Tag Archives: BP

Political Rants

The boatload principle.

These are indeed remarkable days. I can think of few times in recent history when the most fundamental problems of our civilization have been more obviously placed on display. This oil gusher in the Gulf – practically a non-story when it began – has captivated the nation, providing a gross illustration of the true costs of our current energy regime. Who can deny that this disaster was caused by a headlong rush for short-term profit, an obsession with minimizing costs, and a total disregard for human and environmental consequences? That is the model for oil development in the United States and elsewhere. And with this oil-cano spewing endlessly into an extremely sensitive biosystem, the actual costs of this enterprise simply cannot be concealed. There are spills and toxic contamination all the time, but you rarely see it or hear about it. This time is different. This time, the sludge is coming to us.

What, objectively, can our government do? Well, a lot more, it seems. Our regulatory mechanisms are mere appendages of the industries they are charged with overseeing. In many cases – such as with the Minerals Management Service- that was the intention. We’ve also just come off of a long period – eight years – of having former oil industry executives in charge of the government. That greatly enhanced the culture and practice of “hands off” regulation specific to that industry – an approach that was generalized to the rest of the economy. So the first thing that needs to be said about this crisis is that it is in large part another parting gift from George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Just add that to the pile, right next to the financial crisis, the Citizen’s United Supreme Court decision, the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so on. What’s next?

That said, there is little point in defending the Obama administration on this score. His appointment of energy industry favorite Ken Salazar as Secretary of Interior was on par with making Tim Geitner Treasury Secretary. Small wonder the Minerals Management Service, already publicly reviled for its cartoon-like symbiotic relationship with extractive industries, has been allowed to remain essentially unreformed up to this point. Were they waiting until a second term to get started on this? Or were they just carrying on what their predecessors had established, with a smiley face slapped on the side for good measure? Apparently the latter. Aside from some relatively muted trash talk, they’ve done little to force BP and the rest of the industry to change their behavior.

We’ve got bipartisan consensus on one thing: offshore drilling must continue. Why? Because it’s making boatloads of money for the suits. Why else?

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Hammered.

Now, I try not to rant too hard on Krauthammer, but he’s leaving me no choice. A couple of weeks ago it was the oil spill in the Gulf. That was the fault of environmentalists, by the way. (You didn’t know there were environmentalists working at B.P. or in the Minerals Management Service, did you?) Krauthammer’s argument on that score was essentially, shit happens – oil drilling is risky, get used to it. Moreover, those pesky greens made the government prohibit “safe” drilling on land and in remote places like the Alaska Wildlife Reserve, forcing those poor oil companies far out to sea and into deep water drilling in the Gulf. They couldn’t help it – the greens made them do it!  How else are they going to make piles of money other than by weaseling their way around our porous minerals management regulations and knowingly putting the entire southern coastline of the United States at risk? Oh, the awesome power of environmentalists! How the government and the oil industry cowers in their shadow! 

That was the last dose of goofiness. The most recent one was on Israel’s attack on a Turkish relief ship heading for Gaza, during which the IDF killed 9 people on board. Of course, in Krauthammer’s view, the attack was completely justified, taking up the usual line that the Israeli government has been following – Hamas has fired 6,000 or 7,000 rockets into Israel. Leaving aside the omission of any accounting of Israeli munitions fired at Gazans over a comparable period (with much greater human effect), Krauthammer proceeded to defend not only Israel’s blockade, but its occupation of all of the territories it seized in 1967 (including the Sinai) and its occupation of southern Lebanon for almost twenty years. You see, these were not occupations but forward defensive positions. Even long after anything that might be realistically termed a standoff or state of war existed between Israel and its immediate neighbors Egypt, Jordan, or Lebanon. So that should clear THAT up.

Also…  there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This is one claim that is practically beyond comment. I suppose from his perspective – one of an individual who does not see Palestinians as human beings – the misery in Gaza probably wouldn’t seem like a humanitarian disaster. (What humans, right?) He also equates the blockade to that used by the allies against Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II. This is a comparison worthy of the fevered imagination of Glenn Beck – equating a powerless, virtually weaponless rump state like Gaza with two of the most powerful imperial military machines of the 1930s. In fact, a Nazi comparison would be much more appropriate for Krauthammer’s own comments. I imagine, for instance, that Goebbels would have no problem describing the invasion of Czechoslovakia as “forward-based defense.”

I’ve said it before, and it’s worth saying again. How the hell is it that a guy who’s been so bloody wrong over the years remains a published commentator in newspapers across the country, on television, and on the web? Send your answers here, friends.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Money spill.

Now hear this – this is a four-star freaking disaster. We need Superman… or Aquaman, perhaps.

It is possible – just possible – that by the time I post this screed, the “top kill” method BP cooked up out of last-minute desperation (to save their skins) will have stopped the oilcano. It is also possible that it will have done nothing. In the mean time, millions upon millions of gallons of oil sludge and other chemicals (including dispersants) are sloshing about the Gulf, invading wet lands, fouling beaches, destroying underwater biosystems, and otherwise making life impossible for people and other creatures along the Gulf coast. It’s clear that the environmental consequences of this spill will be with us for a good many years.

It’s also clear that this spill was the result of negligence in the extreme; of greed carried to a fatal crescendo. BP and its hirelings were in a tremendous hurry and cut corners drastically. Combine that with the obvious fact that these people do not know how to deal with a well blow-out one mile under the surface and you have the makings of an environmental crime of historic magnitude. You also have the crime of manslaughter, at least, with the deaths of 11 workers in that initial explosion (the photographs of which are flabbergastingly reminiscent of World War II naval battle photography). As with the pirates who own Massey Energy, BP execs must be held accountable, as well as the contracting firms that aided them.

It shouldn’t stop there, of course. The administration needs to seriously clean house. I personally think Salazar should go, but more importantly, the regulatory structure must be strengthened and in a sense reimagined to execute an effective watchdog function, instead of facilitating what amounts to experimental oil exploration with no regard to possible consequences. This will be an important measure of whether or not Obama represents a departure from the Bush years, during which large segments of the federal government – including parts of the regulatory structure – were either staffed with industry sympathizers or outsourced entirely to private interests. If the president is willing to stand up to the energy industry (now that they can provide unlimited resources to any candidate who runs against him in two years), that might augur well for the future of our coastlines, mountains, and rivers.

If, on the other hand, he fails to challenge them sufficiently, he will need a little encouragement from you and I. I’m just saying – this shit has simply got to stop.

luv u,

jp