Seriously thoughtful interesting unreported story regarding the oil spill

[Fat Abe]

History is usually written by the victor, but in this case, it will be written by the victims- thousands of pages of depositions from Gulf Coast residents, fishermen, and others whose livelihood depends on the ocean. This is a horrific lose-lose situation for America and the oil industry. The damning evidence has been revealed on 60 Minutes, and in a series of well-researched articles by the WSJ. BP ignored warnings of potential problems in the BOP, casing, and pre-cementing process. And for what? To save a few days, and a few million dollars. How does it feel to lose half a billion dollars, and more, BP? I suggest MR readers follow the discussions on Yahoo's message boards, notably the ones for BP, RIG, HAL, and CAM. This leak was not an accident. It was caused by negligence.

[GeoffC]

The first oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill has entered an ocean current that could take it to Florida and up the east coast of the US, scientists say.

The European Space Agency said satellite images suggested oil could reach the coral reefs of the Florida Keys within six days.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

They could have as easily decided not to put a pump in such a hazardous location.

Originally Posted by GeoffC

The European Space Agency said satellite images suggested oil could reach the coral reefs of the Florida Keys within six days.

The tarballs have already reached the Keys themselves.

[ardeegee]

Oil of ohcrap!

[Laz116]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

I can't really go into how and why I have this information, ya'll just have to bear with me... (and really folks, I'm not big on big oil etc., I am however big on the truth)

BP wanted that platform MUCH closer to shore. the reason being, that they were concerned and DID communicate that having the platform at those depths would make containment of any breaks incredibly difficult if not impossible. due to much pressure of environmentalists, they were forced to go out to the depth they are.

something to think about when attaching the blame. not my point of view, just sharing a conversation I had with someone in the know

They could have chosen not to drill at all if the hazards were deemed to great. They did not. And here we are, regardless of what could have been.

What you are saying is that they drilled knowing the risk... not really a defence argument for BP is it?

[ardeegee]

"We are being too hard on BP" says nutbag who fooled the rabble that he cares about the little people:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...id=HihxwKq7RcI

[The Straven]

ardeegee, "nutbag" and "rabble", while perhaps accurate, are unhelpful. Let us prevent the rift in our nation from becoming a yawning, unbridgeable chasm. Since posting to the SF authors thread I've been re-reading Asimov's Foundation. Serious psychohistorical forces are at work right now. But I digress.

Oil has been washing up in the Louisiana wetlands. I fear that they are lost to us, perhaps forever. With the leak yet uncapped, the damage will grow by an order of magnitude. Was there ever any doubt? The opportunity to prevent it is long past, but we can still act to reduce the damage to the many species in the region.

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't called my congressmen. I'll correct that shortly. I anticipate that BP's third attempt to cap the leak will also fail, because they are looking for fixes that will allow them to open the well again in the future -- and these are the sort of fixes most likely to fail. The federal government ought to take control of operations and place the finest scientific minds it can find to hire, coerce, or kidnap to find a way to cap the leak. And it should ensure that BP can never cause this kind of damage again, preferably by bankrupting the company to pay for the cleanup operations. BP has never learned, and will never learn, so break it up.

Really, I'm just sad.

[ardeegee]

The junk shot has failed.

http://pasaudela.blogspot.com/

[DixieGal]

I still think they need to start cramming the heads of BP execs down the hole until the oil is blocked!

Straven, there is no reasonable middle ground here. BP dug a bad hole, they lied about the situation, and now their CEO is on every morning news show faking contrition. And the words do nothing to change the fact that they killed the Gulf and 11 humans.

[ardeegee]

Something I had never heard before this spill-- the Russians used to nuke theirs.

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2...russia-gulf-bp

[healbon]

Do any of us ever really know what is going on with these kinds of big events in the world. There are a select few who are in the know and who feed whatever info, true or false, they so choose to everyone else.

[kindlekitten]

and now that I have come back from D.C. and had my meeting... the bit about the drilling came directly from a Moose and Goose employee

[The Straven]

deleted --seeing if this works --guess not. I was trying to embed this.

ardeegee, good link on the junk shot. Thanks. I had thought that the lack of news over the past day was ominous.

DixieGal, I'm not precisely sure what you are responding to, but I don't believe we ought to moderate our treatment of BP, no. BP must be dismantled to prevent further disasters.

[horribly off-topic rant follows:]
I do think that Left and Right must stop calling each other names. Denigrate the idea, not the man. To paraphrase, when civility ends, civil society ends, and then society ends (if anyone knows the attribution, please give it, because I'm drawing a blank!). I've got this idea that if you treat people fairly, they'll treat you fairly in turn; but, if you talk down to people, they'll spurn you. Crazy, right?

Specifically, I think that the Tea Party movement has been spouting a bunch of bunk, but I recognize that the movement started out of genuine anger as I'm angry about some of the same things. This teaches me that behind the propaganda the Tea Party represents people who should be taken seriously. The trick is to cut through the propaganda and talk to people. I saw a comment on a econ blog I follow dismissing the Tea Party as "peasants". What kind of way is that to talk about your neighbors!

"A house divided against itself cannot stand".

I daresay some members of MR who post in the Lounge have come to regret not being more civil--and restrained. [/rant]

By the way, I like your sig addendum--think I'll steal it.

[Spoon Man]

Straven (I know you told me your name but I really suck with them), I disagree with your stance on BP for two reasons: 1. Aye, they screwed up, but every one and every company will. You shouldn't (I know you can though) hate the company for 1 or 2 mistakes. 2. While they are there, they do provide competition in the gasoline market (and actually very good coffee).
When the people move the government to get rid of BP, it removes the responsibility of controlling where you spend your money from the people, and thats not right.
Currently I am not purchasing from BP, this may or may not continue depending on how they handle things. It seems that the leak has been plugged or at least considerably slowed (and without the use of nukes!).

[The Straven]

Hi Spoon Man!

It's not that BP has made a mistake, it's that BP is a repeat offender, habitually disregarding safety. Exxon Valdez, the Houston refinery explosion, those were BP operations, and they aren't the only incidents.

RE: competiton, one can likewise make that argument for corporations that employ child labor; they provide competition and drive prices down, so what's the problem? Well, I do not believe that the ends justify the means. And if BP went out of business, market logic states that other actors would enter the market to take its place.