Posted on 12/01/2012 5:14:26 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
It’s an issue that has plagued states along the Mississippi River for months and has now landed squarely on the desk of President Obama: how to prevent the imminent shutdown of commercial traffic along the nation’s largest waterway.
A nationwide drought, the worst to hit the U.S. in decades, has lowered water levels along the river, threatening barge traffic.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Thursday that the President raised the issue with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, directing his administration to take “every step to mitigate” the situation. Carney added that there are a number of “complex” legal and technical steps which can be pursued, saying the Army Corps of Engineers has taken “proactive” measures.
The biggest obstacle is jagged rocks jutting up from the bottom of the Mississippi which make it impossible for barges to move.
“The Corps needs to get in there and literally blow them up to get them out of the way or we will be either extremely limited or completely shut down some time between December 15 and December 30,” Senior Vice President of Regional Advocacy for the American Waterways Operators Lynn Muench said. “If we do lose the river between mid-December and January, the jobs that are at risk in Missouri are almost 3,000 jobs.”
Muench said she’s reached out to President Obama and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, mirroring an effort Thursday by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster...
(Excerpt) Read more at stlouis.cbslocal.com ...
or setting off the New Madrid?
Yep. Here, too. Nights were getting into the minus-20s here last year but only around +4 to -4 F now (breezes from the peaks just to the west, usually high winds this time of year). The peaks on the east side of the Divide (the ones I can see) are still nearly completely dry for now. Don’t know about the west side, but it’s probably about the same. They’re usually snowcapped from September, on.
“A nationwide drought, the worst to hit the U.S. in decades, has lowered water levels along the river, threatening barge traffic.”
Now there’s one heck of a shovel ready job. Time to dredge
and build dikes. That muddy blob has needed an overhaul
for while. We can get some Egyptians with their slaves to
do it cheep. our own American valley of the kings.
Blue Murder - Valley Of The Kings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfsZ4EzSn80
I bet a New Madrid fault earthquake will do something, might even make Old Muddy run backward.
*********** “Obama is no leader, he is the Messiah!!!” ********
That right there is funny, I don’t care who you are, that’s Funny!
Hat Tip Larry the Cable Guy
TT
” - - - The biggest obstacle is jagged rocks jutting up from the bottom of the Mississippi which make it impossible for barges to move. - - - “
BULL PUCKEY! The only “jagged” rocks are where a.) the gradient of the Mississippi is steep enough to generate white-water rapids, or b.) The bank-stabilizing efforts of the US Corps of Engineers has added rip-rap to the banks.
IOW, in the sections of the Mississippi that are used by barges, the most likely “jagged” object is a rusty metal car, truck, air conditioner, freezer, refrigerator, you know the 99.9% of the stuff taken off EVERY YEAR from the bottom of The Father of Waters.
Here are my three questions for Benghazi-Coward Obama:
1.) Are you HIDING INFORMATION from the US Congress about the Benghazi Massacre?
2.) Have you been LYING to the US Congress, The Media, or the American Public about the Benghazi Massacre?
3.) Were you, as Commander in Chief, GROSSLY NEGLIGENT in your responsibilities to protect and assist those four Americans who subsequently were murdered in the Benghazi Massacre?
Yep, but when the EIS comes out, want to bet there is something buried in the glop they don't want to stir up?
Old bridge pilings/debris might be out there, too. I know some of the older bridges over the upper Missouri River were dynamited after replacements were built.The same practice may have been used on the Mississippi.
I doubt he attends any meeting. Carney’s words are fill in the blanks each day. “The president ordered (Insert here whomever the hell’s in charge of that situation) to make sure it gets (check one: done or doesn’t happen).”
We're like spoiled children accustomed to being told how wonderful we are. Same reason for the dearth of preaching about sin, about Hell, about the need for true, Spirit-wrought repentance.
The cognitive dissonance between what we think we are, indeed where we think we are, and what and where we truly are spiritually tears asunder credulity's bonds.
Right! The point that I was trying to make was that the debris on the bottom of the main arterial waterway in the USA is man made.
The indirect point is that the damn bigger government hue and cry is to turn a bad NATURAL situation into an excuse to spend more of OUR tax dollars on something that they are lying about.
‘Never let a crisis go by without trying to further Bankrupt American taxpayers.’
When it comes to water, Obama only thinks he’s good at walking on it...
Well, we know who put the bridge debris there...the same folks getting called to fix it. Most of those bridges are Federal, and anything which affects a navigable waterway has to be approved by the ACOE.
I once read that if one was trying to find the most ‘disaster free’ area of the US (i.e., earthquake, hurricane, flooding, snow/ice storm, etc.) the area to choose would be the border areas of TN, GA, SC and NC. Looks like it fares pretty well on your drought map as well.
Agreed. The temperate climate would also be a big plus for economic hard times (heating/fuel costs, fertile land, etc.).
People are definitely heading into that region.
More or less than an inch of snow fell on the central Rockies last night (less for most peaks). That’s about all that’s on ‘em.
I would love to have 5 minutes, just 5 minutes, of air time nation wide, just to deliver such a message to the masses of people across the nation.
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