BP Oil spill

[Legod Third Coming]

It's no longer British Petroleum, I *believe*that BP is the official name.

 

I'm not sure it's anti British TDD, just plain old political ******. Obama has gone way down in my estimations on this one along with his democrate senators. "I'll keep the boot on the throat of BP until they pay up every dime" WTF. They've never said they wouldn't pay.

 

If you live by the sword die by it. The US allowed this deep water drilling due to their thirst for oil. You can't have it both ways, there will always be accidents, this was only a matter of time really.

 

In regards to BP stopping paying their dividends, I'm not sure how they could do that through legal recourse. One could say to Obama, ensure that banks don't pay dividends as we're still cleaning up that mess!

 

 

Ditto.

 

This is a tragedy for 11 families and an environmental catastrophe. But one that's come about because the US (and we) rely on a fast-disappearing natural resource, and we're not moving fast enough to rebalance world economies and world resources.

 

And I ain't speaking through my pocket, since I did own about £5 grand's worth of BP shares... now halved.

 

So Mr Obama, since I am going to be paying for Paulson's feck ups for the rest of my natural life thanks to your administration and Goldman Sachs effectively being one and the same, how about I come over there and put my boot on your throat until you cough up for the rise in VAT I'm about to face...

 

Obama, you've let me down big time. I thought you were going to make a difference and instead you're like all the other yank administrators - all mouth and no fecking trousers. And you wonder why your own people shot JFK...

[GenevaSaint]

on a lighter note, re Green last night

 

That's one British spill the yanks won't be moaning about.....

[Legod Third Coming]

on a lighter note, re Green last night

 

That's one British spill the yanks won't be moaning about.....

 

LOL Priceless!

[Thedelldays]

Ditto.

 

This is a tragedy for 11 families and an environmental catastrophe. But one that's come about because the US (and we) rely on a fast-disappearing natural resource, and we're not moving fast enough to rebalance world economies and world resources.

 

And I ain't speaking through my pocket, since I did own about £5 grand's worth of BP shares... now halved.

 

So Mr Obama, since I am going to be paying for Paulson's feck ups for the rest of my natural life thanks to your administration and Goldman Sachs effectively being one and the same, how about I come over there and put my boot on your throat until you cough up for the rise in VAT I'm about to face...

 

Obama, you've let me down big time. I thought you were going to make a difference and instead you're like all the other yank administrators - all mouth and no fecking trousers. And you wonder why your own people shot JFK...

 

arent his opinion ratings nose diving..?

 

people love him because he is black

[Wilko]

Yeah and then the British pensions are all f*cked, great idea.

 

Whether the Daily Express will admit it or not, the issue is much wider than pensions. If we continue to **** up the planet, it won't matter if people have pensions. Further, is it right that people's comfort in retirement is gambled on the market? The conventional wisdom on this needs to be challenged.

 

I assume you live in a green house and walk everywhere..?

 

That's not a very intelligent response, is it?

[krissyboy31]

IMO, all this talk of "British" and "American" is completely missing the point.

 

This is all about a multi-national corporation that make millions per day committing a gigantic blunder, then worrying far more about their bottom line than getting of their ar5es and cleaning up the mess. You'd think that a corporation as big as them would have the resources to not take this long to cap this thing? Not a contingency plan that something like this might feasibly happen, therefore what to do if such a thing occurs?

No, I'll bet BP will put far more energy and effort into cleaning up their own public image than worrying about the environmental catastrophe they have caused.

 

Exactly! Top post.

[GenevaSaint]

Although a catastrophy for the environment now, there might be some good to come out of this.....

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10307782.stm

 

Mr Obama said the disaster would have a lasting impact on US environmental policy.

 

"In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11, I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come," he said in the Politico interview.

 

Mr Obama vowed to "move forward in a bold way in a direction that finally gives us the kind of future-oriented… visionary energy policy that we so vitally need and has been absent for so long".

 

"One of the biggest leadership challenges for me going forward is going to be to make sure that we draw the right lessons from this disaster," he said.

 

Mr Obama said he could not predict whether the nation would make a complete transition from an oil-based economy within his lifetime, but added that "now is the time for us to start making that transition and investing in a new way of doing business when it comes to energy".

 

"I have no idea what new energy sources are going to be available, what technologies might drive down the price of renewable energies," he said.

 

"What we can predict is that the availability of fossil fuel is going to be diminishing; that it's going to get more expensive to recover; that there are going to be environmental costs that our children… our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren are going to have to bear

[John Boy Saint]

Although a catastrophy for the environment now, there might be some good to come out of this.....

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10307782.stm

 

Mr Obama said the disaster would have a lasting impact on US environmental policy.

 

"In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11, I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come," he said in the Politico interview.

 

Mr Obama vowed to "move forward in a bold way in a direction that finally gives us the kind of future-oriented… visionary energy policy that we so vitally need and has been absent for so long".

 

"One of the biggest leadership challenges for me going forward is going to be to make sure that we draw the right lessons from this disaster," he said.

 

Mr Obama said he could not predict whether the nation would make a complete transition from an oil-based economy within his lifetime, but added that "now is the time for us to start making that transition and investing in a new way of doing business when it comes to energy".

 

"I have no idea what new energy sources are going to be available, what technologies might drive down the price of renewable energies," he said.

 

"What we can predict is that the availability of fossil fuel is going to be diminishing; that it's going to get more expensive to recover; that there are going to be environmental costs that our children… our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren are going to have to bear

 

That's him on his way at the end of his term, American fat cat companies will not poke up with that kind of talk, when pumping CO2 into the atmosphere equals loads of money. The technology to push forward is there, the car companies and oil companies want to avoid it for as long as possible as the profit ain't as big.

[St Landrew]

and the British economy, great news, really f*ckin great news, the tree huggers just don't get it.

 

I suppose I'd be considered a tree-hugger in certain circles [this one], and I do get it. We certainly do NOT want BP going down the drain. The USA has no moral monopoly over environmental disasters. This one just happens to be on their doorstep, which is why they are kicking up a stink.

 

For those that haven't followed the efforts to contain the oil spillage and stop the leakage, here's a very quick and concise demo:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10317116.stm

[Ohio Saint]

In all the time this has been going on, I have very rarely noticed the media here in the US pointing out that BP are British, or any real negativity toward the country. (Apart from the odd comedy show)

 

Most Americans see this as a big oil company issue, and not a foreign company issue. The only thing that makes it obvious that they are a British company is when that CEO Hayward opens his big fat stupid mouth, then everyone is ****ed off with that British tosser. That's all really.

[dellboypete]

In all the time this has been going on, I have very rarely noticed the media here in the US pointing out that BP are British, or any real negativity toward the country. (Apart from the odd comedy show)

 

Most Americans see this as a big oil company issue, and not a foreign company issue. The only thing that makes it obvious that they are a British company is when that CEO Hayward opens his big fat stupid mouth, then everyone is ****ed off with that British tosser. That's all really.

 

Most americans have conveniently forgotten that BP America is was formed when BP bought out firstly Sohio (the old Standard Oil Ohio based in Cleveland) and then Amoco (the old Standard Oil Indiana) and shifted their headquarters to Houston where it is one of the largest employers, and the vast majority of staff are americans. I'm not suggesting that this shifts the blame at all. The bit of kit that that didn't work, the BOP, is also manufactured in Houston.

[Johnny Shearer]

$20 Billion dollar fund for the mess provided by BP?! Maybe they should have got on with stopping the leak in teh first place.

[INFLUENCED.COM]

Had to laugh this morning when an American Woman said she was yet to hear a statement from The Queen Of England on this issue !!!

[OldNick]

I saw a clip of Dame Helen Mirren talking about BP and glad that we didnt beat the US at football.Sad that our own are happy to Brit bash just to keep their careers on the up

[CB Saint]

I would like to register my disgust, rage and frustration with the american petroleum company Exxon who are responsible for an oil spill in the solent.

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8231726./

[influx]

Obama and the oil spill

If, like me, you’ve been puzzled by Obama’s oscillations over the BP drilling catastrophe, then Tim Dickinson’s long article in Rolling Stone makes sobering reading. Essentially it highlights the extent to which the Obama Administration failed to deal with the corruption and incompetence in the Federal Minerals Management Service — the supposed regulator of oil drilling. Here’s an excerpt:

 

During the Bush years, the Minerals Management Service, the agency in the Interior Department charged with safeguarding the environment from the ravages of drilling, descended into rank criminality. According to reports by Interior’s inspector general, MMS staffers were both literally and figuratively in bed with the oil industry. When agency staffers weren’t joining industry employees for coke parties or trips to corporate ski chalets, they were having sex with oil-company officials. But it was American taxpayers and the environment that were getting screwed. MMS managers were awarded cash bonuses for pushing through risky offshore leases, auditors were ordered not to investigate shady deals, and safety staffers routinely accepted gifts from the industry, allegedly even allowing oil companies to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil before tracing over them in pen.

 

“The oil companies were running MMS during those years,” Bobby Maxwell, a former top auditor with the agency, told Rolling Stone last year. “Whatever they wanted, they got. Nothing was being enforced across the board at MMS.”

 

Salazar himself has worked hard to foster the impression that the “prior administration” is to blame for the catastrophe. In reality, though, the Obama administration was fully aware from the outset of the need to correct the lapses at MMS that led directly to the disaster in the Gulf. In fact, Obama specifically nominated Salazar – his “great” and “dear” friend – to force the department to “clean up its act.” For too long, Obama declared, Interior has been “seen as an appendage of commercial interests” rather than serving the people. “That’s going to change under Ken Salazar.”

 

Salazar took over Interior in January 2009, vowing to restore the department’s “respect for scientific integrity.” He immediately traveled to MMS headquarters outside Denver and delivered a beat-down to staffers for their “blatant and criminal conflicts of interest and self-dealing” that had “set one of the worst examples of corruption and abuse in government.” Promising to “set the standard for reform,” Salazar declared, “The American people will know the Minerals Management Service as a defender of the taxpayer. You are the ones who will make special interests play by the rules.” Dressed in his trademark Stetson and bolo tie, Salazar boldly proclaimed, “There’s a new sheriff in town.”

 

Salazar’s early moves certainly created the impression that he meant what he said. Within days of taking office, he jettisoned the Bush administration’s plan to open 300 million acres – in Alaska, the Gulf, and up and down both coasts – to offshore drilling. The proposal had been published in the Federal Register literally at midnight on the day that Bush left the White House. Salazar denounced the plan as “a headlong rush of the worst kind,” saying it would have put in place “a process rigged to force hurried decisions based on bad information.” Speaking to Rolling Stone in March 2009, the secretary underscored his commitment to reform. “We have embarked on an ambitious agenda to clean up the mess,” he insisted. “We have the inspector general involved with us in a preventive mode so that the department doesn’t commit the same mistakes of the past.” The crackdown, he added, “goes beyond just codes of ethics.”

 

Except that it didn’t. Salazar did little to tamp down on the lawlessness at MMS, beyond referring a few employees for criminal prosecution and ending a Bush-era program that allowed oil companies to make their “royalty” payments – the amount they owe taxpayers for extracting a scarce public resource – not in cash but in crude. And instead of putting the brakes on new offshore drilling, Salazar immediately throttled it up to record levels. Even though he had scrapped the Bush plan, Salazar put 53 million offshore acres up for lease in the Gulf in his first year alone – an all-time high. The aggressive leasing came as no surprise, given Salazar’s track record. “This guy has a long, long history of promoting offshore oil drilling – that’s his thing,” says Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “He’s got a highly specific soft spot for offshore oil drilling.” As a senator, Salazar not only steered passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which opened 8 million acres in the Gulf to drilling, he even criticized President Bush for not forcing oil companies to develop existing leases faster.