Real Slick
It’s been more than six weeks since BP’s oil rig off the coast of Louisiana exploded, and there’s still no end in sight. Oil continues to leak out onto helpless birds and sea turtles as it moves towards the Florida coast. Peggy Noonan doesn’t think President Obama’s career can survive the spill. But let’s not write him off just yet. The still fresh-faced politician is bringing some outside-the-Beltway thinking to this disaster, as the Associated Press reports.
Federal officials are hoping film director James Cameron can help them come up with ideas on how to stop the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The “Avatar” and “Titanic” director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.
A brainstorming session! Why didn’t they think of that earlier? But, hey, Cameron did make a movie that took place partly on an oil rig. Maybe he can summon some of those NTIs (creatures of non-terrestrial intelligence) to suck up the spill.
What would you suggest the President do about an oil spill?
Between this, the commentary on the Gores’ marriage, and some South Carolinians’ possible infidelity, this page is becoming a right-wing gossip column.
Cameron is, according to the story, “an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies.” I seem to recall that he spent several years filming under the sea in a submersible and, according to him, dealing (though his crew) with the various logistical and engineering problems that came up. This is less crazy than you think.
YG, that is exactly the point I’ve been making vis-a-vis Ms. Torrance. But, at least with THIS post, she’s kinda/sorta/maybe talking about something that’s actually relevant. Send her some flowers!
Recommend Cheech and Chong to advise on how to keep the oil on the surface lit while it’s being blown about by the wind.
Remember when Joe Biden opined that a foreign enemy would “test” President Obama early in his first term and everybody pooh-poohed the idea? Well, it’s happened and BP is that foreign enemy. BP’s motive doesn’t matter. Our shores are no less under attack than they were on 9/11 or maybe even 12/7/41. Our President, meanwhile, is constructively A.W.O.L. He has ushered the enemy into the situation room, where they’re working their fifth column deviltry, taking only those incremental steps that will enable them to recapture as much oil as possible from their killer faucet.
The presidency offers ample emergency powers to deal with BP but, lawyer or no, the present occupant of the office doesn’t seem to know how, when, or where to start fighting back. At least George W. Bush was comfortable outdoors; remember all those times we saw him clearing brush on his “ranch?” Compare that to the footage of Obama on the Gulf shore last week. I was reminded more of Nixon walking on the beach in his wingtips and necktie.
When Obama wanted a pet for his daughters, he consulted — a Senator! Taking the girls to the animal shelter to try their hand at interacting with a dog apparently wasn’t good enough for him. We need a president who understands why people relate to turtles and birds and want them around. In the first few months of FDR’s second term Dr. Archie Carr started his life’s work nursing Kemp’s ridley sea turtles back from fewer than 100 specimens to the present-day 8,000 or so.
Now, all the world’s Kemp’s ridleys hatchlings have begun their annual swim across the Gulf from west-to-east – right through BP’s toxic plume. BP delayed and then defied the EPA’s order to stop using the toxic dispersant Corexit 9500 in a calculated effort to conceal the eyesore and the damage they had caused. As a result, now we learn that a massive blossom of a compound never seen before floats below the surface to a depth of 3,300 feet in the eastern Gulf. It is oil and gas and Corexit masquerading as water and is lethal.
So, here’s my proposal. It shall be prima facie grounds for Impeachment of any President who, by his knowing action or inaction, shall place any natural population of any specie of visible animal at material peril of imminent extinction. By the way, I profoundly regret that I was a delegate in my Texas convention pledged to support the nomination of the first chief executive to so obviously meet this test.
Once again, we see how what is called ‘corporatism’ can be the enemy of us all:
“Under the law that established the reserve, called the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, the operators of the offshore rig face no more than $75 million in liability for the damages that might be claimed by individuals, companies or the government.
The fund was set up by Congress in 1986 but not financed until after the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989. In exchange for the limits on liability, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 imposed a tax on oil companies, currently 8 cents for every barrel they produce in this country or import.
The tax adds roughly one tenth of a percent to the price of oil. Another source of revenue is fines and civil penalties from companies that spill oil.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/02liability.html
The Trust Fund itself has served a useful purpose over the years, but a liability limit of $75 million dollars?! As a firm, this relatively low limit means that you are less likely to take the measures that might be necessary to avoid catastrophe in the first place. If they and their insurance companies had to account for the possibility of much larger judgments, we could expect BP (and Transocean) to have a more comprehensive plan for this disaster.
To be clear, I am not arguing for a higher cap; I am arguing that the cap should not have existed to begin with. I am not in favor of profit ceilings but, by extension, I also am not in favor of government approved cost ceilings either. I also know that bills are in place to increase or remove the cap, but passing retroactive law is basically equivalent to having no law at all.
Peace be with you.
This entire oil crisis is a nightmare. I wish BP would have cared more about the spill.