The Halliburton/BP Disaster...
By louisehartmann
White House senior adviser David Axelrod told ABC today that President Obama will halt any new offshore oil drilling “until we find out what happened” in the Gulf of Mexico spill. Axelrod said no new drilling will start until “an adequate review of what happened here and what is being proposed elsewhere.” The BP-Halliburton oil disaster could surpass Exxon Valdez very quickly. The Wall Street Journal reports the spill could have been prevented by a simple remote “off” switch, which the rig lacked. Eleven men died in this explosion, a detail that's usually overlooked in news reports, as the non-union company Halliburton was running the operation in a way that Norwegian offshore drilling operations would consider criminally unsafe. First miners, now oil rig workers, all dead because of deregulation and union-busting pushed by the corporate billionaires at BP, Halliburton, and the so-called "free market" enthusiasts in Congress.
Comments
#2
Does that mean Fed4Point, that you refuse to use products from these corporations? Meaning, in the case of the oil leak, that you don't use a car or every put gas in one?
#3
Well,it's good to see the Prez with s..t on his face.He knew better but just for the "political win" & to quiet the GOP he authorized offshore drilling just a month ago.
Well,it's also an indication of poor leadership,the Prez has "no position" on anything,he will flip-flop in a "New York" second if an event casts him in a good political light.
The Oil Prez didn't go for further offshore drilling,but there was Obama doing what GWBush didn't do.
Absolutely sickening.
#4
Re: oil spill, please see the attached article on blow outs and blow out preventers -http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.retirement/2010-04/msg05594.html . BP had a BOP on the rig, but not a remote-control device, which I agree should be mandated by regulation. But we don't know if the BOP could have been activaed even with a remote in place. From what I have read so far, Halliburton employees were cementing the hole (plugging the hole so they could move the rig) when the blowout occurred, and human error may be a cause, but no one knows yet. I was born and raised in South Louisiana and am fairly progressive, so I'm with you on regulation. But please know that oil field jobs in the oil patch are high-paying blue collar jobs and many men work their way up from roustabouts to rig operators (women now work on the rigs, but don't know if their are any female operators) with less than a high school eduaction - it is one of the last, if not the last, industries where uneducated workers can enter an industry with the realistic hope of one day earning over $100,000 (the oil industry apparently pays its "miners" much more than the coal industry). So saying that Haliburton is not unionized when it comes to rig work in general, and with regards to this accident in particular, is irrelevant. Best,
#5
In response to Bernie saying he has a bill to limit interest to 15% - So disturbing to me! I believe 15% is still usury, far too high! I think no interest rate should be allowed to be two digits! 1-9% interest rate is plenty of profit for a financial institution to earn. If they can't be profitable on that they should not be in business! My Mother had a 30 year mortgage at a fixed 3% interest rate, her bank did not go out of business! Also, variable rates need to be made illegal, fixed rates ONLY.
I'm really getting disgusted with being asked to be grateful for baby steps. We need Giant steps of reform!
#6
You can't blame the man in the president seat for doing the job of president. You should just blame the job, along with the different houses, and justice branch of government for no one doing the job as intended to benefit the american people instead of themselves and the rich.
As far as the deepwater horizon goes, I worked on a rig with my two brothers only 29 miles away from it. On the open ocean 29 miles is easily visible at night especially with any source of light, like a fire. The reason we were given for the explosion is they were pulling out of the hole after pumping cement and there was hesitation to shut in the well when they were getting small amounts of pressure back. They have a sub surface blow out prevention system that failed once they did try to close it in.
It would be hard to lay blame on human error for the mechanical failure unless that rig wasn't following regulations, being the weekly testing of their BOP systems. The hesitance to shut in the well may have been a factor but you can't regulate out poor judgement under high stress situations that an oil industry professional may never face over the course of their careerf. Where people are involved mistakes happen. Some are more costly than others.
The only really sad thing is that people die regularly in the oil industry. It takes a fire, millions of dollars in damages, and an oil slick before anyone even mentions the death of 11 people whose lot in life lead them to putting their lives on the line to fuel a modern world that after their death uses them only as a talking point for ridiculous political debate.
#7
As much as they talk about BP being responsible for the clean-up and damages, let's not forget how the Exxon Valdez bunch slithered out of their responsiibilities; I believe set free for a fraction of the original judgement by a Bush-appointed court.
How's that Drilly-Baby-thingy workin' out forya and your ex-state, Sarah?
People were supposed to be compensated then Exxon ran it through the courts like an insurance company waiting for you to die..
Feh!
I raised an eyebrow when Pres. Obama included off-shore drilling in his package.. in one way, he may have picked up some necessary points from that but now I bet it will be the congress that quashes any new drilling, or maybe, just maybe, they can strengthen the actual enforcement..
We shall see.
Rick
#8
Final Bill Moyers Journal
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04302010/watch.html
It is with great sadness that this past Friday, April 30th, was the last episode of The Bill Moyers Journal. It is an hour and a half and includes interviews with Jim Hightower and Barry Lopez. It might be the best episode ever. It was comletely on Populism and The Human Condition. VERY VERY EDUCATIONAL.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04302010/watch.html
We need more TV and people like Bill Moyers, not less.
#9
I worked oil industry, explore, development, service. and all the rigs I worked on. Never did the blow out preventer work ! and they just dont inspect them, and the gas detectors never worked also. we brought our own, just so the BP explosions would not occur !
#10
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It just keeps getting worst. It's not enough that greed driven corporations demolish economies and financial markets systematically, they tend to do the same to the environment and everything and everyone around them...They do this because thay are not held accountable. They are criminals and should be treated as such, obviously, they make the rules. I had the opportunity to speak with Aaron Russo regarding the disproportionate amount of income tax collected by the US Gov't. from individuals compared to corporations, almost 4 to 1.