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It is by now obvious that even after we stop the gentle trickle of oil that's currently expressing itself into the Gulf of Mexico (thank you so much, BP) we are not going to be able to get that oil out of the water for some considerable length of time--and if you think it could take years, I wouldn't bet against you.
While BP is the legally responsible party, out on the water it will be up to the Coast Guard to manage the Federal response, and to determine that BP is running things in a way that gets the work done not only correctly and safely, but, in a world of limited resources, efficiently.
Which brings us to the obvious question: can the Coast Guard manage such a complex undertaking?
While we hope they can, you need to know that the Coast Guard has been trying to manage the replacement of their fleet of ships and aircraft for about a decade now...and the results have been so stunningly bad that you and I are now the proud owners of a small flotilla of ships that can never be used, because if they go to sea, they might literally break into pieces.
It's an awful story, and before we're done you'll understand why Deepwater was already an ugly word around Headquarters, years before that oil rig blew up.
Kathy Sullivan had a great post on this earlier today, but I wanted to take a second and talk about Kelly Ayotte's statement this morning that taking drilling in New England "off the table" would be a "huge mistake."
It was unbelievable, especially as millions of gallons of oil continue to pollute Gulf waters and coastlines
Watching James Carville make excuses for Obama Wednesday on CNN was heartbreaking. I heard enough excuses under Bush, I didn't vote for Obama to hear more. I don't suppose an anonymous and occasional diarist has much pull, but whatever pull I have, whatever my elected officials think they owe, I'm calling it in: MOBILIZE THE FULL POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO FIX THIS SPILL.
I'm mad about this. I want bazillions of people cleaning up those beaches and marshes. I want miles of boom lined up waiting to be used. And I DON'T want people like Carville saying that Obama must not be getting good advice, or that he might not understand the scope of this disaster.
Imagine if it had been terrorists. Respond accordingly. Worry about billing BP later. Two-hundred-umpteen thousand federal employees, and this is the best we can do?
Here's one listof what the White House could be doing, including declaring a state of emergency (he hasn't done that yet?!); getting DARPA to create a skunkworks rapid solutions team; and
9) Call that lazy-assed sad-sack Joe Lieberman and tell him whatever super-secret-y deal you guys have going in the way of a quid pro quo is off if Lieberman cannot find some reason to investigate the relationships between Department of Interior and any corporation with which it deals.
Unfortunately, I still haven't seen more than this tepid response from the White House spokespeople:
MR. GIBBS: I would say relating to some of the earlier questioning, we've asked them to provide more public data on air and water quality, and we asked them 10 days ago and reiterated in a letter yesterday to provide video footage of what's happening 5,000 feet underneath the sea --
Q: Why didn't you order them to do that rather than ask them?
MR. GIBBS: Because it's -- you can't do that from a private company.
It's time to start ordering people.
I will be calling my senators and representatives tomorrow on this. They can harrass BP all they want, but the first job for the federal government is to FIX IT.
As the facts trickle out about the oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the suspicions of us who find it difficult to support Republicans deepen. I hear from some of my neighbors that there are good old Republicans in my town, but as far as I can see they will vote for anyone with R after their name, no matter what the party does to us all when in power.
Baton Rouge (FNS)-Facing both a massive oil slick from a sunken offshore drilling platform and a second year of declining tourism revenues along the Louisiana Gulf Coast caused by high gas prices, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today introduced a new tourism promotion that he reports is going to "...make lemons into lemonade".
Jindal, flanked by British Petroleum's Director of Marketing Dick Timoneous and the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Tourism Board, Jenna Talia, announced that the "All The Oil You Can Carry Festival" would officially commence today just east of New Orleans, and last at least through the month of May.
