4 Years After BP Gulf Disaster, Obama Admin Still Hasn't Improved Blowout Preventers

[matthewf]

[upaloopa]

1. The Obama administration hasn't improved

rubber baby buggy bumpers either.
There are probably literally hundreds of things the Obama administration hasn't improved but then legislation is congresses job right?

[MADem]

2. That is a priceless example of some of the most absurd "Obama blaming" I've ever seen!

Does he have a lab set up on the Truman balcony to work on this?

I'd say it's the INDUSTRY's job to fix that little problem--not the White House's.

[markpkessinger]

10. Setting regulatory standards is the job of the Executive Branch . . .

. . . in case you had forgotten.

[MADem]

11. I haven't forgotten a thing.

You need specific legislation in order to enforce regulatory standards.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41020738/ns/us_news-environment/t/shared-failure-bp-spill-cited-panel-report/

In its final report on the disaster, the White House oil spill commission said the U.S. government needs to expand its drilling regulations, as well as set up an independent drilling safety agency.
The seven-member panel unanimously endorsed 15 separate recommendations in the wake of the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Many of the proposals would require action by Congress.
The panel recommendations include:

Increasing budgets and training for the federal agency that regulates offshore drilling;
Increasing the liability cap for damages when companies drill offshore;
Dedicating 80 percent of fines and penalties from the BP spill to restoration of the Gulf;
Lending more weight to scientific opinions by other federal scientists in decisions about drilling.

...Part of the problem has been with Congress and successive administrations that have not provided the agency with the resources needed to carry out its mandate. Fixing that problem will be especially tough in a new Congress with a House dominated by Republicans keen on reducing budgets and the regulatory reach of government.

[markpkessinger]

12. Here's what Elizabeth Birnbaum had to say in a NY Times Op-Ed . . .

. . . Birnbaum, as you may recall, had been head of the MMS for just 10 months when the blow-out occurred, and was the Obama Administration's sacrificial lamb in response to the blow-out:

[font size=4]The Deepwater Horizon Threat[/font]

By S. ELIZABETH BIRNBAUM and JACQUELINE SAVITZAPRIL 16, 2014

< . . . . >

We would never have imagined so little action would be taken to prevent something like this from happening again. But, four years later, the Obama administration still has not taken key steps recommended by its experts and experts it commissioned to increase drilling safety. As a result, we are on a course to repeat our mistakes. Making matters worse, the administration proposes to expand offshore drilling in the Atlantic and allow seismic activities harmful to ocean life in the search for new oil reserves.

Following the spill, the administration promised that it would do what was necessary to make drilling as safe as possible. A presidential commission recommended numerous measures to increase drilling safety. The Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior and the National Academy of Engineering subsequently identified more problems that contributed to the spill. Though some recommendations have been acted upon, including restructuring the regulatory agency that oversees drilling and increasing training and certification for government drilling rig inspectors, threats remain.

< . . . . >

Administration officials promised an immediate response to the N.A.E. report, including regulations to set new standards for blowout preventers by the end of 2012. Today, 16 months after that deadline and four years after the blowout, we still have not seen even proposed rules. Deepwater drilling continues in the gulf. New leases are being offered by the government and sold to energy companies each year. Yet the N.A.E. report warned that a blowout in deep water may not be controllable with current technology.

< . . . >

This continuing threat to the oceans is compounded by the administration’s recent proposal to allow the use of seismic air guns to search for oil along the Atlantic coast. Scientists use these blasts to map the subsurface of the seafloor. But they harm a wide range of species, and the Interior Department’s own analysis indicates that they may kill large numbers of dolphins and whales. Rather than waiting for pending scientific guidelines that would determine whether this acoustic testing could be done safely, the administration has rushed to allow the oil industry to move forward.

< . . . . >

[MADem]

14. Those "key steps" require a "Congressional imprimatur."

Would you have Obama invite Boehner to the WH for a bottle of cheap Merlot, and then hold him hostage? Darryl Issa would probably be thrilled, and tell Obama to keep him.

It's fine to push the issue to the fore, but Obama needs the House to get anything done. As we know, all appropriations begin in the House.

Think maybe it's in our interest to give him a "D" one this year?

[markpkessinger]

15. "16 months after that deadline and four years after the blowout, . . ."

" . . . we still have not seen even proposed rules."

It doesn't require Congressional approval to come up with a proposed set of rules for Congress to vote on.

And nothing required the Administration to continue to offer new drilling leases, or to rush the approval of the use of seismic air guns off the Atlantic coast.

[MADem]

16. Congress isn't going to pass anything, not now, anyway.

Why spend money, time, blood, sweat and energy ginning up a proposal that Boehner is going to wipe his ass on?

Give Obama a Democratic Congress, and then see what happens.

[markpkessinger]

17. Ah, yes, we musn't take valuable time and money away from . . .

. . . the MMS' issuenace of new drilling licenses and hasty approval of potentially environmentally hazardous practices. How silly of me.

[MADem]

18. Now you're just being petulant.

Spend less time yelling at me, and more time yelling at the House Republicans.

That just might make a diff!

And it would certainly be less "silly" than getting mad at me for simply pointing out a few unfortunate realities.

[markpkessinger]

19. I'm not mad at you in the least . . .

. . . I just find the excuses you are willing to make for the administration's lack of any movement at all on this issue, as well as its taking certain actions that could potentially exacerbate the environmental risks, to be mind boggling.

[MADem]

20. Well, you really could have fooled me! I mean that sincerely.

I'm not making excuses, I just don't see the point of expending energy until Congress is onboard -- there's no damn point. I think it's "making excuses" to blame Obama for not being The King.

Did you know that I spent eighty hour weeks and MONTHS out of my life preparing the way for the repeal of the ban on gays in the military? Of course you didn't, but I'll tell you about it.

It was an enormous amount of work, requiring HUGE expenditures of time and massive attention to detail in a circumstance where everything wasn't quite so "computer-searchable" as it is today. There was a lot of dickering, document searching and review, identification of policy changes that needed to be made, it was an enormous task and the scope was just massive.

I was not alone in the job of course--hundreds were in on it, too, but I had a large share of the pie.

Well, when "DADT" became the fallback deal that was made, guess what happened to all that work? All that effort? All that care, concern, and double and triple checking? All of those policy meetings, all of that wrangling, particularly the inter-service bits?

Straight to the shitcan, after two years in the files. None of that work was saved, or could be saved, because of the way documents are periodically reviewed/updated or rewritten.

That's not the only occasion where I worked way too long and hard on something that never came to pass, at the expense of other issues that needed attention and ended up getting short shrift. Those kinds of situations taught me that the best way to deal with a potential outcome is to outline the bare bones and nothing more until you've got your deal locked down. The devil is always in the details, so it's best to just get the preminse outlined, and then hit it hard after you have something solid to work with...otherwise, you're wasting time, money, personnel assets, and you end up with a pissed off staff that allows crap to slip by because they don't believe that their efforts will go anywhere.

[truedelphi]

21. You are aware that when this catastrophe happened in Spring of 2010, Congress was firmly

A Democratic majority.

So why a serious re-working of the problems was not immediately undertaken I don't know, except that I suspect that 90% of the people "serving" in Congress are about the lobbyist payments to their campaign funds.

It is really hard to blame only the Republicans when both the House and the Senate were in the hands of the Democrats, from Jan 2007 to Jan 2011. And yet the slipshod regulations over deep water drilling were not tightened up at all.

On the other hand, back in Feb through May 2007, the first bit of business the Dems in Congress accomplished was their handing a major discount in postal rates to Big Players like Time Warner and Amazon, while socking it to small businesses like the one my household runs. I guess keeping the One Percent happy happy happy is such a full time job that worrying about protecting our environment is not worth the bother. I mean, when has the environment ever written out a campaign check to any person running for Congress?

[MADem]

22. It wasn't all that firm, now, was it, otherwise it would have been

nice and firm by the time the after-action report was completed. Look how long it took the ACA to get out of committee and into law. Nothing happens in a minute, especially when there are competing forces at play.

But this isn't helpful:

I guess keeping the One Percent happy happy happy is such a full time job that worrying about protecting our environment is not worth the bother.

If you need to express that view, do it directly to your elected representatives, not to me. That's certainly not my view of the situation. Address your complaints to the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

As for me, I can't wait for the day that oil goes back to it's earlier usages, as a lubricant and a "specialty" fuel for oddball things like rustic lamps, lightly utilized, and Mister Sun, Ms. Wind and their friends the ocean waves provide us with the bulk of the energy we need.

[truedelphi]

23. Oh whine whine whine whine.

Oh whine whine whine whine.

Like my Dad always said, where there is a will there is a way, and where there is a whine, there is only delay.

Democratic Leadership needs to stop the pity party and get off its collective butt and figure out how to accomplish what needs to be done, or they will find themselves viewed as irrelevant by many.

[MADem]

24. I am not the one whining, here--why don't you forward the complaints you are directing at me

to the House and Senate leadership of both parties?

That's a start, anyway.

[BeyondGeography]

3. The special sauce on Big Macs still sucks, too

[AtheistCrusader]

6. I'd stop complaining if he'd just bring back the Arch Deluxe.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Going regional with the McRib was smart, plus you can find where it's at with the McRib Locator

As if Obama had nothing to do with THAT.

[Turbineguy]

4. That particular blowout preventer

was broken.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. How's he supposed to work on it, it doesn't fit through the oval office door?

[groundloop]

7. President Obama does have a minor in Petroleum Engineering doesn't he?

And a fully cooperative Congress that's willing to pass important legislation.

[MADem]

13. Yes, especially the House...why, they're eager to craft that legislation to help this administration

out! Chomping at the bit they are!

Why, just the other day, I heard Boehner saying, "Rally round, boys and girls...we've gotta all get together and knock out this regulatory legislation for the chief! You know, the one we 'Hail to' every year when he comes by to give us a little update on the condition of our nation! And oh, we love him so, so let's do a bang-up job for him now! Whaddaya say, kids?"

Oh wait...that didn't happen. Someone must have put mescaline in my oatmeal!

[FailureToCommunicate]

9. Bullfeathers! Look at the shiney new one he's sending back from his Asia trip...

Our Prez is on top of EVERYTHING!