Posted on 09/26/2005 4:19:11 PM PDT by snugs
Over the Weekend President George W Bush concluded a 3 day visit to various Command Centres relating to Hurricane Katrina and Rita returning to the White House Sunday afternoon.
Vice President Dick Cheney was admitted to the hospital for the elective surgery on his knees. It was announced after doing both knees (originally only one was to be done but surgery went so smoothly it was decided to do the other) that he might be in hopital for up to 48 hours, in fact he was only in for 27 hours and walked without any assistance to his limo early Sunday morning.
Today President Bush attended briefings with Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and also delivers a Statement at the Department of Energy in Washington
Today it was expected that the Vice President would continue his recovery from his Saturday's surgery by working from home.
Today Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had private meetings at the State Department with East Timor Prime Minister Mari Bin Amude Alkatiri, Malaysia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar and Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim
Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island
QUOTE OF THE DAY –
President Discusses Hurricane Effects on Energy Supply
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C.
THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank Secretary Bodman for welcoming us here at the Energy Department; Secretary Norton. We've just had a full briefing on what we know thus far about the effects of Hurricane Rita on the energy situation in the Gulf of Mexico.
A lot of our production comes from the Gulf, and when you have a Hurricane Katrina followed by a Hurricane Rita, it's natural, unfortunately, that it's going to affect supply. There's about 1.56 million barrels of oil that is shut in. And before Rita, just to put that in perspective, that was approximately 880,000 barrels a day that were shut in due to Katrina. So that when you really look on a map you have, if you follow the path of Katrina and the path of Rita, it pretty much covers a lot of production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Right now the producing companies are assessing damage to the platforms and rigs. It's important for our people to know that we understand the situation and that we're willing to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to mitigate any shortfalls in crude oil that could affect our consumers. I've instructed the Secretary of Energy to be mindful once again about the effects of the SPRO, and how it can help settle price. He did a fine job after Katrina, and we're paying close attention to the markets as we speak
My point is, is that the storm affected the ability to get gasoline to markets. I know the governors of Florida and Georgia have done some creative things to try to anticipate what will be a temporary problem. Governor Perdue of Georgia I thought did a -- showed some leadership by saying we've got to -- anticipating a problem, here's what we need to do to correct it.
There's going to be some -- by the way, and here's what we have done and will continue to do. We have suspended certain EPA winter blend rules so that it makes it easier to import gasoline from overseas. In other words, there's a supply of gasoline in Europe, and by suspending these rules, it's a lot more likely to be able to get gasoline into our markets. And so while there's a shortfall because of down refining capacity, we will work with -- we have instructed EPA to leave the rules in place, or to suspend the rules that were in place, keep the suspension in place, which would make it easier to increase supply, and continue to get supply of gasoline here. And that's important for our consumers to know.
In Houston, the challenge in Houston, as I understand it, is to get drivers and trucks into Houston so they can deliver gasoline to the retailers. And the Secretary is working with the local authorities there to help do anything we can to help get that done so that people in that big city will be able to get some gasoline. Beaumont and Port Arthur are still under assessment, we're not sure yet the full extent of the damage. I'll be going down there in the area tomorrow, and by then there will be a pretty clear assessment. I look forward to dealing with local -- talking to local leaders about what -- the situation and the problems they face.
Let me repeat, we'll use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help refineries with crude oil. We will continue the waivers to allow the winter blends of fuel to be used throughout the country. We will continue to waiver that -- to allow broader use of diesel fuel. Because we understand there's been a disruption in supply and we want to make sure that we do everything we can to help with the supply disruption
PHOTO OF THE DAY
President George W. Bush, appearing at the U.S. Department of Energy, Monday, Sept. 26, 2005 in Washington, talks about the effects of Hurricane Rita on the energy situation in the Gulf of Mexico. President Bush is joined by U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman and U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton
Dose going up please wait for the all clear before posting or reposting any photos or graphics
President George W. Bush hugs a worker while visiting with emergency personnel inside the Texas Emergency Operations Center in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005
President George W. Bush and Texas Governor Rick Perry, right, participate in a meeting with Texas officials inside the Texas Emergency Operations Center in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005
President George W. Bush receives a briefing with personnel from all branches of the military on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita inside NORAD's United States Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005
President Bush receives a briefing from FEMA and military Joint Task Force-RITA officials in Baton Rouge September 25, 2005
President George W. Bush and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco participate in a briefing on Hurricane Rita at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana September 25, 2005.
President George W. Bush and Louisiana officials participate in a briefing on Hurricane Rita at the FEMA Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005
President George W. Bush thanks emergency personnel inside the FEMA Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005
President Bush (C) receives a briefing from military Joint Task Force-RITA officials at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, September 25, 2005. Seen from L-R are U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major George Nieves, Bush, and Commander Joint Task Force-RITA U.S. Army Major-General Robert Clark
President George W. Bush participates in a briefing with the Joint Task Force on Hurricane Rita at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005
first?
Woohoo!
Here
I am so here!
Yes indeed - good evening
Congrats.
Echo Talon, I think you are first. Way to go.
Vice President Dick Cheney, waves from his limousine, as his motorcade passes, one day after surgery to repair aneurysms on the back of both his knees, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005
Woohooo number 2
hello number 3
And a hello to number 4
I can't believe he walked out of the hospital after having knee surgery! He is one tough cookie!
hehe, man that Blanco looks like death warmed over... :D
You made top 5 again !!!
President Bush looks over papers with Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, left, and Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, right, during a briefing and visit to the Department of Energy, Monday, Sept. 26, 2005 in Washington
Hi, snugs! Thanks for all the pictures. My heart just goes out to our president--he looks so tired! I hope he gets to go to Camp David this coming weekend and not to some awful hurricane site. Bless him!
It is the nature of George W. Bush's character not to go around blaming others for failures. He could easily be pointing his finger AT Gov. Blanco, but his style (in sharp contrast to the do-nothing naysayers who perpetuately harp at him) is to simply work the problem, not find a scapegoat to pin the problem on. I hope Gov. Blanco appreciates the way in which she's been treated by this President.
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