Obama's Responsibility to Gulf Oil Spill

[fufu]

Concerning the recent Oil Spill in the Gulf Coast -

What is Obama's responsibility as a president, really?

I've seen many segments on TV and articles online about how he being criticized for his effort concerning the oil spill.

But, what can he really do? Is this just people using him as a scapegoat to load the blame?

He isn't an environmental scientist, he isn't an engineer, he isn't a marine biologist and nor was he the one to do the drilling. So why so much blame put on him? He is not the one to devise a recovery plan.

I think American people are largely to blame, including myself, for subscribing to the "dogma" of petroleum fuels. It is hard conclusion because we are put in a stiff position to use the oil, but there is an element of personal responsibility that comes into play IMO.

In a sense, the people in charge of drilling are to blame, but accidents happen in every process, this was just something waiting to happen. People can throw around blame all they want, but oil spills happen and will continue to happen.

Anyway, what do you folks think?

 

[DOMS]

When Bush was the president, he was blamed for everything. Remember Katrina?

Now it's the black guy's turn.

Just remember, if you criticize him, you're racist.

 

[NeilPearson]

I blame the drilling company. While you say that accidents happen, there were several incidents that led to this that were nothing short of pure neglect of safety rules.

 

[KelJu]

BP is to blame. All they see is dollars. The don't give a flying fuck about the mess they have caused other than the bad publicity, stock prices, and the money this is going to cost them. They won't clean it all up just like Exxon never finished cleaning up after their fuck up.

Hopefully this will cause much needed new regulations. Big energy companies are constantly fucking shit for everyone else without ever having to apologize or be held accountable. BP should have to pay big time, but they won't. Even if they did, they would just pass the buck to the consumer.

I don't know how this could possibly be Obama's fault. It isn't like the overseer of the drilling operation regulations was his old college roommate. That is a jbb to Bush for the when Fema completely dropped the ball. Outside of that, I don't feel that Katrina was Bushes fault.

 

[maniclion]

When Bush was the president, he was blamed for everything. Remember Katrina?

Now it's the black guy's turn.

Just remember, if you criticize him, you're racist.

I say it's the white man in him fucking shit up.....Fucking White Devil....The white man wants to live above the Earth in the clouds, his color, so he makes the Earth rotten to justify his sky lust....the brown Earth people just quit caring about the Earth and the sky.....

 

[Dark Geared God]

I think its bush's fault still

 

[Arnold]

BP is to blame. All they see is dollars. The don't give a flying fuck about the mess they have caused other than the bad publicity, stock prices, and the money this is going to cost them. They won't clean it all up just like Exxon never finished cleaning up after their fuck up.

yup.

 

[busyLivin]

Id love to blame barry, but its BPs fault.

I'm not shedding a tear for him though. He joined the other idiots in blaming bush for katrina. Anything to help get him out of office in 2 years is ok by me

 

[jmorrison]

I hate to say it after the conspiracy theories I was backing, but with the information we are getting out here in the gulf, it looks like it was a failure on BP's parts shared equally with Transocean.

I still stand behind my earlier comments that shutting down drilling is simply absurd. The average citizen clamoring for this has no idea how this is going to impact their checkbooks, and how this is going to further put us into indentured servitude to OPEC.

 

[Arnold]

I hate to say it after the conspiracy theories I was backing, but with the information we are getting out here in the gulf, it looks like it was a failure on BP's parts shared equally with Transocean.

I still stand behind my earlier comments that shutting down drilling is simply absurd. The average citizen clamoring for this has no idea how this is going to impact their checkbooks, and how this is going to further put us into indentured servitude to OPEC.

you're right, that is why we need to find alternative fuel sources and lose this oil dependency.

 

[ROID]

Opec opec opec

 

[jmorrison]

you're right, that is why we need to find alternative fuel sources and lose this oil dependency.

As an oilfield worker, I would probably be drawn and quartered for saying this, but I agree.

It doesn't take an economist to realize that when you pay for everything, but produce nothing, you will eventually run out of funds. When you run out of funds, and then borrow more money from the people you are buying everything from...it just gets to be a little insane.

We need to be able to run our country on power created by things that we HAVE.

However...and it is a big however....until we find this source of power, we need to use as much of our own as possible instead of depending on other countries.

 

[DOMS]

The belief that the US produces nothing is a fallacy.

 

[Arnold]

The belief that the US produces nothing is a fallacy.

you're right, we produce an enormous amount of waste.

 

[jmorrison]

The belief that the US produces nothing is a fallacy.

Comon DOMs, you know me better than that. Obviously it wasn't literal. I could reword it to "when you purchase more goods than you produce and sell".

 

[DOMS]

Comon DOMs, you know me better than that. Obviously it wasn't literal. I could reword it to "when you purchase more goods than you produce and sell".

True, but so many uniformed people really believe that the US produces nothing.

 

[fufu]

I blame the drilling company. While you say that accidents happen, there were several incidents that led to this that were nothing short of pure neglect of safety rules.

What incidents occurred that led to the problem? I am asking purely to learn, I'm not insinuating anything by the question.

 

[Dale Mabry]

This colossal fuck up belongs to a lot of people. From what i read, maybe jmorrison can confirm, but BP didn't have to go through a full inspection process that could have caught the faulty equipment, so the gov't shares some responsibility. Honestly, something like this is not outside of the realm of possibility, a blowout that deep below sea level had to be something that could have happened, and it obviously did. From what we have seen over the last few weeks, there was zero game plan for a situation like this, ZERO! I am all for looking for oil, but there need to be procedures in place before we do it so that when something like this happens, it is stopped immediately. You can't just go drilling for this shit and fixing fuck ups on the fly, this thing should have been plugged within 2 days of the blow out.

 

[irontime]

you're right, that is why we need to find alternative fuel sources and lose this oil dependency.

This is where people piss me off (not you Prince)
Alberta was going to get a nuclear power plant. It would create a lot of jobs, has become very safe over the years and would save a lot of resources. Everything was set up for it but the fucking tree hugging hippies got a stick in their ass and protested until it didn't happen. Yet they still cry that they want alternative energy sources, but of course would never give up their cushy way of life using the sources we do have.

There's just no satisfying the cunts.

 

[maniclion]

This is where people piss me off (not you Prince)
Alberta was going to get a nuclear power plant. It would create a lot of jobs, has become very safe over the years and would save a lot of resources. Everything was set up for it but the fucking tree hugging hippies got a stick in their ass and protested until it didn't happen. Yet they still cry that they want alternative energy sources, but of course would never give up their cushy way of life using the sources we do have.

There's just no satisfying the cunts.

Rightfully so lands have been decimated mining for Uranium and other ores for nuclear power, lot's of freshwater is in use to cool it, some of those plants drop the water table too low or just suck up all sorts of fish and other organisms......all these voids in the Earth where liquid once was is like your inner ear being imbalanced...our Mother Earth won't be able to spin as beautifully , she'll start wobbling trying to toss our calloused, unappreciative greedy asses off of her..... We waited too long and now people call just as devastating fuel sources alternatives.....the Sun has provided us with all the Energy we need for as long as living things existed here....I think it's the best solution we have to harness the direct energy from it and the wind and ocean tides is the purest way to do it...and all the people who complain it's expensive fuck them you put up solar panels or wind gens once every 25-30+ years, you gotta mine, haul and burn or cook off and then dispose of the harmful waste all these other sources that shit costs more than buying solar electricity for every person on Earth ever would.....

 

[bandaidwoman]

The two are very similar in the role played by government indirectly:

Katrina was going to be a catastrophic disaster regardless ( and I never blamed Bush) but one could argue that a conservative government practice that looks down their noses on government for ideological reasons, decided that FEMA wasn't very important.( thus when disaster hit they were pitifully unprepared)

The BP disaster was made more likely because conservative ideology of "laissez faire governement" or government regulation of private industry wasn't very important and turned the relevant regulatory agency into a joke.

As for the the actual problem at hand, I sympathize with BP engineers in that this catastrophe occurs over a mile down ( height of Munt Everest), just like air pressure, oxygen content and wind currents up on Mount Everest are insanely dangerous and crazy , the laws of physics, fluid dynamics, hydrolics etc. change drastically at such high mercurial pressure and currents at that depth are insane. I don't think our robotic technology is any better than the puny tiny ones we are sending to Mars, or sent to Venus where other types of extreme conditions exist. ( And at such depths its not like we can send down an army of human engineers like that movie Asteroid.......)

 

[DOMS]

Katrina was going to be a catastrophic disaster regardless ( and I never blamed Bush) but one could argue that a conservative government practice that looks down their noses on government for ideological reasons, decided that FEMA wasn't very important.

You're right. It had nothing to do with the Democrat mayor of New Orleans and the Democrat Governor of Louisiana taking their sweet time in asking for FEMA and doing nothing on their own. Well, that's not entirely true, the mayor moved his family to a safe area.

 

[bandaidwoman]

FEMA Official: 'Systematic Failure at All Levels' in Katrina Response - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum - FOXNews.com

even fox news discusses the wide systematic failure on behalf of FEMA, Once again, as President Bush depended on FEMA to make any decisions and guide him ( like obama is not an engineer, he was no meterologist) I never blamed him directly. No single person can probably be blamed, I am just commenting on the overall situation that existed at the time, leading up to the "perfect storm" so to speak in which case everyone was culpable.

Plus, if I recall the governor was asking fema for help long before the mayor did so the call for help was sent.

http://www.historycommons.org/timel...e=hurricane_katrina_tmln&printerfriendly=true

The agency was underfunded and anemic by the time Katrina came along , but honestly as a president fighting the war, like medicine, things had to be triaged, funding to help our soldiers constitutes more importance than a relief agency one can argue. Unfortunately, the timing was bad, and none of us would have known FEMA had been so unprepared if this disaster had not come along and noone would have known better.

This BP crisis also sends a message that a company that spends millions to billions developing technology to find oil probably needs to spend the same research and development money on containing any mishaps, this will be a good learning lesson for other off shore oil drilling companies ( Notice I did not say we should stop off shore drilling even though most would infer that I would and would be wrong.)

 

[Dark Geared God]

You're right. It had nothing to do with the Democrat mayor of New Orleans and the Democrat Governor of Louisiana taking their sweet time in asking for FEMA and doing nothing on their own. Well, that's not entirely true, the mayor moved his family to a safe area.

No it wasn't the lets wait and see what happens, we don't need bush...oops

 

[irontime]

Rightfully so lands have been decimated mining for Uranium and other ores for nuclear power, lot's of freshwater is in use to cool it, some of those plants drop the water table too low or just suck up all sorts of fish and other organisms......all these voids in the Earth where liquid once was is like your inner ear being imbalanced...our Mother Earth won't be able to spin as beautifully , she'll start wobbling trying to toss our calloused, unappreciative greedy asses off of her..... We waited too long and now people call just as devastating fuel sources alternatives.....the Sun has provided us with all the Energy we need for as long as living things existed here....I think it's the best solution we have to harness the direct energy from it and the wind and ocean tides is the purest way to do it...and all the people who complain it's expensive fuck them you put up solar panels or wind gens once every 25-30+ years, you gotta mine, haul and burn or cook off and then dispose of the harmful waste all these other sources that shit costs more than buying solar electricity for every person on Earth ever would.....

I agree that solar/hydro would be the optimum way to go, but it's not always possible in some places. I still think the majority of people over reacted about nuclear. Right now we're tearing apart the ground for coal and oil. I'm sure there would be less uranium needed than other resources (although I'm not 100% on that)

 

[Dark Geared God]

 

[Dark Geared God]

I agree that solar/hydro would be the optimum way to go, but it's not always possible in some places. I still think the majority of people over reacted about nuclear. Right now we're tearing apart the ground for coal and oil. I'm sure there would be less uranium needed than other resources (although I'm not 100% on that)

wind is a pain. when i waslooking at houses there was a wind farm not to close but you could hear it for miles....and it doesn't make enought power

 

[GearsMcGilf]

Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device - WSJ.com

Maybe this one shut-off switch could have prevented the spill. Norway and Brazil have required it for years, but the US doesn't. Unfortunately, the panty-waist, commie, anti-capitalist, enviro-nazi fags will probably overlook this one important safety mechanism that could have prevented this catastrophe and push forward with their anti offshore drilling agenda.

 

[Hench]

wind is a pain. when i waslooking at houses there was a wind farm not to close but you could hear it for miles....and it doesn't make enought power

Really? I live close to one and I've never heard a thing.

 

[jmorrison]

Welp. It began today. Looks like we may be headed off to Africa to drill. For other countries.

Americans drilling for oil for other countries to sell back to the US.

Wait about 4 months and see what gas prices are looking like. This is why we shouldn't elect rich elitists to office. They have no concept of what this is going to do to the American checkbook. What does 5-8$ gallon gas prices mean to a Millionaire?

Fucking retards.