A Sad Day for Pensacola

[S/V Illusion]

I amazes me people aren't embarrassed to write these things -
Great collection of mis-statements:
"if a hurricane hits with the oil still out there, you can expect all of the crops in the southeast to be ruined too."
"I also could care less about how much fuel costs."
"devastating and potentially irreversible damage is almost certain to occur all through the gulf, and everywhere the gulfstream travels"
"So far the US Government has done virtually nothing on the containment side"

Any one of these is foolish on it's face. Collectively, this thread wins the prize. Get a grip folks.

[captain58sailin]

If there is any blame laying or finger pointing to be done, look in the mirror first. If you use any thing that does not occur in nature, such as vehicles, nylon/dacron, fiberglass, epoxy, bedding compounds, injection molded plastics, anything plastic, anything that required some kind of forging or shaping, then you have created this demand, right down to the food you eat. So when the oil washes up on shore in an unusable form because of an accident regardless whom bears the responsibility for the direct action, we all share the blame by creating the demand by usage. So suck it up, and wipe your eyes and take responsibility. The ones who stand responsible for the accident will pay, and the rest of us have to accept the consequences for unbridled lust for oil. Trust me @ +$80.00 per barrel, BP did not want to lose one drop into the ocean, when they could be selling it to us oil junkies.
It is not unlike the smuggling and distribution of illegal drugs, if the demand wasn't there, then the drugs wouldn't be here.

[DeepFrz]

captain, well said.

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

I amazes me people aren't embarrassed to write these things -
Great collection of mis-statements:
"if a hurricane hits with the oil still out there, you can expect all of the crops in the southeast to be ruined too."
"I also could care less about how much fuel costs."
"devastating and potentially irreversible damage is almost certain to occur all through the gulf, and everywhere the gulfstream travels"
"So far the US Government has done virtually nothing on the containment side"

Any one of these is foolish on it's face. Collectively, this thread wins the prize. Get a grip folks.

Uh, they all make sense to me, but I live down here and the reality of the situation is closer than the nightly news.

Fantastic post Captain58sailin, I wish we would give finger pointing a rest and focus on what we can all do to clean the mess up, save as much of the sea life we can, and prepare for the added fun of a hurricane pushing all that oil up rivers and streams.

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

If there is any blame laying or finger pointing to be done, look in the mirror.

thank you .. this is correct.

[marc2012]

I was farming when rita hit & the salt left afterbthe storm left thousands of acres unusable for yrs.Oil would definatlydevastate acres of rice,cane & crayfish here.I thought I would add this to the drift.marc

[kmason]

I think the real shame is that the oil is hitting the marsh lands of LA, the white sand beaches of FL gulf coast and will probably continue east for many months. Eventually sweeping south with the coastline of FL then out into the Atlantic.

I'm sure BP is trying everything they can to stop this but were never prepared for a problem of this magnitude. No company seeks or continues a disaster of this proportion to improve customer relations.

Deep ocean drilling and the inherent risks are due to legislation that dictates no shallow water, near shore drilling. We don't want to see a big oil rig on the horizon during sunset as we fire up the outboard and head back in our plastic boats from a day's fishing.

The politicians have yet to do anything significant in terms of stopping the flow of oil, deploying oil cleanup or diverting crude from the shores. This administration seems disinterested in resolving this issue in hopes that if they ignore the [petroleum] gusher then maybe it will go away.

Meanwhile, thick brown crude is ruining some of the best beaches in the world.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by kmason

... I'm sure BP is trying everything they can to stop this but were never prepared for a problem of this magnitude. No company seeks or continues a disaster of this proportion to improve customer relations.

... This administration seems disinterested in resolving this issue in hopes that if they ignore the [petroleum] gusher then maybe it will go away...

A corporation, who’s job is to make profits, is more interested in public relations; than is a political entity, who’s job is to get re-elected.
Interesting viewpoint.

[blueayes]

It appears BP's goal is not to stop the flow, but to capture the oil so they can continue their enormous profits.
60 minutes had a good interfiew with one of the oil rig survivors. it explains what happened and the negligence of BP,etc.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6490197.shtml

[IdoraKeeper]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Errrrrr. That's their job isn't it?

Could make oil extraction environmentally 99.9999999% safe. Just cost USD 200+ for a litre of gas / petrol. Yer pays yer money..........

Just on a general point it's "BP" no longer "British Petroleum". Half the Board are US, more shareholders (by %) are US than from the UK and way more workers are US employees than in UK. Shares listed in London, Frankfurt, Paris and...........New York.

Head office is in the UK - at the moment............possibly fair to call BP an international company, but a bit of a stretch nowadays to call it a "British" company. If anything it's.............American

David-- Is it just a coincidence that just after the Tories take power in Britain--oil rigs in the gulf begin to explode? (now now just kidding).

Seriously, the loss of life in this accident makes it hard for me to even tease David. I know we have members of this forum who work the rigs and I was hoping a knowlegable poster could give us some technical details about rigs and why they are safe or dangerous.

Todd

[MarkJ]

I think all you land based people should stop driving your cars for 1 week as a protest.


Its natural in this media driven hype world that we get angry and get even before we allow the full facts to emerge, or before we even have the problem solved.

Why not let the pressure off them till the problem is fixed, then start on the recriminations?

I notice there was a news article about some local government not allowing BP to have an emergency facility as an equipment staging point. Shouldn't everyone instead of being obstructionist get out there and help?

And, finally, the sentiment : "The politicians have yet to do anything significant in terms of stopping the flow of oil". Well, politicians cannot do anything! Only the Oil industry can do something. Politicians can only bleat about it.

And another 'finally': on the profit/shareholder thing where it seems that some want BP to be a communist company and give away all the money it makes, its the shareholders that will be rightfully after a early successful solution as they want their investment restored.

On a political level: what upset people can do is wait till next election and find candidates who want to increase the investment in other technologies and reduce the dependence on oil and then vote for them.

Much of the western world difficulties are because we have not been able to reduce our oil dependance. If we didn't need oil there wouldn't be any problems in the Middle East, far fewer envorionemntal problems and significantly less profiteering against the poor old folks like use who are currently dependant.

[Chuck Howard]

When I posted the original message I didn't mean to start a firestorm of political fury. It is truly sad to see our beautiful beaches and waterways covered in oil, REGARDLESS WHO HAS FAULT! It will be years if not decades before Pensacola can once again claim to have the world's whitest beaches.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

In my travels in the SE of USA I am hearing the the accident was not the result of depth and technological difficulty. I am hearing that it was the result of trying to keep a schedule and optimize profits. Anyone have knowlege?

The Wall Street Journal has a very detailed on-going investigative report on the matter and there is absolutely no doubt about this. Common sense and common safety were sacrificed for expedience under pressure to "stop wasting money". The Well was beyond schedule and vastly over budget so corners were cut. What is most frustrating is that those in charge of the operation had relatively little experience and ignored warnings by more experienced men who had less authority. There is simply no excuse for this disaster.

FWIW...

[capt_douglas]

The latest BP/BS post says they're successfully recovering 10,000 gallons a day - about 20% of the oil coming out of the pipe. And with the smell and slick less than a mile from Pensacola Beach, things are starting to go even further down hill.

Truly a sad, sad time.

[Panama Dave]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Probably when all the Bush/Cheney **** is cleaned up, which could be a long time.

When Obama punishes "The Rich" with his VAT tax and puts the few remaining US boat manufacturers out of business that will be Bush's fault as well. Does that mean we can blame the 1993 luxury tax which put Pearson out of business on Carter? No matter how bad things get in the future Obama supporters will continue to blame Bush. It must be nice to never have to admit you were wrong.