Jim Urquhart/AP
The lousy boom and the paper towels, in one picture.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer told reporters today that he's cutting ties with the Exxon Mobil and federal government's joint response to the Yellowstone River oil spill. Governor Schweitzer tells the AP he's setting up his own command. From the Grand Forks Herald:
Exxon Mobil security workers have closely guarded access to the command post on the second floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Billings, where the EPA and other federal agencies also are stationed. Attempts by The Associated Press to talk to government officials there have been denied.
"The state will no longer have a presence at the Crowne Plaza because Exxon Mobil tells us they can't respect the open government laws we have in Montana," Schweitzer told The Associated Press. "I can't allow state employees to be in meetings at the Crowne Plaza talking about this cleanup without having it open."
Exxon Mobil's pipeline burst a week, spilling an estimated thousand barrels into the Yellowstone. On his official website today, Governor Schweitzer posted a letter (pdf) to the U.S. Department of Transportation's pipeline division requesting all records about that particular pipeline since 2006 and all records of any complaints or violations connected to any pipelines anywhere in Montana.
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Remember Exxon in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 1989? Welcome to our world, Governor Schweitzer. And best of luck finding sympathy from our great judicial system.
Anybody care to wager how much longer it will be before the feds make up some career-killing dirt on Governor Schweitzer, now that they know he's on to their game? I give him about a week.
Remember Exxon in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989? Well, welcome to our world, Governor Schweitzer. And best of luck with finding any justice within our judicial system.
Anybody remember when Obama allowed private industry martial law to be called down upon the state of Louisana by BP and how he allowed BP to usurp the authority of the EPA OSHA and NOAA? Good luck Scheitzer.
Thank you Rachel, for putting this on your blog. I'm a 4th generation Montanan...and we LOVE our governor. He stands up for us and we'll support him. For those inspired to provide "welfare" $$ for oil companies....take a closer look at what they do to us in Montana, Alaska and the Gulf!! NO subsidies for corporations destroying our environment, wildlife and lively-hoods!
Amen Sam.
We spill oil and it destroys the enviornment. Even when we use it correctly it still causes huge health and enviornmental problems. And we call this cheap and say we can't afford the alternative 'clean' stuff.
The green people need to use the same Madision Avenue sales guys the oil companys use. They told us its cheap to destoy our enviornment and our very lives and we believed it.
It's actually over 40,000 gallons, if that makes a difference.
Is it even possible to take on the largest and most profitable industry on the face of the earth, ever? Haven't they managed to legislate immunity for any action they decide to take, no matter how dangerous or ill-advised? Haven't the repugs made it clear they will vociferously defend Big Oil from any culpability whatsoever? Haven't the repugs made it clear we have to allow Big Oil to ravage our planet at all costs, and give them lots of money to do it?
Why are we even trying to fight this? The courts are firmly controlled by conservatives who are appointed for life, and not held accountable to any sort of standards, ethics or morals. Our government seems to be under the influence of the Koch brothers (feel free to mangle that pronunciation as you choose) and Grover Norquist (and who the hell is he, anyway?!)
I've never in my life felt so unrepresented by my president, and so helpless against the onslaught of repug money and agenda. These people are doing heinous things to America and their fellow Americans, and there's no reprisal! Has a single banker or wall street exec done time or paid a fine? And why not? Are we not *allowed* to take action?
I really wish Schweitzer luck, but I don't hold out much hope......
Welcome to the Punch and Judy show that is representive govt.
Gaaaahhh!
Don't hold your breath for the Governor to fall short, folks. Just one of Governor Schweitzer's vertebrae has more political fortitude than half the agencies in DC. It's nice for the rest of the country to see how an elected official can stand his ground. Brains & backbone (together) are in too short supply these days.
An old lawyer joke that can be applied here.
Do you know when Exxon is lying?
When they open their mouth.
that's their mouth? i thought it was the other end.
is there really a difference?
Our governor is a straight up guy. He is not like those wimpy guys in the South. If there is a way to make them do this right, he'll find it.
Give your guv all the luv and support you can. And make sure he takes notes so we'll be able to stand these bastards down the next time they do this.
yeah, i'm very jealous. i'm from texas, and every time rachel refers to my state as "rick perry's texas," i die a little on the inside.
Sad, sad, sad.
This whole story makes me ill. When are these oil companies going to be held responsible to clean up their own messes, and pay for it??
you go, Gov!
do we really want to open up Alaska as well? you see the results
They want to build another big pipeline from Canada oil sands to the Gulf refineries. You should see what the Canadians are doing to their land. The closest I can think of is called mountain top removal on steroids.
Go Solar it's impossible to spill, good to breath and once you put it on your roof you are done.
Someone needs to put this guy in touch with Paul Stamets. He has mycelium that can break down oil, into harmless sugars. Oil companies probably would refuse to let him near the spill. Hmmm, I wonder why! That's just my opinion!
I hope the governor is doing all he can... but, I also hope is preparing to do it all over again. He came out in the last few days still in support of the Keystone XL pipeline which crosses all sorts of fragile ecosystems including the Yellowstone river, the Nebraska Sandhills and the Missouri. (Because, you know, those rivers aren't dirty enough...) He says that more up-to-date technology makes it SO much safer! I'm not going to hold my breath. (Well, actually I may have to... I live in Nebraska.)
Can you say... population control?
You go Governor! Remember this is the guy who devised the Veto branding iron in reply to Republican nonsense at the state level. I will continue to support him!
This is either the worst response Exxon can muster, or the best publicity Brawny can muster.
"Do you need to clean up a massive tragic spill? Use Brawny Paper Towels."
or Bounty -- "Bounty - The Slicker Picker-Upper."
Nice, Tomm! Time to re-brand!
Anyone else wanna roast Exxon Mobil on a spit? This is actually ridiculous. This is was we have EPA laws because of companies like this. We need stricter laws that really hits this companies hard that does stuff like this. Paper towels..Seriously? Especially when we have bacteria eating oil microorganisms-- this is beyond stupid. Companies that are this irresponsible should loose control of their companies. If it left up to the Republicans they would destroy the EPA and let corporations get away with this.
Hey, Standing, the EPA is one of the governmental agencies repugs are actively trying to dismember. And introducing non-native organisms into an ecosystem when the consequences are unknown is unwise.
Plus another problem we dicovered with Deepwater Horizon is that petrolphagic (I made that word up last year, but it is apt) bacteria consume oxygen as well as oil, making the water anaerobic...deadly to life because there is no oxygen.
No easy answers. Ever. Unless they are wrong. Wrong answer are SO easy!
No, I'd rather boil them in oil.
I heard that they developed a new microorganism that eats only the oil. It's unreleased tho. They had something on Discovery about it. I couldn't have been the only one who saw this. I am not a scientist so I don't know that much about it. I just find it odd if they have this technology why are they using paper towels? Maybe a technology like this would cost more than paper towels. Ya know the only thing they care about is turning a profit. There needs more laws so they don't pollute the environment. We need to develop green technology so we can tell them where they can do with their oil drilling.
The problem with micro-organismism that eat oil is that they deplete oxygen as they do it, creating dead zones. Fungal bio-remediation on the shore might be a good bet, but in the water ? -\_0_/- (shrug)
I heard that there was one that did not deplete the oxygen. Have you heard about that one? You seem to know more than me.
Aside from the unintended consequences factor, a petrolphagic micro-organism that does not deplete oxygen would be a serious contender for bio-remediation. I'm just going on what was learn from the spill in the Gulf last year. There would also be the question of whether or not it would survive in fresh or salt water. Things that are tough as nails in one fashion tend to be very vulnerable in another.
I would like to see more reporting on the Gulf too! The fisherman are pulling diseased fish out. I have still had tar balls on my feet. No one wants to tell visitors the truth. Not ethical. GCCF and it 'sclient BP oil are NOT "making it right" I hope this governor is better than the one in FL. FL's gov actually vetoed aid to the panhandle and declined FL out of the lawsuit against BP and Transocean. We still need the media to keep the pressure on gccf to pay people for their damages!! Good luck MO! You'll need it - I hate to say it - but they will forget you too...