Massive Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill

[CaptainChewbacca]

For starters, I'd point out that 'Globalization' is spelled with a Z, not an S. Then I'd point out that if even HER conspiracy-addled brain can't think of a good reason for an anti-british conspiracy, then there probably isn't one.

Then I'd refer her to some sort of tratise on the function of paragraphs in written argument.

[General Zod]

For starters, I'd point out that 'Globalization' is spelled with a Z, not an S.

That's . . .probably the most asinine nitpick anyone could make short of saying "colour" isn't spelled with a "u". Turns out Brits have minor spelling variations from Americans?

[Zed]

Second, again, how is she coming to the conclusion that it's not BP's fault? It's their rig, their responsibility and their shitty track record for safety. Pawning it off on this contractor or that contractor is merely passing the buck. Their rig, their responsibility to check on their equipment, their employees and their sub-contractors.

It's not BP's rig. It's Transocean's rig.

[Admiral Valdemar]

That's . . .probably the most asinine nitpick anyone could make short of saying "colour" isn't spelled with a "u". Turns out Brits have minor spelling variations from Americans?

It's funnier when you notice he has a glaring spelling error in the last sentence (after the non-capitalisation of a proper noun: "British"). I shall try not to be a pædant over it.

[The Spartan]

Second, again, how is she coming to the conclusion that it's not BP's fault? It's their rig, their responsibility and their shitty track record for safety. Pawning it off on this contractor or that contractor is merely passing the buck. Their rig, their responsibility to check on their equipment, their employees and their sub-contractors.

It's not BP's rig. It's Transocean's rig.

Sorry, I've lost track of who all owns what in this fiasco.

The basic point itself is still valid, the operators/owners of said rig are responsible, that includes BP. Yes it's more complicated than that, but frankly I really just don't have the energy to try and go back and break down the precise details right now.

[eion]

BP owns the lease on the well therefore they accept ultimate legal responsibility (it's in the lease) for any accidents caused by them, or their subcontractors, at that well site.

Technically speaking, they're fucked.

[Temujin]

Sadly, I think their ungodly amounts of money will provide plenty of lube.

While they may not get off as scott free as Exxon did, I don't see them really being hurt when all is said and done.

If the American people were burning BP gas station maybe, but as I understand it, there hasn't been any real boycott or drop in their sales.

[J]

The buyoffs begin...

WSJ link

Feinberg Ramps Up $20 Billion Compensation Fund

By NEIL KING JR.
Calamities and Kenneth Feinberg have a way of finding each other.

As soon as the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank and triggered a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April, Mr. Feinberg started mulling how an avalanche of claims by economic victims could be handled. Less than two weeks ago, BP PLC called to offer him a job doing just that. Last week, BP and President Barack Obama jointly chose him as administrator of an unprecedented $20 billion compensation fund.

The Washington lawyer and arbitration guru is now racing to speed up the system that BP initially put in place to compensate tens of thousands of Gulf residents and businesses for their financial injuries. It's a task he predicts will outstrip in complexity all the other victims' funds he has run, from the Agent Orange liability litigation in the 1980s to the $7 billion for victims of the September 2001 terror attacks.

What makes this case all the harder to handle is that it remains an unfolding disaster. "Until the oil stops, this is an ongoing tort. We just can't say what the final size of claims will be," Mr. Feinberg said in an interview. "The sheer scope of this is something we haven't seen before."

Two days after BP and the White House agreed on June 16 to set up an independent claims fund, Mr. Feinberg flew to the region, first to Mississippi and then Louisiana. Mr. Feinberg met Monday with BP executives in Houston to work out details for taking over the claims process. He is set to travel next to Alabama and Florida.

The fund he is set to administer has a number of oddities. It was created as a voluntary compact between the U.S. government and BP, but without any act of Congress, executive order or other legal anchor. Mr. Feinberg will have complete latitude to determine the fund's operations, including all key decisions as to who gets money and in what amounts.

Since his appointment, Mr. Feinberg has said repeatedly that he would neither take orders from the White House nor BP. But he said that Mr. Obama did give him one instruction: to get payments out quickly.

After meeting with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Friday, the 64-year-old Mr. Feinberg warned of the high potential for fraudulent claims in the same breath as he urged anyone who thinks they may be eligible to step forward. Getting people to apply in the first place is his first big hurdle.

You'd be amazed how many people don't come forward," he said. "They procrastinate, they worry, they doubt they will qualify, they don't trust the process, whatever."

BP has faced heavy criticism for lapses leading up to the disaster and for failing to prepare for a spill of this size. But Mr. Feinberg praised the company for its work in getting a claims process running swiftly. For at least another month, Mr. Feinberg will be advising BP on ways to speed up payments and make the process more transparent. He said he hoped to assume all responsibilities by August.

In seven weeks, BP has written 31,000 checks worth $104 million to Gulf Coast fishermen, shrimpers and others whose work has been cut short by the spill. A team of nearly 1,000 clerks and adjusters are processing claims in 33 field offices from Louisiana to Florida.

"BP deserves a fair amount of credit here," Mr. Feinberg says. "This is the first time I know of where a company has implemented a whole process like this in the midst of an ongoing crisis."

The son of a tire salesman and a bookkeeper from Brockton, Mass., Mr. Feinberg makes his case in the heavy twang of south Boston. A former chief of staff to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, he went on to become one of the country's most prominent arbitrators. After a rough start, he earned wide respect for how he handled the survivors and families of those killed on 9/11. The Treasury Department appointed him last year to monitor executive pay at companies that had received federal bailout money during the financial crisis.

"Ken is accustomed to handling these sort of issues without emotion," said former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who appointed Mr. Feinberg to run the 9/11 fund. "He was very good at distinguishing the deserving from the undeserving."

Doing the same along the Gulf Coast could be his biggest challenge. Can a motel 100 miles from the coast file for diminished revenues? What about a restaurant in Atlanta now having to pay more for shrimp?

And what about a New Orleans strip bar called the Mimosa Dancing Girls, which has put in a claim for a slump in sales? Asked about that one Monday on "Good Morning America," Mr. Feinberg said he was "very dubious about that claim," but didn't want to prejudge it.

As a rule, Mr. Feinberg said, he will turn to state law for guidance on which types of claims to honor and which to dismiss.

In the end, one aim of the fund—and a prime reason BP agreed to it—will be to minimize lawsuits against the company. To do that, Mr. Feinberg will offer big lump-sum payments to workers and businesses as an enticement to stay out of court.

"At some point, I will have to make an offer—'You take this amount in full satisfaction of your claim, but only if you waive your right to future litigation,'" Mr. Feinberg said. "And if I package it right, people will see that it makes no sense to fight it out in court."

Write to Neil King Jr at neil.king@wsj.com

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse...

[Crossroads Inc.]

In seven weeks, BP has written 31,000 checks worth $104 million to Gulf Coast fishermen, shrimpers and others whose work has been cut short by the spill. A team of nearly 1,000 clerks and adjusters are processing claims in 33 field offices from Louisiana to Florida.

That works out to Aprox 3354$ per check.
That is about One months worth of Income for me, and I am sure thats WAY higher for most fishermen.

So in exchange for destroying a Lifetime profession and ruining the economy for the next 100 years, BP is giving people around One MONTH worth of cash.

[Phantasee]

I doubt that's all they will get. That's probably just a temporary measure to tide them over until the full extent of the damage can be assessed. Who knows, maybe fishing can resume in a few years?

[dragon]

Breaking news that a federal jude has blocked the 6th month ban on drillings.

A judge blocked the six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling imposed by the Obama administration after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a ruling the White House immediately said it would appeal.

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AFP/Getty Images

A judge blocked the six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling imposed by the Obama administration after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Several companies that ferry people and supplies and provide other services to offshore drilling rigs had asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans to overturn the moratorium.

President Barack Obama's administration has halted the approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling at 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.

Judge Feldman said in his ruling that the Interior Department failed to provide adequate reasoning for the moratorium. He said it seemed to assume that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling posed an imminent danger.

"An invalid agency decision to suspend drilling of wells in depths of over 500 feet simply cannot justify the immeasurable effect on the plaintiffs, the local economy, the Gulf region, and the critical present-day aspect of the availability of domestic energy in this country,'' Judge Feldman wrote.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Mr. Obama believed strongly that drilling at such depths did not make any sense and put the safety of workers "at a danger that the president does not believe we can afford.''

The moratorium was imposed after the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 workers and blew out the well that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf. It was announced May 6 and extended May 28.

The Interior Department said it imposed the moratorium so it could study the risks of deepwater drilling. But the lawsuit filed in early June by Hornbeck Offshore LLC, a small oil-services company based in Covington, La., charged that the move was "arbitrary" and "capricious" and there was no proof the other operations posed a threat.

Experience WSJ professional Editors' Deep Dive: Oil-Drilling Ban Raises Industry IreTHE ECONOMIST
Obama vs. BPDow Jones Business News
IEA: Oil Output Threatened If Drilling Bans SpreadNatural Gas Intelligence
Obama Concedes Hardship of Deepwater MoratoriumAccess thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More The suit was joined by a host of other small providers of services to the offshore oil industry, and counted the support of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, underscoring the growing rebellion against the moratorium in the Gulf Coast, a region where oil and gas drilling plays a significant economic role. On Friday, giant drilling contractor Diamond Offshore Inc. filed a similar lawsuit in Houston.

In a filing with the court, the Department of Interior said that it instituted the moratorium with a view "for the long-term future," to reduce the likelihood of another disaster. "The public's interest weighs heavily in favor of making sure that a tragedy like this does not occur again," the filing said.

Environmental groups—such as the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center For Biological Diversity—filed briefs backing the moratorium.

Oil has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico since the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig in late April. As the oil slick has grown, the owner of the well, BP PLC, has faced withering criticism and deepwater drilling has come under scrutiny.

The announcement of the moratorium last month sparked big losses for the share prices of companies involved in deepwater drilling, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, uncertainty has swirled about the possibility of tighter regulations

link

[Ryan Thunder]

So... Can they get another judge to overturn the overturning?

[Admiral Valdemar]

A lot of other countries are restricting, putting more oversight on, or outright banning, off-shore drilling. I can see this being a shot in the foot down the line, given a sizeable chunk of our future production is going to have to come from off-shore.

[Ryan Thunder]

A lot of other countries are restricting, putting more oversight on, or outright banning, off-shore drilling. I can see this being a shot in the foot down the line, given a sizeable chunk of our future production is going to have to come from off-shore.

We need to replace oil, not dredge up more of it.

[eion]

So... Can they get another judge to overturn the overturning?

Either that or just stay the decision for the duration of the appeal. If the oil companies join along in this fight this too much though they may find themselves on the unhappy end of every single paper-cut the federal government can bring. The smartest thing they could probably do is agree to a voluntary work-stop, submit to Coast Guard safety inspections, and continue to pay all their employees while their rigs are shut down.

And if that fails, well, to paraphrase another President, "Martin Feldman has made his decision, now let him enforce it!"

[Admiral Valdemar]

We need to replace oil, not dredge up more of it.

]

if you can find me an oil replacement, I'll write you a cheque here and now for a lot of money (whatever I have, which actually is a pittance, but I digress). There simply isn't anything like oil we can turn to. And when we do run out of it in economic quantities, well, we've got coal to turn into oil instead. Marvellous.

[Crossroads Inc.]

We need to replace oil, not dredge up more of it.

]

if you can find me an oil replacement, I'll write you a cheque here and now for a lot of money (whatever I have, which actually is a pittance, but I digress). There simply isn't anything like oil we can turn to. And when we do run out of it in economic quantities, well, we've got coal to turn into oil instead. Marvellous.

Hydrogen Fuel cells and Nuclear power are a good mix.

For over all energy needs, expanded Nuclear Reactors nation wide could easily replace coal fire and oil fire power plants.
For replacing oil in cars, Hydrogen Fuel Cells is a good alternative and in some ways better then batteries and electric cars.

Of course it would require the dismantling of one immense pre-existing fuel system (Oil stations and oil refineries) and the creation of an equally massive and perhaps more costly distribution center (creation of Hydrogen storage facilities)
But it IS an option.

[General Zod]

Hydrogen Fuel cells and Nuclear power are a good mix.

For over all energy needs, expanded Nuclear Reactors nation wide could easily replace coal fire and oil fire power plants.
For replacing oil in cars, Hydrogen Fuel Cells is a good alternative and in some ways better then batteries and electric cars.

Of course it would require the dismantling of one immense pre-existing fuel system (Oil stations and oil refineries) and the creation of an equally massive and perhaps more costly distribution center (creation of Hydrogen storage facilities)
But it IS an option.

Aren't hydrogen fuel cells are too expensive to be a viable replacement? And nuclear power? lol. Good luck overcoming the anti-nuke inertia.

[SirNitram]

Link

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A federal judge struck down the Obama administration's six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, saying the government rashly concluded that because one rig failed, the others are in immediate danger, too.

The White House promised an immediate appeal. The Interior Department had halted approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling of 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama believes strongly that drilling at such depths does not make sense and puts the safety of workers "at a danger that the president does not believe we can afford."

Several companies that ferry people and supplies and provide other services to offshore drilling rigs asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans to overturn the moratorium.

They argued it was arbitrarily imposed after the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 workers and blew out the well 5,000 feet underwater. It has spewed anywhere from 67 million to 127 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.

Feldman sided with the companies, saying in his ruling the Interior Department assumed that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling pose an imminent danger.

"The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an unprecedented, sad, ugly and inhuman disaster," he wrote. "What seems clear is that the federal government has been pressed by what happened on the Deepwater Horizon into an otherwise sweeping confirmation that all Gulf deepwater drilling activities put us all in a universal threat of irreparable harm."

His ruling prohibits federal officials from enforcing the moratorium until a trial is held. He did not set a trial date.

The Interior Department said it needed time to study the risks of deepwater drilling. But the lawsuit filed by Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, La., claimed there was no proof the other operations posed a threat.

Company CEO Todd Hornbeck said after the ruling that he is looking forward to getting back to work.

"It's the right thing for not only the industry but the country," he said.

Earlier in the day, executives at a major oil conference in London warned that the moratorium would cripple world energy supplies. Steven Newman, president and CEO of Transocean Ltd., owner of the rig that exploded, called it an unnecessary overreaction. BP PLC was leasing the rig.

"There are things the administration could implement today that would allow the industry to go back to work tomorrow without an arbitrary six-month time limit," Newman told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.

The moratorium was declared May 6 and originally was to last only through the month. Obama announced May 27 that he was extending it for six months.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal and corporate leaders said that would force drilling rigs to leave the Gulf of Mexico for lucrative business in foreign waters.

They said the loss of business would cost the area thousands of lucrative jobs, most paying more than $50,000 a year. The state's other major economic sector, tourism, is a largely low-wage industry.

Tim Kerner, the mayor of Lafitte, La., cheered Feldman's ruling.

"I love it. I think it's great for the jobs here and the people who depend on them," said Kerner, whose constituents make their living primarily from commercial fishing or oil.

But in its response to the lawsuit, the Interior Department said the moratorium is needed as attempts to stop the leak and clean the Gulf continue and new safety standards are developed.

"A second deepwater blowout could overwhelm the efforts to respond to the current disaster," the Interior Department said.

The government also challenged contentions the moratorium would cause long-term economic harm. Although 33 deepwater drilling sites were affected, there are still 3,600 oil and natural gas production platforms in the Gulf.

Catherine Wannamaker, a lawyer for environmental groups that intervened in the case and supported the moratorium, called the ruling "a step in the wrong direction."

"We think it overlooks the ongoing harm in the Gulf, the devastation it has had on people's lives," she said. "The harm at issue with the Deepwater Horizon spill is bigger than just the Louisiana economy. It affects all of the Gulf."

Some relevent links: Link to Yahoo, showing the judge owns stock in offshore drilling so he has a direct financial incentive to rule the way he did.

And, because there's always a few who will swear up and down Obama will let this slide, The white house appealing the decision.

[dragon]

Already posted

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic. ... &start=400

[SirNitram]

Oh. Well. Lock please.

[Ryan Thunder]

We need to replace oil, not dredge up more of it.

]

if you can find me an oil replacement, I'll write you a cheque here and now for a lot of money (whatever I have, which actually is a pittance, but I digress). There simply isn't anything like oil we can turn to. And when we do run out of it in economic quantities, well, we've got coal to turn into oil instead. Marvellous.

No, but there's nuclear power. In the future, we aren't going to have as many cars nor drive them as often, I think, because they'll be electric. They'll need to be supplemented by trains and shit, as well. We need to start heading that way, and that was what I meant.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Hydrogen Fuel cells and Nuclear power are a good mix.

For over all energy needs, expanded Nuclear Reactors nation wide could easily replace coal fire and oil fire power plants.
For replacing oil in cars, Hydrogen Fuel Cells is a good alternative and in some ways better then batteries and electric cars.

Of course it would require the dismantling of one immense pre-existing fuel system (Oil stations and oil refineries) and the creation of an equally massive and perhaps more costly distribution center (creation of Hydrogen storage facilities)
But it IS an option.

Hydrogen economy is wank. Forget it. Remedial physics will cure anyone of that particular dream (which, you'll notice, all the major automobile manufacturers have quietly laid to rest while they tackle EV releases instead).

To get nuclear and EV going, you need nuclear plants. Lots of them. I don't see many.

[Zed]

No, but there's nuclear power.

How long is our supply of uranium going to last?

[Admiral Valdemar]

With breeders, that's not an issue. Thorium is even better. But supply of fissionable material isn't the problem, it's the lead time and financing of nuclear along with NIMBYism. There is no way to replace even a fraction of oil via nuclear-EV any time soon before oil becomes a very major issue.