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How does this OIL LEAK change US environmental and fuel Policy?
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How does this OIL LEAK change US environmental and fuel Policy? |
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Bob K Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208 |
There is an oil leak at depth in The Gulf of Mexico. It is putting out a very large amount of oil. Oil is washing onto the beaches in the Gulf States. After Close to a month, BP has not been able to stop it. That oil company told us that they would be able to control such leaks, and it was on the basis of such promises that drilling was allowed in The Gulf and around the U.S. coast in general. BP's pants are on fire. There is a disgracefully low level cap on damages that oil companies will be held responsilbe for, and the Republican party is trying to block raising that cap to 75 billion dollars. I wonder why there is any cap on damages for this sort of thing at all. Will the Democratic Party will show any spine in pushing for new legislation? And what would that legislation be? What is the appropriate response for the United States? What accountability should BP have? How should this affect our oil and fuel policy, and where should we be getting our future energy, now that that this accident has provided such a sloppy, dangerous and expensive wake-up call? And what will the Oil Industry do to try to make us forget about the whole thing and go back to sleep? |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Too bad we can't so something a little more productive in a month than pointing fingers and placing blame. There will be plenty of time for that later. Perhaps we could start drilling for oil where you don't have to go down 5000 feet in the ocean....how about on dry land? We have plenty of it there. |
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threadbear Senior Member
since 2008-07-10
Posts 817Indy |
why can't we drill on dry land? Because we are a nation of NIMBY's, Mike. Not in My Back Yard. That's what forced drilling offshore in the first place. |
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Bob K Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208 |
I live in LA. There is a lot of oil in LA. On Wilshire BLVD., one of the main drags here, near the La Brea Tar Pits, there are an unknown number of buildings that are simply false facades. Every couple of days, an oil truck comes by and hauls off the oil pumped up from the well hidden by the facade. There's an oil well in the middle of Beverly Hills high school. On the road out to LAX, there are acres of hillside that are dotted with oil wells and mumps that look like those little plastic water sipping storks that you can set up to bob at the edge of water glasses. You folks simply aren't used to having a lot of oil around, and having it neatly managed. I confess, I'd rather not have it in the High School. quote: By by this you mean that a pointing finger at BP and placing blame on them is something that should be put off is unproductive or should be put off, I guess I'd like to know why. Clearly when BP tells us that there is a leak of 1000 barrels a day and our estimates, once they give us access to their video feed, suggests that the minimum is ten times that and the maximum (estimate as of 5/27) is 19,000 barrels a day, it seems reasonably clear that BP has given considerable though to deflecting fingers and to pointing them in other directions. Perhaps you might recall their finger pointing at two subcontractors within days. The subcontractors thought that considerable time, effort and money should be spent doing the same thing. They pointed at BP and at each other. The Republican Party said we shouldn't point fingers and, coincidentally, so does Mike. The Republicans have doubtless taken their cue from Mike in this case because Mike is a calm sort of guy, and tends to be the voice of moderation in all things. The Republicans have understood this and accepted some of the Oil that the Oil companies have clearly poured upon the palms of the congress. I'm sorry; I meant the waters. While there will, indeed, be plenty of time to assign blame later, it is likely that the spreading of the oil upon the palms will make the business of accurate memory somewhat more slippery. Therefore, the more quickly the facts are established, the better. The longer the delay between the spill and the establishment and apportionment of blame, the more slippery the process will become. It seems wise to remember that those who will be ruined by the spill will be ruined now, and the companies involved will be able to put off paying, if the past is any measure, for a generation of two, sometimes past the lifetime of those originally damaged by the spill. Those of later generations will seem less critically wounded, and the cost of the lawyers will simply be a cost of doing business. Great for the boughten politicians and those who hold stock in BP, not so great for those plunged into poverty or who may die as a result of the spill. Not so good for those who must pay the increased cost of the fish or who must pay for the foodstuffs grown in fields watered by petroleum instead of rain evaporated from the gulf, and who must wonder about what sort of interesting genetic surprises are coming up with food-chain for them and their grandchildren. This should be of no concern at all to Mike, because he believes that environmentalists are idiots, and we should be using DDT instead of sugar on our Wheaties in the morning. Yum. Those of us who are environmentalists may actually believe that we do need to make some changes, and that not only do we need to make some changes, but we also need to hold the oil companies and the chemical companies responsible. We should not privatize the profits and socialize the losses, the way so many of our bankers and industrialists want us to continue doing. If BP does ugly things to the pooch, then it must make the pooch whole as its next order of business, entirely whole and happy. And BP ought not have enough leverage to bribe its way out of doing so. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
This should be of no concern at all to Mike, because he believes that environmentalists are idiots, and we should be using DDT instead of sugar on our Wheaties in the morning. Yum. With comments like that, Bob, you are proving that environmentalists are indeed idiots. If you want to talk to me, then talk to me, not about me. You're not qualified. |
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Bob K Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208 |
You are correct, and I am sorry. |
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Capricious Member
since 2002-09-14
Posts 89California, USA |
Corporations take on high-risk endeavors (like offshore drilling) because they very often pay off quite handsomely -- due to the fact that others are unwilling, or unable to afford the risk involved. This spill will not bankrupt BP. It's their mess, and they need to clean it up -- there shouldn't BE a cap on how much they are responsible for, because THEY WERE THE ONES DRILLING THE DAMN HOLE. They, and no one else, stood to profit from it -- directly at least. Price of gas yadda yadda, sure, I'm saving ten cents a gallon but the oil companies are making billions in profit. Cry me a river, BP. Then don your galoshes and clean it up. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Accepted, Bob, and Capricious, I agree wholeheartedly. |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
Nodding. Yes. They were the ones drilling the damned hole... But to use the over-used analogy? We don't hand the keys back to a drunk driver and say, "drive friendly" or do we? Unfortunately, it's now a case for forensics. Forensics doesn't hand over the chalk and say "draw the line". Everything that is happening now begs for more regulation, as all opposing politics screams that opposition screams socialism. Y'can't point out any precedent, or prior history of that without sounding like Lynn Redgrave. Or Jane Fonda. Or Dennis ... may he rest in peace. |
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