operators to submit evidence that they have the ability to respond "effectively" to a potential oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, given all of the resources -- such as dispersants, skimmers and boom -- that have been dedicated to the BP spill
... The administration also is expected to make the case that the industry is ill-equipped to respond to a blowout in deep water -- as evidenced by the nearly three months that oil has been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. In legal briefs, the administration also has stressed that essential resources to clean up and contain another spill -- from chemical dispersants to boom -- are tied up with the BP disaster, making them unavailable if another spill happened soon.
Are you flipping kidding me? Their reasoning for this moratorium is that BP, who has not been allowed by the feds to use skimmers from other locations because "there might be another spill", is that they are using up all the skimmers? The feds, who refused to let the states protect their own waters by building sand berms, are now saying that the reason they must have another moratorium is because BP is using up all the resources? Resources that the feds have blocked the use of at every turn?
OMG, is there no end to the stupidity and insanity of this administration? Wait... don't answer that.
Why stop there? The Ixtoc blowout shows that the industry is ill-equipped to handle a shallow water blowout too, since that lasted 14 months. Though unless the order mentions some review board that is actually reviewing methods and has a deadline to present a report prior to the expiration of the temporary suspension, I've the feeling the same judge is going to overturn this one as well.
We all need to get beyond this mindset,IMHO.
These statists/Marxists whatever, are anything but stupid. This is all planned, contrived, neatly sculpted. Its all a huge attack on free markets done a little bit at a time. And, whenever they can slide a big one in like 70% of the oil from the GOM which comes from deep water they don't hesitate.
These people are purposely attacking from within a once great country in order to bring it down. We need to face up to that.
According to www.theoildrum.com, which I find reliable, skimmers work with 0.1 inches of oil on the surface; or maybe 0,1 mm. But skimmers are useless for an oil-dispersant mix just under the surface.
If this be so, skimmers are useless. Also from oildrum, an advanced Dutch skimmer can cover 1 square mile per day. If there are 5000 sq. miles, skimming is like peeing in the ocean to raise the tide.
Which means they are looking for an excuse to ban deep water drilling permanently.
Meanwhile; Petrobras uses $2 billion dollars of American money that 0bama loaned them to drill in 14,000 ft of water.