Congressman Ed Markey tweets.
No, seriously, that's the word out of Capitol Hill today. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), the agency formed after BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster last year, issued the first permit for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday. It went to a project in Mississippi Canyon Block 519. The agency's press release about that makes no mention of BP, calling it "Noble Energy's application." (UPDATE, 7:20 Eastern: A BOEMRE spokesperson explains why it considers this Noble Energy's deal. In short, the company is the "operator for the lease, got the permit and will drill the well.")
Noble Energy also makes no mention of BP in its press release from yesterday. In announcing a major discovery in Mississippi Canyon Block 519, back in 2009, Noble spelled out the various ownership stakes, including BP's -- the largest single slice, with a 46.5 percent stake alongside Noble Energy's 23.25 percent share.
Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, tells Reuters that the new, first permit looks kind of odd, considering. From Reuters:
"Given how the people of the Gulf view BP, this drilling partnership could be called 'Noble meets ignoble'," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural resources Committee.
"While the optics of this situation contain their own special irony, the reality is that Noble Energy has met the federal government's necessary metrics for safety and response," Markey said.
BOEMRE says you can expect more permits like this one to be approved in coming weeks and months.
UPDATE, 5:30 Eastern: Marian Wang at Pro Publica on how ready the oil companies are for disaster.
Leave a Comment:
Let me tell you something. BP made a big mistake with the spill. But Americans aren't giving up their fossil fuels any time soon. So who's fault should the oil spill be? I think it our fault. BP is just a company drilling oil so that we can drive our vehicles around. With the strife that is unfolding in the middle east we need to think more realistically here. I think the spill could have taken place anywhere and unfortunately BP was the unlucky bunch.
I always love it when people call systemic criminal negligence, "a mistake."
Oh yeah, BP was the unlucky bunch. Just bad luck and nothing to do with their blatant disregard for safety mechanisms and procedures in the interest of FASTER PROFIT NOW! So merely unlucky of BP to lose 11 rig workers in a blowout explosion that resulted in a giant spill that is STILL killing the floor of the Gulf!
I guess you just told us all something there.
Nobody but BP managers and executives decided to ignore safe working speed and conditions, all in the interest of even bigger ridiculous profits.
BP is one of the reasons we still mainly use fossil fuels and not alternative fuels. Use of fossil fuels makes more money for BP. We the people will use whatever type of fuel is made available to us. We don't have the power to change that choice.
Wrong. BP cut corners. Whatever that motivation was, the price of fuel was artificially low (or profits artificially high) based on reduced spending on safety. Had BP done the right thing here, profits would have been lower (yeah right) or fuel prices would have been higher, thus possibly imrpoving investment in alternative fuels. I've read that alternative fuels don't become "investor friendly" until gas hits $4.00 / gallon. Oil companies have a HUGE motivation to make sure prices stay just under that amount. Funny how they haven't gone over $4.00 / gallon.
Not so funny, actually.
You can do anything you like if there is no law enforcement.
It would be best to re-brand this topic as a corporate tax structure issue.
As a retired federal inspector, I can tell you that the problem is the budget for inspections and investigations. All the other issues are noise.
Minerals/Mining, EPA and OSHA laws exist, but there is no enforcement funding. Before Obama was elected, you would call the federal OSHA, EPA, Minerals/Mining phone, and it would just ring and ring. Voice messages would disappear into a rabbit hole. No call back.
In an environment like that, any company that chooses to cut drilling cost would eventually have had a blowout.
There is no question that funding for inspections can be made available from companies like BP.
Nathan Cowlishaw's first and no doubt last post. Behold the industry shill.
Crackhead award...funny you should mention that. I e-mailed the NOLA branch of OSHA re the clean-up crews' lack of protective equipment while handling what was clearly toxic material. They sent me back a confirmation e-mail. Then not only did they not get back in touch with me, but the confirmation e-mail disappeared as well. Ominious.
So, BP was just a company whose pattern of questionable behavior had nothing to do with the GOM disaster which was merely an accidental consequence in the pursuit of the company's objectives by its employees? Yes, sort of like Manson was just a Family man whose history of criminal behavior had nothing to do with the Tate-LaBianca killing spree which was simply an irresponsible misinterpretation of his goals by his Cult members. Makes sense to me. /s
isn't this what the people in the gulf has been screaming for since last summer give it up stupid is as stupid does they want it and they said they voted for it in nov if you didnot vote for as i did not give it a break and shut up or get out and make sure it turns around next year
No, no, tell me I am having a nightmare!
"'Noble Energy has met the federal government's necessary metrics for safety and response,' Markey said."
Wonder who had a hand in writing those "metrics"?
Both hands, probably.
So for some timely light reading, here is a link to the Chief Counsel's technical report on why the Deepwater Horizon disaster happened. Among the conclusions is that the well blow-out was clearly preventable.
http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/chief-counsels-report
Thanks for the link Dutchie! Yeah, I know, amazing reading is right...best part - nobody gives a rats tootles *sarcasm alert* least Congress and this Administration for whatever reason. So much for that Government accountability that president BO spoke about in his inaugural address...breaks my heart it does. I'm sure we can look forward to many unhappy repeats of this kind of failure...
*FACE-PALM*
Umm, yeah, I'm sure this is gonna work out just great.
In related news, thalidomide will once again be given to pregnant women, DDT will once again be sprayed on our crops, and a German company has announced plans to build a new Hindenburg filled with hydrogen gas.
What alternative universe did I awaken in today?
I suppose the saying, "keep your enemies close" is appropriate here.
Hooray, more oil so we can fill our giant cars with more gas and drive our fat butts down to McDonalds and stuff our fat faces with more fat! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Funny and true. We have a serious case of "not in my backyard" syndrome. We have no problem using a good chunk of the earths resources but we don't want it to come from aroung here because it might mess up our environment. Who cares if it effs up some other country's landscape - just give us the oil/minerals, etc! We are the big ol USA. I say we start a drilling in Alaska, the gulf and anywhere else in this hemispere that we can get it. If we don't want to risk getting these bountiful assets, then stop asking for them!
@Skip- I don't know if you're a King of the Hill fan, but it reminds me of the episode where Buck Strickland (Hank's boss) purchases carbon offsets so that he can excuse his business for polluting. Hank, who is a conservative Republican, makes a very passionate speech about how this annoys him because instead of taking personal responsibility and making changes that, over time, will save energy people are trying to find the most half-assed way to "save" the earth. He then encounters a bunch of hippies and naturally assumes they would be in agreement with him that carbon offsets are a terrible idea. Come to find out the hippies believe that carbon offsets are a great idea too, for the same reason Mr. Strickland does (FTR Strickland is supposed to represent the stereotypical greedy CEO kind've like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons). I always loved that episode because of the social commentary on how even those who profess to love the earth and be green and blah blah don't want to make the changes necessary to stop the things causing our problems. Americans like to complain about global warming, but at the end of the day we're probably the last nation out there that would willingly give up our SUV. So there is a reality check I think a lot of people have to take.
Yes Mickey I am a King of the Hill fan - I will have to watch that episode. sounds funny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthly_Girls_are_Easy
At the end of the day...I just cannot believe they are gonna let those @!$%#ers out there to do it again.
I bought hybrid to step on their little toe. Big Oil frightens me. The gov. that supports them frightens me. Are we moving slowly into a feudal system where we belong to Big Business?
Yes Barbara, with the gradual-ness that someone described as being similar to a big cooking kettle, the frog goes in, the heat is on low, the water gets warmer--no problemo, right? Until, Ta-da!! Cooked, dead, didn't know what was happening to it-poor froggie! Frog here being, in politician-speak, the American people.
The frog goes in, the heat is on low, the water gets warmer-- it's time for Mythbusters!
BOEMRE? Wasn't that an organization of evil from a "James Bond" novel? Seriously, though... is that acronym supposed to be pronounced "bummer"?
It's spelled BOENER.
ha ha ha!
So, has BP now proven that they can:
1. Operate safely?
2. Operate within the law?
3. Have technology that prevents blowouts from occurring?
4. Have technology to shut off a leaking well?
5. Have the resources, especially financial, to make compensation for any leak that may occur as part of their operation?
Unless they can answer all of those questions with a credible, unequivocal "yes", they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near deepwater drilling....nor should any other company that cannot also answer all those questions in the affirmative. Unless they can truthfully do so, they have as little business drilling in deepwater as guy with 5 DUIs has in driving a school bus.
So the Rule of the Corporate continues on.
Whats new?
Oh Puhleeeze! Nothing about the Politics, Payola, Graft, Corruption or Morality has changed. Didn't you notice? The best we can hope for is that it takes the same time between huge deep water drill blowouts as it did this time. 1972 (I think it was) to this BP Spill. 30 years from now, Rachel will have white hair and be teaching somewhere and some new commentator on the only network left - MSNBC-FOX-TIME-COMCAST - will show the footage of "That last oil spill way back in 2000-something". And point out that there "still aren't Walruses in the Gulf". Our cars will have reached the "official" practical limit in mpgs - 53 mpg (estimated) and Gas will be $16.50 a litre. (yes Liters because the single Oil Company BP-EXX will figure it doesn't sound as bad as $62.46 a gallon.) The new political party - Replidems, known affectionately as the Koch Armey (named for the financiers who created it) will vote for the elimination of all tax breaks for the Oil Company in exchange for subsidies and fees paid TO the Oil Company for supplying us with it.
In keeping with this reform movement, State and local taxation will be outlawed in all States where there is either a minimum wage or where any abortion has EVER been performed. Instead the Federal Government will use a fee for filling your tank which will be equal to 12% of the charge. That money will be allocated by the Oil Company to States based on their consumption of Oil Products Per Capita. (This will of course include State and Town Vehicle, Public transportation.
I could go on but my crystal ball just got foreclosed upon - but that is another story
It is underwhelming to see so little of the rancor offered up by so many of us regarding this carrying of the torch of Corporatism which this Administration has dutifully groomed into.
Bushbama 2012, for Change You are Already Used To!
All the time, energy, money, blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into oil wells, refineries, etc. could have been spent on alternative sources years ago and we wouldn't have this problem- at least to this extent.
The oil companies have risen to a status above god's. They have more money, clout, and omnipotence than anyone ever. They run the government. We go to war for them, we kiss their asses and assume the position! And to think we have let this happen and are continuing to let it happen!
The thing I find remarkable is that Bush changed the tax/grant structure to benefit alternative energy.
Shortly after Obama was elected, thousands of wind-turbine generators were erected. You can see this if you take a drive down I-80 through Nebraska and Iowa. Many corn fields have sprouted large wind turbines.
Much of the oil we import from Muslim countries would be reduced if most of the country is covered with wind turbines.
I am not certain that your statement is correct, CA. Wind farms displace other means of generating electricity (when the wind blows, anyway - wind's capacity factor is too low for baseload reliable generation). The great majority of oil used in the US is not for electricity generation, it is for transportation (see chart here and graph here) - either transporting people, or transporting goods. Without replacement of our main transportation "prime movers" - currently fossil-fueled internal combustion engines - with some other type of engine, either electric, fuel cell, etc., our dependence on oil will continue until the fuel gets too expensive for us. oh, and we'll have to stop using so much plastic as well (the pink segments on the linked chart and graph include oil-based feedstocks for plastic).
We many never do without oil altogether but every type of alternative should be developed. Oil should be the last resort or used sparingly.
Agreed, newsblog - I simply wanted to point out that wind turbines were not an answer to our dependence on oil.
I agree, ↑what Dutchie said↑ (for both) Also, Dutchie, related to that, I saw a great program on pbs this weekend highlighting incredibly innovative efforts by German scientists/Industry to find alternative materials other than petroleum in the manufacture of plastics – they are currently working on technology that utilizes waste CO2 to make high quality plastics:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=132492
They can do it on a small scale right now - they are trying to work at a reasonable way to go large scale…
Wow, that's nifty, WBEng. Thanks for the link.
I wonder what the catalyst is and how it works? Will have to dig some more. Maybe those hours I spent in organic chemistry and polymer science will be useful after all.
Electricity generated from natural gas can replace much of the gasoline used in transportation, both in cars and in electric trains as they have in Europe. The US has plenty of natural gas.
lol, Dutchie, they actually talked about catalysts, but I don't remember them saying what they were exactly - however, as organic chemistry and polymer science is not my forte in any small fashion (lol), it could have gone in and didn't stick for crap to be able to tell you right now.
However! I think I did find the link to the actual program I watched (DW-TV, Tomorrow Today, Carbon Dioxide...):
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/episode/0,,14812146,00.html
;-)
Should I at all be surprised that the one time you choose to blog is when it regards science?! NERD!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw
Love you WB =)
lmao! Of course! I love you too Mickey =)
Hey ladies...its muy bueno to see you all again.
Ola Don Q! Good to 'see' you too ;-)
lol @ Don...you can be eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevill.... (other thread)
I am about a gnat's whisker away from getting permenantly banned if I don't play nice. As much as I love you guys, I REALLY should behave myself!
Yeah, someone made a really nasty comment about horses and I had to delete my GFY. And YOU Don...lol...please please please....check's in the mail dude...I'll pay ya to stop engaging that ....errrrg....I dunno what happened here??? lol.
It was in Last Word blog, I got mean in an abortion thread. I was bad.
Sounds like a certain lady we both know needed to give you a slap upside the head with her fan!
Of course, when dealing with certain trolls, it takes a saintly amount of self-control not to burst out with some vile epithets, I know from experience.
I'm choking on that myself...subtle insults seem to be okay around here.
And we are all the masters of subtlety around here, ne c'est pas?
I dunno either
Let this be a warning to all the youngsters out there. Do NOT follow my example. For what its worth, when I can scrape up the means, I'm going to get therapy for my ADD. Work on my etiquette and impulse control. It really is one of the things keeping me down. I don't play well with others and are incapable of not eating my own feet in person. I do terrible first impressions but get better with prolonged exposure. It sucks. And I'm not kidding about "geek" tourette's. Its not profanities, but anything that comes into my head jumps out of my mouth. Usually humorous non-sequitors or obscure facts.
And cerebral psycho-terrorism...mind-f**cking. I'm bad about that.
And I am sure you know Don, that if one argues with an idiot for too long...it becomes difficult to tell exactly just whom the idiot may be?
Aye!
ftr DOn Q, you will always have a special place in my heart - just as you are, and, the world is a much better place for having you walking amonst us *smiles*
You cheer me considerably WB. I'll try to mind my Ps and Qs.
Ah,Washington...if you grease the right palms...there is no limit to what the privileged elite can do.
While that may be true, this is an obvious ploy for BP to slip back into the GOM using Noble (whose willingness to be used belies its name) as a cover. The Mississippi Canyon is not an environment that can support the gross negligence and criminal greed of this serial violator. The question we should ask our government is, "Are you going to let it happen again?"
But first they will have to remove all the dead dolphins washing up on shore from the still toxic ocean, thank you very much BP!
I bet they paid out more in bribes and kick backs, than they did all the victims of the oil spill they created.
Can you say campaign contribution?
I know you can.
You know that BP will ALWAYS do well. Have sacrificed 11 souls to Mammon and destroyed an eco-sytem and and rocked an economy and poisoned thousands in the name of MONEY, prosperity will surely be their's.
Agree, DonQ. Note that they've sacrificed more than 11 souls - this 2005 article from states BP led the US in refinery deaths with 22 since 1995.
Read all about it...
Truly Mammon must be well pleased with them!
Trouble is, for every one of us like me who cares and does things like drive a CNG powered car and installs solar panels on the roof to generate power, there are ten Escalade-driving buffoons who think a relaxing weekend at the lake involves a screaming power-boat and dirt bikes.
Or screaming ATVs. Or in the winter, screaming snowmobiles.
Can you believe that such people even ride their snowmobiles in South Jersey? Where the winter snowfall is, shall we say, miniscule?
When I saw this I almost threw my computer.
We will deserve all the destruction and pain that will come in the long run from these decisions, but our helpless environment and the life forms that share it don't deserve our greed and stupidity.
Maybe it will cough up a super virus and get rid of us first. Now there's a thought.
Developed in conjunction with Monsanto...
joman where do you think your power to run your computer comes from
billbissette - you don't understand the subject here, do you? Someone is butt kissing BP and handing them a free pass to ruin environments and crap up oil drilling and endanger lives. They should not be rewarded for their lack of ethics and skill.
But of course if you're like a tea party friend I have you think the Iraq terrorists caused the gulf leak, so we really can't even get to the logical talk on this subject.
Super.
He he Totally.