The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

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Netto Azure

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    Obama unveils Gulf of Mexico oil spill response

    [PokeCommunity.com] The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill


    US President Barack Obama has defended his government's handling of the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.


    He unveiled a series of measures, including a continued moratorium on drilling permits for six months.
    The move comes after an opinion poll said 60% of Americans were unhappy with the government's response.
    Meanwhile, BP said its "top kill" effort was making progress in stemming the oil flow, from what some experts say is the country's worst-ever spill.
    New estimates from a panel of US scientists said at least 12,000 barrels (504,000 gallons) were leaking into the Gulf every day, far exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
    The leak was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on 20 April, which also killed 11 workers.

    Corruption charges

    Speaking at the White House, President Obama vowed to hold BP accountable for the "horrific disaster".
    He stressed that his administration, and not oil company BP, was in charge.


    But he admitted the government did not have the technology to deal with the damaged oil well nearly a mile (1.6km) below the surface, meaning that Washington must rely on BP to plug the ruptured well.
    The president's comments came as questions were increasingly being asked about whether he had been sufficiently engaged in handling the disaster, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington.
    In a shake-up of the offshore oil industry, Mr Obama suspended test drilling on 33 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as halting exploratory deepwater drilling for another six months.
    In addition, he cancelled the sale of some offshore leases off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia.
    Correspondents say the move marks a shift in policy since March, when President Obama gave the go-ahead to widen the scope for offshore drilling in order to reduce dependency on oil imports.

    Hours before Mr Obama spoke, the head of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which oversees drilling operations, resigned.
    Elizabeth Birnbaum and the MMS have come under fire from lawmakers over lax oversight of drilling operations.
    The president blasted the "scandalously close relationship" between oil companies and regulators, and said officials granting exploration permits would no longer be responsible as well for ensuring safety.
    Also on Thursday, Mr Obama's top spill response official - Coast Guard commander Admiral Thad Allen - approved part of an ambitious plan to build barrier islands to stop oil from coming ashore in Louisiana.
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    Oh well, while the slow response of the Obama Administration might stem from the politics of the Energy Bill in the Senate and the shift of blame to BP, I still wonder what a military takeover will do. Safer Dispersant's maybe, (Yeah Illness is already being reported) but that could be done through a tough enforcement and a management of Public Opinion
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    Clear something up for me. Why do people keep referring to this as Obama's Katrina?

    What could the president have done? What does the government have that they can send in and aren't? Do they have a special clean up crew?

    I thought we just rely on the oil company and Sea World.
     
    TRIFORCE89 said:
    Clear something up for me. Why do people keep referring to this as Obama's Katrina?

    What could the president have done? What does the government have that they can send in and aren't? Do they have a special clean up crew?

    I thought we just rely on the oil company and Sea World.
    Click to expand...

    Okay, that's a reference to the previous President, George Bush Junior.
    Basically, the tragedy of Katrina is thought to be the most terrible thing he had to deal with.

    And... they're comparing this oil spill tragedy to that. Basically, people theorize this is what will be thought of after all's done and done as the biggest impact on public opinion on Obama.

    At least, that's what I have gathered.
     
    I don't think this kind of natural disasters are the responsibility of any political person, but after that they can help the effected people. But like this oil spilling is the depends on the system of that petroleum companies.
     
    Its not because of the natural disaster itself, its because of the "swift" response they gave to it. It took them three weeks to just be able to film down there to show the oil coming out. Thats also a problem, if they were able to send a camera down there to get the footage, why werent they able just to send a sub or something down there to cover up or fix the pipes. And even if they werent able to do that, the local gov. of Lousiana was ready to stop the spread of the oil in the gulf to their coasts but couldn't do anything until they got gov approval. And they still haven't got it, Bobby Jindal is risking his job and self to try and save the rest of the coasts and eviourmental life out there. Thats why everyone is so concerned about what Obama and the government are doing. I live in Lousiana so yea its an annoyance but it was not as bad as Katrina was.
     
    60% of Americans are unhappy with the government response because the government still hasn't really done anything except maybe point fingers. Hell, we've had offers to help clean the spill from other countries that the government turned down!

    And now we aren't allowed to drill there? The fact that this leak's been occurring for so long shows that there a whole lot of oil there. We should be putting in more rigs to take advantage of that rather than shutting down what we do have.
     
    This oil spill makes me very sad. ;-;
    I wonder why Obama turned down all the offered help?
    Maybe he didn't think it would work, I dunno. :/
    Is there a way to maybe move the oil to some place else, or is that what the drilling is for?
    If so, then he should definitely allow drilling so we can save what is left so it doesn't get spilled into the ocean.
    *doesn't know much about politics or oil*
     
    pokemonleaguechamp said:
    60% of Americans are unhappy with the government response because the government still hasn't really done anything except maybe point fingers. Hell, we've had offers to help clean the spill from other countries that the government turned down!

    And now we aren't allowed to drill there? The fact that this leak's been occurring for so long shows that there a whole lot of oil there. We should be putting in more rigs to take advantage of that rather than shutting down what we do have.
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    Maybe you forgot about the huge oil spill. You know, the one that is the worst in U.S. history.

    The offers of help only came a few days ago so it's not as bad as you make it out to be. For weeks we've kept hearing: "It's not that bad." Then: "Okay, it's a little worse than we thought." Then: "Okay, it's a lot worse than we though." If I'm going to blame the government for anything it's not having their own plan for fighting a problem like this and not assuming the worst case scenario from the beginning. Having to rely on the people who caused it in the first place to tell you how bad it is and how to fix it would be my last choice if I had any choice.

    And comparing it to Katrina doesn't seem fair since with this spill you can't send in the National Guard since all they could probably do is rescue a few animals and even then I doubt they're trained for that. Bush's slow action for Katrina is worse than Obama's slow action on the BP spill since there's less Obama can do.
     
    Personally I dislike how the media barely mentions the 11 who died. Surely they deserve a tribute or something?
     
    Scarf said:
    Maybe you forgot about the huge oil spill. You know, the one that is the worst in U.S. history.

    The offers of help only came a few days ago so it's not as bad as you make it out to be. For weeks we've kept hearing: "It's not that bad." Then: "Okay, it's a little worse than we thought." Then: "Okay, it's a lot worse than we though." If I'm going to blame the government for anything it's not having their own plan for fighting a problem like this and not assuming the worst case scenario from the beginning. Having to rely on the people who caused it in the first place to tell you how bad it is and how to fix it would be my last choice if I had any choice.

    And comparing it to Katrina doesn't seem fair since with this spill you can't send in the National Guard since all they could probably do is rescue a few animals and even then I doubt they're trained for that. Bush's slow action for Katrina is worse than Obama's slow action on the BP spill since there's less Obama can do.
    Click to expand...

    Except he hasn't done ANYTHING. And the National Guard were indeed sent in. Surprisingly, they had a helpful task: construct large piles of sand and rock, blocking the oil slicks from reaching shores and estuaries....until the next hurricane.

    And what we've heard is news coming from an incompetent media with left-wing opinionation that's tried to sweeten things up till recently to protect the government's minimal response. But that plan's been abandoned, just the other night I saw an irate governor of Louisiana trashing Obama for not doing enough. Frankly, I'd have to agree with him. Granted, the accident was BP's, but our shores and water are ours. So why is it up to BP to do ALL the cleanup? Why can't we send specialists in an speeden cleanup?

    Slightly off-topic, I've heard Russia suggested a solution to the leak: put a nuclear bomb down by the leak and detonate it, to plug the leak with debris. Probably not the best idea, but still an option.
     
    pokemonleaguechamp said:
    Slightly off-topic, I've heard Russia suggested a solution to the leak: put a nuclear bomb down by the leak and detonate it, to plug the leak with debris. Probably not the best idea, but still an option.
    Click to expand...

    Remind me, why are you trying to clean up the oil again?
     
    ^ lolz he wasnt suggesting it, he was making a point that Russia was suggesting it.. and to that offer, I would like to say no thank you but we apperciate the offer. XD If you have any more suggestions please fill out this 400 page document and turn it in on your earliest convience to your nearest US ambassator, and we will have the file checked out and returned to you with a response within the next two to three weeks.
     
    I facepalm at the people calling this a natural disaster. ... It may be an environmental disaster, but not a natural disaster. The entire thing is man made. Oil didn't just spontaneously start flowing out. A natural disaster is like an earthquake or a hurricane.
     
    It really is frustrating for me that they haven't fixed the problem yet. I'm not a political or oil spill genius so I don't know if 40 days has been too long for this to go on, but from where I stand it feels like much too long. I have a soft spot for animals and the environment in general and it really makes me sincerely worry.

    The only silver lining I can see to this is that it may push the general public into thinking about other cleaner resources more so then they have been. I realize that the oil companies supply thousands with jobs, but I feel as though it is more important to have a cleaner safer earth environmentally then to employ people to pump out oil. It would be great if we could just convert to cleaner resources and reemploy all or most of the oil workers at alternative resource companies. I know that's far from happening, but it's just wishful thinking on my part. :/
     
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