Obama to Reopen Oil Drilling

[Xavyman]

Source: Wall Street Journal

By LAURA MECKLER And JONATHAN WEISMAN

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration, facing rising anger on the Gulf Coast over the loss of jobs and income from a drilling moratorium, said Monday that it would move quickly to release new safety requirements that would allow the reopening of offshore oil and gas exploration in shallow waters.

Gulf Coast residents, political leaders and industry officials said delays in releasing the new rules, along with the administration's six-month halt on deepwater drilling—both issued amid public pressure—threatened thousands of jobs.

Well-owner BP PLC, meanwhile, faces penalties "in the many billions of dollars," for the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster that has been spewing an estimated minimum 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The costs of the spill will "greatly exceed" the amount BP could recoup by selling any of the captured oil on the market, he said Monday.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who heads the federal response, said BP's latest emergency containment system is on track to capture as much as 15,000 barrels of oil per day, which is the maximum amount of oil the drill ship on the surface can process. BP's latest update on the rate of recovery late Monday implies that the containment procedure is approaching that limit. Any leakage beyond 15,000 barrels per day will continue to go into the sea until a second ship arrives, likely in mid-June.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703303904575292210472764880.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth

[msongs]

1. let em go out and scoop up all the free oil in the gulf if they want oil so bad nt

[saigon68]

66. The DLC and Rahm bowing to their "Corporate Masters"

[DURHAM D]

2. jesus - what a cluster fuck nt

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[corpseratemedia]

4. i dont get why we're not creating tens of thousands of jobs developing a high-speed rail

/green infrastructure

why aren't we already doing this now all over as a national master plan?

[Jakes Progress]

6. Why, that idea won't benefit the petroleum industry.

All it would do is lower our dependence on foreign oil and create tens of thousands of jobs. Washington has its priorities you know.

[Captain Hilts]

7. BINGO. nt

[anigbrowl]

10. how do you know we're not?

HSR is moving ahead in California. But it takes time - you have to survey the land, plan how to purchase it, conduct environmental reviews, and come up with a way to finance it without accumulating massive new debt. It's a lot more complicated than just putting out an ad for people to show up and start digging.

[roguevalley]

15. I really am on the edge with all the shit that is happening, with the

idea that we can't recover. Every last bastard out there who wants this needs to go clean a turtle. With their fucking tongue.

[wordpix]

43. wacked out numbers: "spewing an estimated minimum 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day"

Here we go with the crazy numbers again. :crazy: I thought it was AT LEAST 25,000 barrels/day at last count, and some official estimates higher, like this 95,000 barrels/day number below.

Read more: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/washington/2010/06/getting-closer-to-the-gulf-oil-leaks-size.html#ixzz0qGgSbXaM
snip

We don't know yet what Allen meant by "several weeks" but one does have to wonder when BP shared that plan with the Coast Guard or the Obama administration, which seemed strangely incurious about the size of the leak until a month in, when the Flow Rate Techincal Group was formed May 19, the same day testimony before Congress suggested the rate could be 95,000 barrels per day.

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

55. Quick note: It's not "overnight."

We've been talking about this shit for decades.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

57. We do NOT have the highest standards on drilling.

That is the problem. Our standards SUCK ASS. Combine that with the MMS corruption bullshit and this is what you get.

Canada requires a relief well to be drilled at the same time as the main well. If we had required that, this fucker could have been shut off wihtin hours. Otehr countries require a certain type of shut-off valve be used -- we do not require this and BP decided it would be too expensive to use.

Our "standrads" are geared towards the oil industry and accomidating whatever will get them the most oil at the lowest possible expense.

As for getting off oil, I am not waiting for the governemtn to get their shit together. I am buying as much local as I can, buying used when I can, and working on going electric/bio for my transport. I don't want to give the oil indutsry any more of my $$$ than I absolutely have to.

[wordpix]

62. no we don't have the world's highest standards, we have the multinationals' standards and

they set their own standards, pencil them in, and then MMS goes over the "standards" with their pens.

Start reading and following the news and you'll know what I mean. :grr: :banghead:

[roguevalley]

72. I'm at the point that if you don't live in the spew zone of one of

these horrors, I don't want to hear your voice. That may seem harsh but after Exxon, I felt we had learned something. Unless you have a leg to lose, you don't have weight with me. Nothing personal. I have just seen all the dead animals and mendacity I can handle.

[wordpix]

80. you don't have to live in the Gulf Coast to love it or cry for it

:cry: and all the wetlands, beaches, fish, turtles, birds, dolphins, whales, fisherpeople and residents who have no livelihood.

[Lorien]

20. Because the same old wealthy fucktards won't get even richer if we did that

he who controls energy controls the world, after all. If we did something sensible like what you're proposing then we might cut unemployment in half, save the economy and the planet. Then how would the predatory disaster Capitalists have the upper hand? They have us on an ideal trajectory right now; once the middle class is extinct and the underclass is all that's left, once there are no more environmentally sensitive areas to protect, then their takeover will be complete. They have us all just where they want us-and some dumb bastards are cheering them on!

[rudy23]

22. Not as profitable as putting us in gas-hungry bumper cars and having us commute

High speed rail would be great for "we the people", but unfortunately, we don't have any say-so in the matter.

[throwfocus]

38. High Speed Rail - Wave of the Future, Today!

Wow that is a cutting edge idea!

Right, Lets build high speed rail for all the commuters in Kansas City, and Salt Lake and Denver and Seattle and Phoenix and Dallas and Houston and Miami and Tampa and Atlanta (oh yeah they have the Marta. How;s that working out?) and Baltimore and Philly (oh yeah they have SEPTA, how's that working out) and Indianapolis and Milwaukee and Detroit (hmmm maybe not Detroit) and Minneapois and Oklamhoma City and Jacksonville (oh wait they have a monorail, how's that working out) and Charlotte and San Diego and Santa Fe...Get the picture

While we're at it lets a build a shit load of parking lots and we'll do it all with conruction equipment that runs on wind mills attached to them. Afterwards we can all run down to Disney World and get some more ideas from Tomorrow Land. You know Disney World the place that runs on a mixture nuclear power and coal.

Next we can build a garbage shoot to outer space!

[corpseratemedia]

39. sorry...very popular in one of those cities, working out really well and planning to add more lines

i'm talking about the kind of system that japan has, or a rail system that connects like europe with parts high-speed, sorry thats not disney world or a rw distortion

[wordpix]

42. the corporate whorepimps don't want that - they're making a literal killing at the pump

[valerief]

51. And let the oil industry suffer? Why, they own Congress!!!!! nt

[Steerpike]

60. Good Question

Those type of national vision projects are something only a visionary liberal would tackle...

[woodsprite]

5. I guess someone in BP told him there was no way they'd pay

for missed wages across the area due to the moratorium brought on by their disdain for regulations and safety.

[highplainsdem]

11. This refers to shallow-water drilling. BP will be asked to reimburse workers on deepwater rigs.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Birds and fish don't vote. nt

[neverforget]

9. I guess the only jobs that matter are oil jobs.

[tomm2thumbs]

12. what is that song? 'money makes the world go around... '

yeah, that's it

sing with me... a one and a two and a....

[Art_from_Ark]

27. Or maybe this song by the Pussycat Dolls

The best things in life are free
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Gimme money
(That's what I want)
That's what I want
(That's what I want)
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Your lovin' gives me a thrill
But your lovin' don't pay my bills
Gimme money
(That's what I want)
That's what I want
(That's what I want)
That's what I want, yeah

That's what I want

Money don't buy everything it's true
But what it can't buy I can't use
Gimme money
(That's what I want)
Lots of money
(That's what I want)
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Gimme money
(That's what I want)
Lots of money
(That's what I want)
Just give me some money
(That's what I want)
A whole lotta money
(That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

[Vattel]

34. Money (That's What I Want) got to #2 on the R&B charts in 1959

and #23 on the Pop Charts. It was Motown Records' first hit! Recorded by Barrett Strong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6xkT7FMyTc&feature=related

[Art_from_Ark]

36. I thought it was originally done by a guy

but the reference I found to it was of the Pussycat Dolls, or, Josie and the Pussycats (in Outer Space-- LOL).

Looks like the Beatles made a recording of it in 1963 as well. Quite a contrast to their later song "Can't Buy Me Love"

[defendandprotect]

13. This is insane ..... we should restore the 26 year Moratorium on off-shore drilling .. ..

yes -- oil industry will have a loss of jobs/income --

but nothing to compare with the immense damage done to the Gulf -- to residents --

to businesses -- to animal-life -- and to nature.

Nature is all -- anything else is insanity!

[Titanothere]

75. which businesses, which residents? Oh yeah, the ones that work in the oil industry

Not everyone is a fisherman you know. I guess they can just ditch those motorboats they use and go back to rowboats eh?

[defendandprotect]

81. You're trying to protect the oil industry? Restore the 26 year Moritorium...!!!

The planet is more important to us than jobs in the oil industry!!

[mzmolly]

14. Clarification - Obama to re-open shallow water drilling after new safety standards

are in place.

[HughMoran]

16. That's what it says

shame the headline isn't more specific.

(typo)

[mzmolly]

17. Yes indeed.

Seems they left out some important "facty" things. :hi:

[HughMoran]

18. Sells right-wing newspapers

:D

[mzmolly]

23. Yes

indeed. And it sells some here on perpetual cynicism as well it seems? ;)

[skyounkin]

47. LOL- like the safety standards that

were in place before the Gulf accident?

We can't just have safety standards in place- they need to be enforced!

[mzmolly]

65. No. Those were the "Cheney" standards.

We need new technology as well as new standards that are enforced.

[Kelvin Mace]

19. They just don't fucking learn.

We are bleeding to death, and they are angry that we are making them stop playing in the razor blade pit.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HughMoran]

24. You do realize that shallow water drilling was never intended to be stopped

...in fact, the delay in restarting shallow water drilling is due to the Obama Administrations slowness in releasing new regulations.

So, no bamboozling or anything of the sort here - a simple delay in restarting shallow water operations will be dealt with this week. Period. Unless you have thousands of jobs lined up to get people already suffering from the lack of fishing and tourism working again. Or, you could send them millions of dollars to buy food and pay their rent. Or we could just let them die like the fish from the oil.

[suzie]

26. It won't matter to them until gas or heating oil rises in cost and then they'll be

screaming about it.

[Hawkowl]

31. Oil price is not set by a free market

If you think that the price of a barrel of oil is determined by the supply and demand for it, I've some real cheap beachfront property in Arizona for you.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

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[D23MIURG23]

59. And by "global warming freaks" I'm guessing you mean all the scientists who actually study climate

and all of us mindless sycophants who feel that evidence pointing to an uncomfortable conclusion is still evidence.

All you science denial freaks will be screaming about "climategate" and Al Gore when your houses are underwater. Have fun in fantasy land until then.

[Titanothere]

77. You're correct, the price is 4x lower in the US than other countries

I can't wait to hear the bellyaching if we paid what other countries do.

[Titanothere]

78. You're correct, the price is 4x lower in the US than other countries

I can't wait to hear the bellyaching if we paid what other countries do.

[kevirnspock]

40. Since when are oil prices connected to shallow water drilling?

?

[midnight]

61. Not only was it not intended to be stopped, but it never was stopped.

The Washington Post is now reporting that "The Interior Department denied that it has extended a drilling freeze to shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, contradicting an e-mail written earlier Thursday by the head of the Minerals Management Service's supervisor of field operations for the Gulf of Mexico.

The e-mail from the Gulf Coast office of the Minerals Management Service, which oversees offshore drilling, says that "until further notice" no new drilling is being allowed in the Gulf, "no matter the water depth." A copy of the e-mail was obtained by The Associated Press.
An Interior Department spokesman said "shallow water drilling may continue as long as oil and gas operations satisfy the environmental and safety requirements Secretary Salazar outlined in his report to the President and have exploration plans that meet those requirements. There is no moratorium on shallow water drilling." http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/federal_government_halts_new_d.html

[Titanothere]

76. Thank you, it's good to hear from someone that doesn't have total disregard for people down there

[me b zola]

25. I want a leader

Remember when JFK said we would go to the moon in 10 years? Why the freak can't we have a leader who will stand up and say that we will be completely free of fossil-fuels within 10 years? That is what we need.

[4lbs]

29. Because we will never, ever, be completely free of fossil fuels.

Crude oil is used to manufacture hundreds of products we use every day, and just don't realize it.

It's not just the gas that goes into our cars.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

58. The gas in our cars ---

and only our cars -- accounts for fully 40+% of our oil use. Knocking that off the top of our use would be a damned good start.

As for those products we use everyday -- I wm working very hard on only buying as many used/refurbished products as I can. No need to feed that evil beast called Big Oil any more than I have to.

[avaistheone1]

73. Biggest user of fossil fuels is the US military.

Shut all the fucking wars down we have going or

Have the cajones to stop the drilling.

[OneBlueSky]

33. "Profiles in Courage?" . . . not . . .

more like "Profiles in Cowardice" . . . or, more accurately, "Profiles in Oil Money (and How It Controls the U.S. Government)" . . . cha cha cha . . .

this country will never again see real leaders . . . because to be a real leader in the 21st century you have to stand up to big money, and that's just not how the game is played in Washington . . . those few who dare to stand up to big money are deemed irrelevant and quickly consigned to the dustbowl of history . . .

we don't run the country, and neither does the government . . . big business, in the form of multinational corporations, runs the country, and they do so solely for their own financial benefit . . . any notion of "the common good" or the interdependence of all creation have no place in a political philosophy based entirely on profit, which is what we have . . . and there's no counterbalancing philosphy on the horizon that I can detect . . .

[okieinpain]

46. going to the moon is completely different then reinventing

civilization. obama is not god, and for that matter neither is hilary.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[midnight]

63. We did have that leader. His name was Jimmy Carter. He was run out of town

by the oil group who needed to secure their company's bottom line. By the time the hostage situation was created, President Carter had us within a year of being free of the oil dependency....

[Titanothere]

79. Are you stoned? If Carter proved anything it was that price controls create shortages

Energy-wise, the man was a total failure.

[pauldp]

28. There are plenty of jobs cleaning up the f*cking mess.

Years and years of employment. Take some of that fucking defense contractor money and put people to work cleaning up the Gulf.

[Javaman]

48. have you read about the people doing the actual clean up work?

They are deep into areas that are so thick with fumes, they they are now reporting dozens of cased of headaches, vomiting, dizziness, etc.

The long term effects have yet to be calculated, but I can bet you, it won't be pretty.

This thing is so fucked on so many levels.

This is like asking someone to go clean up chernobyl because the pay is good.

[Bette Noir]

30. Damn.

[Capitalocracy]

32. No votes for BP-funded candidates in 2010 - PETITION

BP STANDS FOR BALLOT POISON

Pledge not to vote for any candidates receiving campaign donations from BP in 2010.

Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/bp2010/petition.html



Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113423272036102

Twitter: @bpballotpoison

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

67. Yes and the DLC is their Corporate Catamite

[Capitalocracy]

68. Yes, although he's not running in 2010

BP STANDS FOR BALLOT POISON

Pledge not to vote for any candidates receiving campaign donations from BP in 2010.

Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/bp2010/petition.html



Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113423272036102

Twitter: @bpballotpoison

[Quantess]

35. Hey now all you unemployed fishermen

can go work for the same corporation who destroyed your careers.

[caseymoz]

37. People want jobs destroying the planet they live on?

What good does it do to raise their children if their children won't live.

I realize people are desperate for work now, but a disaster like this should make them catch on to what's happening.

[wordpix]

41. WTF???? Yes, let's quickly get those rigs back to work so we can have more disasters like this one

Obama---do you think I'll vote for you again if you streamline this rigs going back online? I'm voting for your environmental opponent next time around in the primary.

[wordpix]

44. so---BP, doing "everything we can," cannot get a 2nd oil-capture ship there until mid-June?

WTF? And the WH didn't order enough ships to stand by, just in case the oil capture was successful?

What a bunch of idiots :grr:

[wordpix]

45. note the "regs" are based on rig operators certifying all is well---more fox guarding henhouse

O should know better but am starting to get that he, too, is owned by BigOil

[eowyn_of_rohan]

54. hmmm...1000s of jobs threatened by HALT on deepwater drilling

vs how many jobs threatened DUE to drilling?:eyes:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

64. True, but this is in regards to shallow water drilling

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration, facing rising anger on the Gulf Coast over the loss of jobs and income from a drilling moratorium, said Monday that it would move quickly to release new safety requirements that would allow the reopening of offshore oil and gas exploration in shallow waters.

Only pointing that out to keep the confusion down later.

[Blue Owl]

56. All hail precious OIL

Long live the oil and war profiteers, and may we let them trash our planet with impunity.

What a friend we have in BP, Halliburton, Transocean, etc.

Praise Jesus.

:sarcasm:

[grahamhgreen]

69. Asshat.

[midnight]

70. Last year Corporate America sold Americans a jobless recovery.

Now Corporate America is screaming this dire warning about job creation,in such unsteady times with these oil companies, is just wrong. The safety of our water is more important than kneeling to these Corporate demands. But, by all means bail out the fishing industry that was ravaged by B.P. and do it as quickly as we did it for Wall Street.

[sam kane]

71. WTF? nt.

[24601]

74. Why can't they all retrain as temp Census workers? n/t