Tag Archives: president

http://environment.change.org/blog/view/the_daily_spill_diamond_saw_fail_and_bp_… The Daily Spill serves you up the latest developments as oil continues to coat the Gulf. Forget Plan B, C or D. With how fast their schemes are failing, BP may be soon require the Greek alphabet. So, remember that diamond-tipped saw intended to cut through that troublesome well pipe in order to cap it? Yeah, that got stuck. Most of yesterday went by before it was freed. Now, I kid you not, the company has turned to giant “garden” shears, though it’s unclear when that will begin. Don’t hold your breath. Oh, but just in case you were worried, federal officials assured us that nuclear weapons are not on the table. Nothing would surprise me at this point. Back on the East Coast, President Obama gave a serious and politically important speech yesterday at Carnegie Mellon University. He finally spelled out the obvious: the Gulf disaster should be a catalyst to pass a climate bill with a price on carbon, and also said he wants to roll back billions of dollars in oil company tax breaks – something he had tried to do in past budget proposals. He also vowed to personally whip votes for a climate bill “in coming months,” which climate advocates have urging for awhile. While Obama talked policy, other politicians did what they do best (for better or worse): made demands. Alabama Republican state senator Ben Brooks explained that “there’s nothing inherently contradictory” with a small government advocate, such as himself, demanding the very same wimpy government protect public safety. Um, sure, no comment. Democrats, meanwhile, made some more sensible demands: Sens. Chuck Schumer and Ron Wyden rightly told BP it was “unfathomable” that the company is considering pay shareholder dividends before total cleanup costs are known (the latest estimates rise to nearly $40 billion). Florida Sen. Ben Nelson, in a letter, formally asked that the military take charge, and others said BP CEO Tony Hayward’s head should roll. Some news on this should play out when Hayward addresses his investors tomorrow. Speaking of – the man of the hour has been busy backpedaling, said he was “appalled” by his own “I’d like my life back” remark and admitting to The Financial Times that criticisms of BP’s spill preparedness are “entirely fair.” As for BP’s response since, Vice President Joe Biden seems to believe the company is doing the best it can. BP and Halliburton are certainly experts at getting politicians to favor their interests. The former hired at least 27 former government insiders to be their lobbyists in the first three months of this year alone, reports the Huffington Post, and is a company with incomparable influence. In a busy donation month, the latter gave $17,000 to candidates this November, Politico reports, several of whom are on committees investigating the oil spill. And so much for a respite from new offshore drilling. Yesterday, the Minerals Management Service approved the first new shallow oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico since President Obama put a short moratorium in place. The site is a mere stone’s throw from a Louisiana state wildlife refuge. Drilling in deeper waters, for the record, is still frozen, but I’m not sure I get why drilling closer to the shore is better. At the very least, Interior has taken steps to demand more in drilling applications and, as The Hill reports, is asking approved permit holders to resubmit plans if they’d used a loophole that exempted them from environmental review. And lastly, sometimes being funny pays. Or at least being friends with funny people. The anonymous tweeter behind BPGlobalPR’s fake feed donated $10,000 to the Gulf Restoration Network yesterday. added by: captainplanet71