Day 43 Links

Six weeks. Day 41 43 of Oil Spill. And the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season.

America, if you’re not shocked and scared enough, read this scathing AP editorial in its entirety: After ‘top kill’ fails, a dispiriting summer of oil, anger is ahead for Louisiana. It summarizes the whole situation to date rather nicely, including the fear and burning questions I have:

… Perhaps most alarming of all, 40 days and 40 nights after the Deepwater Horizon blew up and began the underwater deluge, hurricane season is at hand. It brings the horrifying possibility of wind-whipped, oil-soaked waves and water spinning ashore and coating areas much further inland. Imagine Katrina plus oil spill.

… As BP and the government chart the way forward, there remain prominently unanswered questions along the way.

How involved has the Obama administration been, how involved should it have been, and how much control should BP be given for events that are of public interest and happening in public places? Why have BP, scientists and the government been unable to accurately capture how much is actually leaking, the extent of damage and figure out how to fix it? And what can be done now to prevent even more of a disaster from unfolding, and to ensure transparency as decisive steps are taken to fix what’s broken?

No, I am not asking that the Federal Government intervene given that they know Nothing about drilling or even comprehending a bogus exploration plan, much less cleaning up a multi-million-gallon spill like this. Instead I ask over and over again until I’m blue in the face:

1) Why were other companies not given the responsibility of stopping the leak and cleanup weeks ago?

2) Why is Tony Hayward still allowed to run his mouth, adding insult to injury?

With officials now describing this as ˜probably the biggest environmental disaster [the US has] ever faced“, Hayward“s foot-in-mouth moment hasn“t exactly come at a great time. Sympathetic as we are to the pressures of running a huge organisation embroiled in a crisis, the same probably goes for the 11 rig workers who died in the explosion, not to mention all the fisherman who are losing their livelihoods.

3) Will the drilling moratorium add safety precautions that have not already been enacted by other companies in the wake of this disaster? I doubt anything new is required, just following rules and precautions already asked for in the current guidelines.

4) Who is on the new Oil Spill Commission, why and what are their qualifications? Can we get some transparency from government and BP now?

5) Is BP in receivership yet?

This is all something President Obama can make happen now without a geology or mechanical engineering degree or even a (useless) oil czar.

Meanwhile, the BP spill impacts Plaquemines Parish hurricane plans. Have I told you how much I love Billy Nungesser? Is he on the commission?

Update: Someone please jeezus make Tony Hayward stop already. And keep reading The Oil Drum because it’s the only clarity I’ve found over this whole affair in the last few weeks.