Yesterday morning, after considering all of the evidence before me, I said, “
I sadly predict the horrors, the economic and the political chaos is about to begin.”
A loyal reader of Bayoubuzz responded on our BuzzBacks:
Oh, Predictor of Doom, nobody takes this oil spill lightly. Truth is- it's not as bad as we thought. If "that much" oil was "gushing" from the ocean-floor the Sea would be bubbling up. (leak is not a gusher- more like a slow leak, but still an environmental disaster, nobody is debating). Big question is---Where did the oil go? Now there's evidence of underwater plumes. Follow that. But, save your crying Wolf. Written by KjunLady on 5/18/2010
Well, perhaps I am a predictor of doom related to this incident.But consider the following:A small parts of the oil spill is now protruding on our coasts;
The recent videos indicate that the oil pouring out of the hole 5000 ft. below appears worse after this weekend’s fix;
A very long piece of oil spill is as long as a few hundred miles and could spread from east Louisiana into the Florida panhandle;
Scientists are claiming there are miles of oil spill beneath the gulf that we cannot see;
That a small portion of the slick appears to have reached the powerful current for a possible ride up the Florida coast;
There are serious questions about the dispersants that are being used to combat the damage, Federal scientists said Wednesday that a small portion of the oil slick from the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico has reached a powerful current that could take it up the gulf stream.
And, unfortunately, matters are not getting any better:
In this film, you can see the frustration in the eyes and the voice of our Governor, Bobby Jindal.You can see how much oil is currently blasting out despite the BP fix.
While one might disagree with my concerns, remember how much oil has been exploding out of the pipe break for weeks and we have absolutely no clue what is in the Gulf of Mexico.
The best that anyone can do at this time is to stay informed and play as active of a role in dealing with this incredible disaster for it definitely appears to bea very long tunnel before we see any light.
Here are some of the latestnews items and other information you might want to review:
News Stories
State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid confirmed US-Cuban talks "at the working level," telling reporters that "it is incumbent upon us to inform all of our neighbors, not just the islands, but those countries that could be affected by disasters that happen within our territorial waters."
The Obama administration replaced the Minerals Management Service, faulted for lax regulation of offshore drilling before the BP Plc spill last month, with three offices to oversee leases, drilling safety and fee collection.
The giant Gulf of Mexico oil slick that has tarred the reputation of BP and other companies tied to the sunken $560 million oil rig may not stick to BP bonds.
Bonds of BP Plc and related company debt were battered in the wake of the April rig explosion and sinking, but may now be poised to rise.
This week, Greater New Orleans, Inc., the regional economic development alliance, announced GreenN.O., a collaborative effort to establish Greater New Orleans as the nation's center for sustainable and environmentally friendly businesses.
"Greater New Orleans has a unique opportunity to become a world-leader in green and sustainable industries," said Michael Hecht, President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. "With our specific experience, dynamic topography and global brand, Greater New Orleans is the ideal location for sectors including water management, sustainable building, renewable energy, coastal restoration and disaster management/recovery."
Leveraging the most lucrative incentives in the country, a growing interest in sustainable business and a robust pipeline of new building activity, New Orleans is poised to be a leader in the new green economy. GreenN.O. will contribute to New Orleans' green economic development by attracting new investment, new businesses, and new jobs to the region. In fact, a recent study by consultancy McKinsey & Co. determined that up to 90,000 jobs could be created in Louisiana over the next 20 years in sustainable industries; the majority are likely to be in the Greater New Orleans region.
Analogous to the highly successful Digital Media Alliance, GreenN.O. will be a consortium of interested business, community and government leaders. It will focus on four areas:
Marketing - Peer-to-Peer positioning of the region's growing green sector to attract new projects and drive business development
Policy - Supporting legislation and incentives that will foster the growth of sustainable industries
Workforce - Collaboration with 2 and 4-year universities to ensure an adequate, skilled workforce
Research - Identifying intersections of green economic opportunities and local competitive advantages
"The importance of GreenN.O. is that, if we are successful, we will be able to simultaneously diversify our economy while sustaining our environment," said Hecht. "The Gulf oil spill has made perfectly clear the importance of us achieving both of these goals in tandem."
GreenN.O. will focus on a number of key sub-sectors, that will have different relevance in different parts of the region. These include:
Water management / hydrology
Sustainable building
Coastal restoration
Energy efficiency
Disaster mitigation
"Simply put," Hecht stated, "GreenN.O. is about rebuilding our economy as much as it is about rebuilding the coast: it is a great economic development opportunity."
The first major initiative under GreenN.O. will be "Growing a Green Workforce," executed under a partnership between Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), the Northshore Community Foundation, and GNO, Inc. The collaboration will take into account green, high-growth industries and the need for a strong workforce to support them. The product of "Growing a Green Workforce" will be a "green curriculum" and "green diploma" for graduates, who will remerge ready for jobs in new sustainable industries.
The first general meeting for individuals and companies interested in taking part in GreenN.O. will take place on Thursday, June 3 at 3:00 p.m. at CityPark's Parkview Terrace. For more information regarding GreenN.O and to RSVP to the general meeting, please contact Thomas Rush at trush@gnoinc.org or 504.527.6978 504.527.6978504.527.6978 , or go to http://gnoinc.org/programs-initiatives/greenno.
Where to begin? The oil industry is "heavily regulated" - and cannot drill anywhere the government doesn't allow it to do so. Their every plan AND deviation from that plan on each well drilled is submitted for approval to the federal government, for the government's review and approval. Just as there are car wrecks and plane crashes, there will be blowouts while drilling. Human attempts to "control" things (keeping an aircraft flying for example) will sometimes fail, as physical reality is different from theory in a classroom. Neither you nor I know - yet - whether this was caused by a directive from BP or Transocean or an individual making a stupid decision. As I said before, blowouts happen when Communist controlled governments drill for oil and gas, so your assumption that "corporatism" MUST be responsible shows a flaw in your reasoning abilities, or more precisely, your prejudice. I do not believe - nor have I so much as implied - that the free market takes care of anyone's interests - rather it reflects what consumers want. Big difference. I do believe that consumer choice is preferable in choosing winners and losers than government officials whose pockets are lined by – guess who? – those they decree will be "the winners." I know of no one who blames the powerless for anything; that is merely your take on those who oppose the government’s plans to make the majority of the populace dependent upon their “generosity.” I do know that much of where someone gets to be in society is in his or her own hands. If it is not, then why bother to educate them - if their fate is sealed and out of their control? I also know that one can take "anything" too far, including the size of government's expenditures. To realize this one must first understand that all government expenditures - salaries, pensions, etc. - are 'skimmed' off the private sector; so failing to keep the cost of government low only stifles growth in the private sector, and is counterproductive in the long term (as California and Europe are finding out). Finally, the "small government" Libertarians are the only political group that advocates uncoupling big money from government, and ending this country's military "adventures" overseas. The Democrats have done a good job convincing you they are different from the GOP, but when it comes to "money" and "empire" – and being more obliged to big banking and multination corporations than the American public - they are two peas in a pod (“but your brain won't let you admit it”). Written by kpf
on 5/23/2010
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Just because it bursts the big bubble on your libertarian fantasy world that the "free market" knows best and takes care of everyone's interests equally (what a big load of b.s.) does not mean that this is not a case of corporate malfeasance. There are mounds of evidence that this is malfeasance, but your brain won't let you admit it. It is clear to anyone with a brain that this industry (oil) like many others, needs to be seriously and heavily regulated. And why is the industry not heavily regulated? Well, because "small government" folks, those small-minded gits like Bobby Jindal (remember the Howdy Doody speech, anyone?) have been holding sway in this country for far too long, particularly since that senile troglodyte Reagan was elected. And now we're paying for it. So a big thanks to all of you who tend to blame the powerless - you know, black people and poor people and liberals and illegal immigrants - for all the "evils" in society. The corporatist party (i.e., the GOP) has a hand in this - it's just a smokescreen for unchecked corporate power - you all took the bait. TW Written by Tee Dub
on 5/23/2010
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You seem to have forgotten the 11 men who died. As a person who could be killed or burned due to shortcuts taken on safety in this industry, I will not defend this practice, EVER. However, "the company" does not want to risk lives, the loss of the facility and an environmental disaster due to - say - failure to properly test a BOP or prematurely use a lighter drilling fluid. Individuals may choose these things to better meet a schedule (more a "feather in the cap" of some manager than "more profit" to the company - trust me on this, I know these people) or simply because not performing the test is easier than doing so (lazy). That is my - and those like me familiar with the oil field - "best guess" as to how this happened. We'll probably never know what caused it because either those responsible are dead - or if not - won't ever admit their decision to take a shortcut caused this tragedy. So as much as your liberal inclination is to bash one or more "companies" - you're (probably) off target. This was ('most likely' - hell, I don't KNOW for certain) caused by "individuals" - not any company's policies or directives. Another possibility is some slide-rule dipstick engineer convinced a manager somewhere to take some 'money saving' shortcut and the manager issued a directive that caused this - that's possible but I'd bet on the "individual choice" scenario. Perhaps the cause will come out. Written by kpf
on 5/23/2010
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It seems the defenders of the oil industry don't want us to know what happened in the gulf or what is happening now. They want to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that nothing really happened. That is simply irresponsible. Written by David Quidd
on 5/22/2010
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It's been bad, it is horrible, but it is what it is. And idiots like the shrill and hyperbolic sensationalist Shepherd Smith of FOX (yes, even my favorite channel, FOX, has now been swept up in the media feeding frenzy)continue to scream about horrible old BP not letting scientists in there to measure the flow and quantify the volume of leakage "because the people have a right to know what is happening to their Gulf". What difference does it make to the capping effort whether the flow is 5,000 bbls or 50,000 bbls per day. It is what it is. And just suppose it IS 50,000 bbls rather than 5,000, and everyone comes to know it, will we be any better off from knowing? Will more people going into the extremely risky area just to satisfy the media's curiosity have any measurable difference in the recovery? BP is, quite justifiably, correct in refusing to allow anyone not essential to the only important task at hand into the area. And what if there were another mishap while these "scientists" were in the area of the spill, and they were killed or maimed? BP would be responsible, blamed and the subject of yet more ridicule. Do Shepherd Smith and others lile him realize that BP is already working in conjunction with a brainpool of over 500 knowledgeable petroleum engineers and other capping specialists, including many on loan from other (competing) "big oil" concerns to come up with an effective method of sealing off the flow. All this grousing about it will not speed up the capping process one iota. And having more people snooping around the area of the mishap would be dangerous and counterproductive. Yes, it is dark in that tunnel, as Steve says, but remember it is darkest just before dawn. I look for a breakthrough within the next five days, and once it occurs, then it will be time for the counting and the suits, and the charges and the countercharges to begin. Written by NotSoFastEddie
on 5/19/2010
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Your lead in mentions "dispersants" but not the text of your article. In the same vein as "better the Devil you know than the one you don't" dispersants should NOT be used on a slick. This only makes the oil sink and it will come ashore sooner or later. Far better to leave it floating so it can be cleaned up from the water or after it comes ashore. Not a 'good thing' having this mess come ashore but better than these sunken sluge balls coming ashore months or years from now. Written by kpf
on 5/19/2010
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I don't get what is meant by the "Growing a Green Workforce" part of the Green New Orleans initiative. People with technical skills - electrical, electronic, instrumentation, mechanical - have these skills and apply them no matter what the industry is. The same skill sets can be used in a nuclear power plant, a ship, a "green" industry, the oil field, a paper mill, etc., etc. I encourage young people - of whatever sex and ethnicity - to consider a technical training curriculum over a conventional university education. Instead of leaving college in debt with no job prospects, one could instead have skills that will provide far better than average wages and benefits without the typical debt one will have following completion of a four-year university education. Written by kpf
on 5/19/2010
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