Federalizing the Oil Spill
[Guest post by DRJ]
Last Friday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs bluntly told reporters the federal government does not have the authority to take over the BP oil spill:
“PRESS QUESTION: If BP is not accomplishing the task, why doesn’t the federal government come in and take over and get the job done?
Q So that they can —
Q Federalize it — can you just federalize it?
MR. GIBBS: No.”
Three days later, with ABC, NBC and CBS focusing on the oil washing ashore in Louisiana, the government suddenly has the authority:
“Legally, President Obama can effectively fire BP and have the federal government take over efforts to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The question is whether that would help the situation.
No one argues that the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 gives Obama the authority to take over all efforts to plug the well gushing 5,000 feet beneath the surface.
However, officials of oil giant BP, while acknowledging their failure so far to stop the leak, say no one — not even the U.S. government — can match their company’s know-how and technology in such a crisis.”
What a difference a weekend and national news coverage makes. Either that or someone in the Obama Administration finally read the law.
— DRJ
Either that or someone in the Obama Administration finally read the law.
Racist!
MJN1957 (6e1275) — 5/24/2010 @ 6:06 pmDRJ did you see the inane demagoguery what a handful of our more strikingly fascist senator pansies have leveled at Transocean’s dividend?
This dividend was slated well before the accident, and has no bearing on Transocean’s ability to handle claims what might arise. What these fascist homos are saying is they expect a company what doesn’t feel it’s liable, what they can’t show is liable, to damn well act like they’re liable.
It’s sick.
It’s not America.
And if it is America I piss on it.
happyfeet (c8caab) — 5/24/2010 @ 6:12 pmWho is the most stupid in the Obama administration,
Gibbs or Biden?
I once thought the answer obvious but am not more ambivalent.
SPQR (26be8b) — 5/24/2010 @ 6:21 pm“…no one — not even the U.S. government — can match their company’s know-how and technology in such a crisis…”
And this was confirmed today in a WH briefing by Adm. Thad Allen (USCG Commandant)!
AD - RtR/OS! (21733c) — 5/24/2010 @ 6:52 pm“fascist senator pansies”???
striking mental image…
GeneralMalaise (9f1a86) — 5/24/2010 @ 7:02 pmThat would be a first.
Fritz J. (9f60df) — 5/24/2010 @ 7:20 pmFor my money, Napolitano is the clear winner. Which leaves Gibbs and Biden in their comfort zone as also rans.
It’s clear Napolitano didn’t read the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Chapter I, part 300. That’s the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution National Contingency Plan. It makes it very clear that the Federal Government is most definitely in charge of the clean-up.
I especially like the title of the first substantive section, 300.100: “Duties of the President delegated to other Federal Agencies.”
It’s clear they had none of the materiel or equipment deployed in readiness to deal with this spill. The Federal response to containing the and cleaning up the spill not only been utterly incompetent, but results from dereliction of duty of the first order.
Do we really want them to fire BP and take over the job of putting a cork in that well?
Steve (6cf4f1) — 5/24/2010 @ 7:28 pmFritz beat me to it!
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 5/24/2010 @ 7:58 pmThey didn’t read the law. They just “glanced” at it.
navyvet (206534) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:20 pmPretty sure they didn’t read the law. They were likely “briefed on it”.
JoeBean (6aeb80) — 5/24/2010 @ 9:25 pmI listened to the Napolitano, Jindal, Salazar press conference yesterday. Napolitano and Salazar gave the government’s plan: BP is bad, BP will pay, we’ve been here 4 times, we’ve been on it since day one and we have a high priority team to find out how much oil is spilled. In other words, they have no clue on fixing the problem but are pretty darned good at fixing the blame. I think I’d rather see BP and Jindal fix the problem. The administration is well short of clueless.
Bob (f79737) — 5/25/2010 @ 4:28 amGood luck with Jindal (rememeber his post-Obama speech) fixing the problem. If he could, it will have already been done. Sorry, but for folks posting from their lawnchairs in the kitchen of their parents trailer, this problems is a little too complex for “u all”.
BUCKJOHNSON (a265de) — 5/25/2010 @ 6:17 amFrom the administration who said ‘inflating the tires’ was the solution to the energy crisis, and
ian cormac (e8306d) — 5/25/2010 @ 7:09 amthe concern was not about the high gas prices, but that they come upon unexpectedly, I don’t have much
confidence in the country
How silly. Everyone knows that the Federal Government has authority over all issues that are politically expedient.
Amphipolis (b120ce) — 5/25/2010 @ 7:20 am#12
Jindal is working on protecting his state, as is his duty. He’s only the Governor of one state, after all. The feds have not been doing their job particularly well in this.
LarryD (feb78b) — 5/25/2010 @ 8:05 amIts amazing. The obama administration wants to stick its nose in literally every aspect of our lives but suddenly they are reluctant to sieze power?
I guess you have to tell them that the spill might cause people health problems to get them to engage.
Then again, as bad as bp is, does anyone thing think the feds will do it better?
A.W. (e7d72e) — 5/25/2010 @ 8:09 amSo, they can nationalize the banks and the auto companies and finance companies and student loans and home mortgages…but not a gushing oil leak?
Wonder why.
Patricia (160852) — 5/25/2010 @ 8:24 amPatricia
gmta. but really given how stupid this administration is, should we be encouraging them to take it over?
A.W. (e7d72e) — 5/25/2010 @ 9:10 amDon’t encourage them, like the saying goes
ian cormac (e8306d) — 5/25/2010 @ 9:29 am“Either that or someone in the Obama Administration finally read the law.”
Nah. Reading laws is above their pay scale.
joated (4e0dda) — 5/25/2010 @ 9:32 amthis problems is a little too complex for “u all”.
Comment by BUCKJOHNSON
Us’ns waiting for you to enlighten us.
MD in Philly (cb8efe) — 5/25/2010 @ 9:59 am“…Then again, as bad as bp is, does anyone thing think the feds will do it better?”
Comment by A.W. — 5/25/2010 @ 8:09 am
In today’s WH briefing, Adm. Allen (USCG Commandant and Incident Commander for the spill) reaffirmed his position expressed in yesterday’s briefing, that the Federal Government does not have the resources in either expertise, manpower, or equipment to deal with this emergency to the level that BP, and the oil industry overall, does.
So, NO! The Feds cannot do it better, no matter what the empty-suit politicians (and their sycophants within the Beltway) say.
AD - RtR/OS! (bd3d6c) — 5/25/2010 @ 10:46 amA.W., they only take over enterprises that provide money they can skim off. No money to be made here. Of course, the Dems have introduced new gas taxes to cure that.
Patricia (160852) — 5/25/2010 @ 10:47 amI knew somebody who was in the SeaBees years ago. He was proud of the motto, “Can Do”. I am sure he would be livid if he heard a US official say they were not up to the job.
If there were people in the government wise and skilled, it still might make some sense for the feds to take over decision making, as BP may have different priorities. But that’s a BIG IF.
On the other hand, it seems like the feds have done little to nothing. Can’t USCG ships help with floating nets, etc. to “corral” the spill? I mean, at one time it started out as a relatively small area. Maybe instead of using chemicals to disperse it, they should have been happy to keep it in a big tar ball. of course, hindsight is 20/20.
MD in Philly (cb8efe) — 5/25/2010 @ 11:55 amCAN’T . . . HE . . . JUST . . . EAT . . . HIS . . . WAFFLE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Icy Texan (380c78) — 5/26/2010 @ 1:21 am