Why cant they bring in a few super takers and skim the oil off the surface using suction devices that they use over in the Persian Gulf when they had a big spill years ago./Master Chief

 

Let me get this straight. You're calling British Petroleum, Tansocean, and Halliburton extremely competent? Is that what you're saying Ace?

Because there hasn't been an excuse for blow out preventers not working or for not knowing when you're taking a gas kick for the past 100 years Ace.

And you're telling me those guys are extremely competent?

I say it proves once again, just like we do every month or so, that we US citizens cannot trust the private sector to keep from ripping us off and wrecking the planet.

I'm telling you Ace, just like the response to the oil spill, our government is dong way better than our private sector.

No they won't Ace. The Republicans in the house and senate are already blocking increasing the liability for damages. BP, Transocean, Halliburton are literally getting away with murder, and they are lying through their teeth about how much oil and natural gas is leaking.

And you can bet your ass we tax payers are going to end up paying for this blow out and the clean up that might take a decade or so.

 

Because that would cost more money than British Petroleum is willing to pay. You don't think they really give a shit about how much damage they cause or how far it goes did you?

 

Do you honestly think that BP would do ANYTHING about this spill if they weren't compelled by law to do something about it?

 

WHY, OF COURSE, those evil oil companies, and HI to you too.

 

Ms. Kimiko, have you ever done any reading about the major oil companies' drilling and killing in Africa?

*not_secure_link*www.essentialaction.org/shell/report/

 

I do remember reading a piece on Nigeria some time ago...but we can all use a reminder about how major corporations act when they think people are powerless to stop them. Remember Bhopal?

 

Not directly, but I do remember reading some of the articles.. Horrible..

 

This whole thing, along with many other disasters of similar magnitude, clearly illustrate one thing: that the conservative/libertarian ideology, that everything will be just fine if we deregulate industry and unleash the power of capitalism and free enterprise, is completely bankrupt. The private sector has demonstrated over and over again that it has no ability to regulate itself, and no willingness to clean up their own messes. Right now, you can bet that Topic #1 in the BP corporate boardroom, as well as those of Transocean and Halliburton, is how go get out from under any liability for the cleanup, and how to dump the entire problem on U.S. taxpayers.

 

Say it aint so...............STUMBLER, it looks like the federal government FUCKED UP AGAIN...........................The MMS is in some hot fucking water over this, seems like the MMS knew a little bit about what was going on, with BP, how are those fucking regulations working for you now, when the fuckers in the government are not even enforcing them.

*not_secure_link*www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/05/politics/washingtonpost/main6462513.shtml

*not_secure_link*www.philly.com/inq...oved_on_another_BP_oil_rig.html#axzz0oEIdvLdd

*not_secure_link*www.politifact.com...mckay/bp-letter-mms-urges-reduced-regulation/


Running an oil rig with flawed and missing documentation is like cooking a dinner without a complete recipe, said University of California, Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea, an oil pipeline expert who has been reviewing the whistle-blower allegations and studied the Gulf blowout.

"This is symptomatic of a sick system. This kind of sloppiness is what leads to disasters," he said. "The sloppiness on the industry side and on the government side. It's a shared problem."

BP and the Minerals and Management Service, which regulates oil drilling, did not respond to calls from the AP seeking comment on the whistle-blower allegations. But in January an attorney for BP wrote a letter to Congress saying the company is compliant with all federal requirements and the Atlantis has been operating so safely that it received an MMS award.

"BP has reviewed the allegations and found them to be unsubstantiated," said Karen K. Westall, managing attorney for BP.

The MMS is expected to complete its probe later this month.


*not_secure_link*www.boston.com/bus...wn_probe_finds_safety_issues_on_atlantis_rig/

 

And your solution, as evidenced by countless previous posts, is to deregulate the industry entirely, rather than to TIGHTEN regulations governing offshore drilling, REFORM the MMS so that it's not led by former lobbyists and energy company executives...

It's almost comical how when things like this go wrong, all of a sudden you think government should have done a better job.

 

Fascinating. You think that, in order for regulation to be okay, it has to be endorsed by the industry being regulated. But if that were true, why would regulations be necessary, since compliance would no doubt occur voluntarily anyway?

Look, I totally agree that MMS screwed the pooch on this. That's because of a corrupt political culture that puts the wolf in charge of guarding the hen house. Regulations should be strengthened and they should be enforced.

But none of that absolves BP of responsibility for this disaster. Pointing the finger at the Obama Administration is simply a diversionary tactic, the equivalent of "look over there!".

 

OK now that one would be the same private sector that all those insurance companies, bankers, lenders, hedge fund operators, stock brokers and other millionaires we just bailed out wouldn't it Ace.

And what ever that private sector company that just supplied our military with defective helmets?

Naw, that's just your brainwashed bullshit Ace. The government is doing great compared to our private sector. No telling what our private sector would do to us (or feed us) without our government.

Really Ace, the oil companies SAID they would pay all REASONABLE COSTS. Who gets to decide what' reasonable Ace. The people who got hurt or the company that hurt them?

No they are not Ace. BP is deliberately lying about how much oil and gas is escaping and sure as hell won't let anyone else measure it because business is business and BP is going to have to pay their competitors and royalty owners for every barrel of oil and every MCF of natural gas lost.

Don't be naive Ace. This blow out has already cost us a lot with just dispatching government agency heads and military resources. But you can bet BP is going to skate on the actual clean up costs just like Exxon/Mobile did after the Valdez spill.

And this is exactly why President Obama and Secretary Salazar are going to clean house on the whores Cheney/Bush put in place. This is the result of having the Oilfield Chairman of the Board George Bush and the Oilfield CEP Dick Cheney in office for eight years.

 

I'm not talking about parties Ace. I'm talking private sector managers and supervisors and CEO and Board of Directors and corporations, and entire financial industries that ran begging to the government to bail them out and got it because not doing anything would have been the global economic equivalent of having a nuclear generator start to melt down and saying let it go you don't want any government interference.

The private sector has proven over and over again they cannot be trusted and there has to be government regulation and supervision. Do you want to go back to the days before meat packing plants were inspected, Ace?

Put a source up for that Ace. The last I heard the Pentagon was saying they NEEDED to cut the waste from their budget and get control over their expenditures.

But there you are being two faced again. The government is spending to much money. The government is not spending enough money. Which is it Ace?

Ace I'd never heard of ACORN until near the election and only know they are not a factor now. But I will point out to you again Ace, that its perfectly alright with you if the private sector rips us off for TRILLIONS but you'll scream bloody murder over anything the poor or liberals get.

You didn't answer my question Ace. Who gets to decide which claims are reasonable? Let me give you a hint Ace: Who get's to decide or claim how much oil is blowing out. Just BP right? And they don't have to let the scientists that estimate more like 70,000 bbb/day even get near the well head.

The same sweetheart deals limiting liability are the same sweetheart deals that said inspections and environmental statements we're necessary. The same sweetheart lazy ass big shot deals that just got 11 men killed.

Oh I'm calling an obvious bullshit on that Ace. BP has consistently stuck with their 5,000 bbl/day "estimate" while other independent scientific evaluations say between 26,000 and 70,000 per day.

Of course we could settle this easy by just letting the scientists get near the well head and take measurements but that's the last thing BP will allow because they are lying through their teeth.

Bullshit Ace, don't try to tell me my business. Ever since Spindletop in 1910 the oilfield has known about pressurized formations and that's what blow out preventers and all the hydraulics involved in controlling and killing a well were invented.

We're supposed to be professionals Ace. Arguably the best in the world. One first things I did when I came on tour was check the accumulator, the pressure and the level of the hydraulic level. I'd check it two or three more times during the tour. You know why Ace? Because there's no fucking excuse for your blow out preventers not to work if you need them. Not one. You don't fucking neglect the things your life depends on.

In this case every one above those roughnecks failed them and risk their lives for their own complacency, carelessness and laziness. Guys who make a half million to a million dollars a year killed those hands Ace. They failed them and even so those guys died trying to do their fucking job when everyone else had failed at doing theirs.

Ace out government is sitting there trying to get to the bottom of what happened here and why 11 people had to die over it. The blow out is going to just keep blowing out oil for the next 60 days if we're lucky or more likely 90.

In the meantime all BP and Transocean and Halliburton have done is tell lies and with hold information and don't try to sit there and tell me you know more from your chair than I do from 40 years of living and working in the oilfield.