Rush Limbaugh: Oil Spill Is Obama's "Katrina"

RealClearPolitics ^ | April 30, 2010 | RealClearPolitics

[ianschwartz]

Rush Limbaugh says President Obama has no "desire" to manage. Limbaugh says Obama is "getting even" with the country

[CajunConservative]

BP Is Criticized Over Oil Spill, but U.S. Missed Chances to Act

[stuartcr]

Wasn’t the CG called out immediately to help in the search effort?

[CajunConservative]

Katrina and this incident are not the same. The ongoing oil leak is occurring in federal waters which is the jurisdiction of the FEDS. BP has admitted that they are in way over their heads. This should have been seen by the administration a week and a half ago but hey less damage to the coast wouldn’t help push an agenda that is at play here.

The coast guard responded like they always do within the bounds of their expertise and authority. There are other areas where there needs to be a response from the appropriate agency.

[worst-case scenario]

From that NYT article, the US government “missed chances to act” because they were relying on the assurances of BP that things were under control.

Should the Feds had overruled the estimates of the oil company itself, and have just charged in and seized control? Isn’t that tyrannical and dictatorial? So is more regulation the answer?

Should Obama seize every rig that has an accident or suffers a spill, in case it might get worse, or is worse than the owners admit? What about the Alaskan pipeline? Natural gas wells or coal mines?

What would be the truly Conservative, small-government approach to problems like this?

[CajunConservative]

He doesn’t have to seize it but there are federal laws on the books on how to handle this type of situation where the damage can be minimized. The oil companies all pay into this huge fund for this type of incident. It’s there to offset the cost of federal agencies.

Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA)

http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/About_NPFC/opa.asp

The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF)

http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/About_NPFC/osltf.asp

[worst-case scenario]

Thanks for the info. If this leakage turns out to be as bad as threatened, even hitting Florida, and destroying the entire shrimping season, that fund better have as bottomless as sum as the oil reserves that are being drained.

[stuartcr]

ok

[worst-case scenario]

The OSLTF is only on the hook up to liabilities of $75 million, according to this artcile today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/us/02liability.html

The fund is huge, but not huge enough is the entire aquaculture of the Gulf is destroyed. No wonder BP is offering $5000 to each Alabama landowner the relinquishes their right to sue.

[Mr. Wright]

You are so right — the State-run media WILL NOT allow this to become a “mantra” in MSM land.

[CajunConservative]

Of course it won't be enough to pay for the spill but the fact is that there is a good chunk of change in place to deal with this along with the laws to speed things up.

Of course the feds f'd up in their response and must get the same flack that that they gave Pres. Bush.

Despite plan, not a single fire boom on hand on Gulf Coast at time of oil spill

If U.S. officials had followed up on a 1994 response plan for a major Gulf oil spill, it is possible that the spill could have been kept under control and far from land.

The problem: The federal government did not have a single fire boom on hand.

But in order to conduct a successful test burn eight days after the Deepwater Horizon well began releasing massive amounts of oil into the Gulf, officials had to purchase one from a company in Illinois.

When federal officials called, Elastec/American Marine, shipped the only boom it had in stock, Jeff Bohleber, chief financial officer for Elastec, said today.

At federal officials' behest, the company began calling customers in other countries and asking if the U.S. government could borrow their fire booms for a few days, he said.

( Why don't we have more on hand? )

A single fire boom being towed by two boats can burn up to 1,800 barrels of oil an hour, Bohleber said. That translates to 75,000 gallons an hour, raising the possibility that the spill could have been contained at the accident scene 100 miles from shore.

"They said this was the tool of last resort. No, this is absolutely the asset of first use. Get in there and start burning oil before the spill gets out of hand," Bohleber said. "If they had six or seven of these systems in place when this happened and got out there and started burning, it would have significantly lessened the amount of oil that got loose."

In the days after the rig sank, U.S Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said the government had all the assets it needed. She did not discuss why officials waited more than a week to conduct a test burn.

At the time, former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oil spill response coordinator Ron Gouget -- who helped craft the 1994 plan -- told the Press-Register that officials had pre-approval for burning. "The whole reason the plan was created was so we could pull the trigger right away." Gouget speculated that burning could have captured 95 percent of the oil as it spilled from the well.

[worst-case scenario]

How can you contain an 5000-ft-underwater gusher that is pumping out 30K barrels a day? Does it just keep growing and growing?

And BP, the experts, have no way to cap it.

Are you in the oil drilling industry? I have not been able to find a single educated source who could verify for me that it is possible to corral and burn off the oil that is being produced at the rate. The weather doesn’t seem to be co-operating with the 275,580 feet of boom already in use. Has the burn been successful in combating this so far?

BP gives the impression that the real emergency lies in capping or covering the well-head. Is that a job that thew Feds would handle? Doesn’t BP have primary responsibility over the site?

What exactly could the Feds have done with this situation to fix it, since BP was lying about the flow from the get-go? If BP couldn’t fix it, why do you think the Feds would have a better chance?

Regarding the fund: the Deepwater Horizon rig itself cost 700 million. Since it was leased, the first payout from the Fund would go to paying off Transocean. Since a total of $1 billion of the Fund is available for any one incident, that $700 million payout for the rig won’t leave a lot behind. And BP’s legal liabilities are limited, as well.

[CajunConservative]

I’m not in the oil industry but have lots of family in it. My brother is an engineer and has commissioned a rig. My nephew is a safety inspector who has said somebody’s ass is gonna fry.

The feds should have a better plan of action and know where the equipment is located to get it in a timely manner.

The burn was successful when they did it. Had they started earlier when the weather was favorable it would have reduced the amount of oil that is currently starting to damage the coast and killing wildlife. It won’t stop the leak but it might have bought some time for getting other resources in place to protect the coast.

Sen. Vitter posted on his facebook page that BP needs to focus on capping the well and the government agencies who are responsible need to focus on protecting the coast. That is what the Oil Pollution Act is in place for. Of course the feds have f’d up as usual but at this point finger pointing doesn’t help.