 2, 2010, 5:39PM
PENSACOLA, Fla. — The BP oil slick drifted perilously close to the Florida Panhandle's famous sugar-white beaches Wednesday as a risky gambit to contain the leak by shearing off the well pipe ran into trouble a mile under the sea when the diamond-tipped saw became stuck....
The 'wealth merchants' are at work.
Transocean, Halliburton credit default swaps surge
June 1 (Reuters) - The cost of protecting debt of Transocean Inc and Halliburton Co against default rose sharply on Tuesday as the threat of an out-of-control Gulf of Mexico oil spill widened.
Transocean's (RIG.N) five-year credit default swaps rose by 40 percent to 352 basis points, while Halliburton's (HAL.N) five-year swaps rose by 27 percent to 98 basis points, according to data from Markit Intraday.
Credit protection costs surged after BP announced over the weekend that its attempt to plug its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well with a "top kill" procedure had not worked. Transocean operated the oil drilling rig that exploded on April 20, while Halliburton did a variety of work on the rig. (Reporting by Dena Aubin; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0110413720100601?type=marketsNews
Goldman drops Halliburton
Goldman Sachs removed oilfield services company Halliburton from its conviction buy list, citing short-term concerns resulting from the Macondo spill and the US government's moratorium on deep-water drilling.
Upstream staff 01 June 2010 14:16 GMT
Shares of Halliburton were down 7% at $23.21 this morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
"We recognize that in the near term, oil service/driller stocks could continue to trade on fear and negative sentiment rather than fundamentals due to the potential for negative headlines risk," Reuters quoted analyst Daniel Boyd saying in a note to clients....
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article216439.ece
Senator Nelson of Florida is again asking the USA military to take over the BP operation. It only makes sense. There is no confidence in BP. Not only that but as their efforts continue the chance the company may sink with their rig gets greater.
...BP's survival as an independent company is now being openly discussed in the City. Its share price continued to tumble today following the failed well-capping. Analysts are wondering whether merger talks – as happened between BP and its arch rival Shell in 2007 – might arise again as BP's ability to pay dividends is questioned, and its public credibility in America, which provides 40% of its income, plummets....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/oil-spill-bp-gulf-of-mexico
Sorry, I don't subscribe to 'the idea' that support has to be thrown to BP for the sake of keeping them 'a float' simply because they have liability to the USA. Bad practices are bad practices. The program State of the Union feathered the CEO of BP and it was aired on NPR. I was simply astounded by the statement that "Top Kill" (which is a glamorized version of Top Fill - culturally correct for a nation engaged in war, if you will) was a 'new' procedure. The reality that BP is using this rupture for the purposes of deep sea research is outrageous.
I don't want to hear how they are tying something new. I want to hear how they are trying something "Tried and True."
