Why is BP still in charge of the oil spill relief efforts?

[Politics_Guy25]

Latest article from the AP through MSNBC.com (it's their lead story):

BP is not performing acceptably in the slightest.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37899120/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf

Latest blunder feeds frustration in the Gulf
Sheets of oil close Florida beach, near Mississippi islands

updated 6:31 p.m. PT, Thurs., June 24, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - Earlier this month, BP boldly predicted the oil gushing from the bottom of the sea would be reduced to a "relative trickle" within days, and President Barack Obama told the nation last week that as much as 90 percent would soon be captured. But those goals seemed wildly optimistic Thursday after yet another setback a mile underwater.

A deep-sea robot bumped into the cap collecting oil from the well, forcing a temporary halt Wednesday to the company's best effort yet to contain the leak. The cap was back in place Thursday, but frustration and skepticism were running high along the Gulf Coast.

BP's pronouncements have "absolutely no credibility," Jefferson Parish Councilman John Young said. The latest problem shows "they really are not up to the task and we have more bad news than we have good news."

End of article quote-back to my thoughts:

This is an untenable situation. Do the Democrats in Washington not know that if this spill continues into the fall campaign, both houses of congress are gone and you're looking at the first majority democratic president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 drowning in a sea of oil?

You have the citizens of the gulf coast practically on their own cleaning up the messes that have been made of their beaches. NBC Nightly News reported tonight that there is not much guidance from the federal government on cleanup efforts.

I think that President Obama is being LIED TO by people on the ground. I doubt that he is being informed of the truly catastrophic way that BP is handling the relief well/containment efforts and the cleanup efforts. The 90% figure that he gave in the Oval office address was probably fed to him by the liars at BP.

More from the AP article:
"It just doesn't look like that's in the cards," said Ed Overton, a retired professor of environmental science at Louisiana State University. "We're not even close to that, and the word today is that they were capturing less than the day before. I was hoping the president knew something that the rest of us didn't know."

Back to my thoughts:

He needs to do 3 things immediately a)just in the same way that he relieved McChrystal of his command, which turned out far better than I thought it would I have to say, he needs to relieve BP of its command, b) bring in experts from around the world and other oil companies who know how to build relief wells and contain oil. BP is far from the only global expert on this situation and c) he needs someone on the ground that he can trust. Someone like Jarrett or Axelrod or Plouffe. Someone that won't lie to him.

President Obama needs to tell BP to go hell and the federal government needs to take complete control of this. The electoral college map that was re-drawn in 2008 is in serious jeporardy of being altered again if this spill continues unabated. You can probably sense my panic here. I don't know how many more banner headlines like this this administration can take before the wheels really do come off. What if August comes and BP says "oh, the relief wells aren't going to work...oops" just before the start of the labor day campaign kickoff. How the hell do we run our midterm effort with oil still gushing uncontrollably into the GOM??

And don't you dare accuse me of control trolling. This is serious stuff that needs to be fixed NOW. The stakes could not be higher. Of course, we also have the economic and environmental damage which is incalculable. I just want to make sure that we don't have incalculable political damage.

I think the administration needs to look at their response to this oil spill as determinative to 2010 and 2012. It's like they don't get it. Or, it's like someone is not letting the President get the information that he needs to know.

Edit: I am sure that if President Obama read the article I just read, he'd be through the roof. Or if he saw the pictures of destroyed beaches, he'd be through the roof as well.

[Vampire Knight]

1. Don't let all the golfing fool you.

He probably knows the extent of it. I've wondered myself, however, why he hasn't taken a more active role in managing this disaster. I mean, passing Cap and Trade and instituting a moratorium and railing against BP is not removing a single drop of oil from the Gulf. I'm not trying to excuse BP in the least: I think that they should have to bear up to every bit of the responsibility that is theirs. On the other hand, though, I think that Obama should be doing everything he can to try to mitigate the environmental consequences of this spill.

This oil spill is something that makes the environmental crisis tangible even to those most averse to green ideals. Obama has made aggressive speeches about taking on environmental issues, but when it comes to taking real action, he's, well, stuck in a sand trap.

[Politics_Guy25]

2. Also...

I didn't mean to come across as critical of the administration. I meant it kind of like say a friend telling a friend that his wife or gf was about to leave him or he was going to be fired, etc. We're talking about FL here and 27 EV's, probably more than that in 2012. Speaking friend-to-friend, I just hope they realize the stakes, that their response has to be up to par, and that they seriously need to consider just how much they can trust BP.

Oh and to the post above, BP deserves 1000% of the blame for this. NO BLAME WHATSOEVER rests with the Obama administration for the spill. BP doesn't care if the GOM spill is cleaned up or not whereas it means everything to the future of the Democratic Party and this presidency. That's why BP needs to be told to go to hell if they don't shape up (and at the same time be told if they are dismissed, they're still paying the money that they promisd and issuing relief checks, etc)

[Vampire Knight]

6. As I said

I'm not trying to deflect any blame from BP. I just think that it could be/could have been good for Obama to take a more active role in dealing with this situation. It's one thing for people to try and deny that the earth is warming up: it's another to deny the massive oil slick that's choking off the Gulf. If he spends all his energy talking about how bad BP is (we already know they messed up royally: who doesn't?) he might miss out on an opportunity to make environmentalism more accessible to a broader audience.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. You are a curious little fella.

Didn't I just see you defending Sarah Palin against some non-existent "sexism" in another thread?

Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[Politics_Guy25]

4. I think that you're on the right track post #3

Talking about golfing sounds like something Rush Limbaugh would say also.

[Vampire Knight]

8. How can you listen to that?

And why would you give THAT money to do so? I decided to listen once around the election just to see what they were saying and I found out that you had to have a paid membership even to listen to his rants online. I didn't bother.

[Vampire Knight]

7. There's a difference

between defending someone in particular and defending your gender in general.

[vaberella]

5. This isn't trueby the estimation of the Coast Guard.

No one (besides myself) ever posts anything from the Coast Guard and I'd limit my news to them in regards to this issue.

[Kalun D]

9. I said it from the beginning

BP should not have anything to do with the clean up except for paying for it.

Just like Obama recently made them set aside $20 BIL, that should have been done from the start for the clean-up then he should have brought in the National Guard

putting BP in charge is a travesty, they are the criminal perpetrators in charge of the crime scene, this is not an exaggeration in the least

the dispersants also is about the worst thing they could be doing, dumping more toxins on top of toxins and hiding the oil and making it harder to remove from the water

With the other big gusher in the Gulf, the Ixtoc they had to drill 8 relief wells before one of them hit the original bore, and that wellhead was only 200 ft below the surface, this one is 5000 ft. The Ixtoc dumped for 8 months, this thing could be dumping for a year.

Why is BP still in charge? Because they are one of the richest companies on the planet and they own our politicians.

-----------------------------

We need to take Hayward and his new fellow sociopath Bob Dudley (fitting name) and the top twenty BP executives...

and force them to swim around in the crude oil until they are thoroughly coated with the thick oozing crap, like it's all gunked up in their hair and in their eyes where they can barely see, then we let them crawl out on the beach and flop around in the hot sun for a day or two.

then we catch them in nets, put a ball gag in their mouth so they can't bite, and clean them with Corexit, after all it's not toxic at all, oh no. Give them a real good Corexit shower and about 20 minutes to recover. Then start the whole process all over again. Back out to flop around in the thick stinky crude oil floating just offshore.

Or you could alternate with days have them clean the beaches with shovels, no respirators allowed of course, after all this stuff is non toxic.

[sunnybrook]

10. Hayward is despicable

So I get your revenge fantasy. But what about the Americans that demand oil, that use more than anyone in the world? Drive on any freeway and you see the majority of cars (as well as SUVS and hummers) occupied by one person. What about the big money interests that obstruct progress on alternative energy sources, many of which could have been implemented years ago? While BP is obviously run by criminal liars there are alot more people that should be thrown in there as well.

[Kalun D]

11. Just like Bell Telephone in the 80's

the oil companies need to be broken up

and there needs to be real penalties for breaking the law, fines should be a percentage of earnings and there should be hard time for the executives

and they killed the electric car, bring that back, make true investments in alternatives, if there was an alternative people would take it, we don't need to be consuming this much

""While BP is obviously run by criminal liars there are alot more people that should be thrown in there as well.""

by all means, throw them all in there, and nationalize all the oil companies at the same time