David you may be interested in these links; it’s more than just the lobbyists, it’s the State revenues from oil and gas. What mostly doesn’t get mentioned is how dependent certain States are upon those ‘institutions’ that are under ‘regulation.

For instance, how much of NY State and City revenue comes from the decried bonuses etc.

Same with the Gulf States.
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA)

and how everyone else is being screwed by such legislation: “Research Shows Federal Oil Leasing and Royalty Income a Raw Deal for Taxpayers”

The economic significance of the Gulf of Mexico
related to population, income, employment,
minerals, fisheries and shipping: http://aede.osu.edu/resources/docs/pdf/ZLI4ZEWG-DK35-WFK9-PUBGL6RQQ8WRUD6M.pdf

excellent point.

When all else fails, change the PR campaign.

Never a thought about actually changing the actions that cause the problems – it’s always about the PR spin and only the spin.

Lubchenko’s remarks yesterday were just mind-boggling. Here we have a woman who was hailed as one of the very few stronger environmental science-based appointments in the Obama admin., and she turns out to be most interested in denying clear evidence of the existence of underwater oil plumes. Selective science in the service of BP … Boot her out the door with Ken Salazar. And investigate what ever is going to make the Obamans act like BP robots.

Well.what’s new.

You know i don’t watch a lot of TV..but maybe I have missed the Sierra club & the other environmentalist groups appearing on TV…..I have not seen any since this crisis began…..Think BP bought ‘em off.

I saw Olberman had a guy on from one of the green groups..I can’t remember his name or the group he(Someone did a diary here at FDL on that segment of the show) represents anyhow he put the blame where it should be with Obama’s WH & Salazar….Obama & Salazar haven’t done anything to correct the corruption since Obama came to office…..Since then there has not been anyone from the environmentalist groups appearing on the corporate progressives TV shows….instead Olberman brought on his show the former Prez of Shell oil to tell us drilling is safe….

Here is the other thing: How much of various state’s pension funds are invested in Oil and Gas activity, and BP in particular? I know, for example, in Wyoming there was talk of the state of Wyoming investing 300 million in a new damaging El Paso gas line – the Ruby Pipeline. Since this was brought out into the open that the same state that had a regulatory role in some of the Pipeline permitting and wildlife mitigation also may be investing in it , Wyoming has appeared to back off (at least temporarily). The state would also be receiving revenues from the line passing through it.

I live in Clearwater, FL ON the waterfront of the Gulf of Mexico. I’m just sick and dead inside by the actions of these psychotic, murdering corporate sh%^heads. Worst of all, NOBODY here, no Jane and John Q Public cares. The bastards have won. The proles have finally gone round-the-bend braindead.
Keep abortion safe and legal, folks. And make use of it while you can, for we are all slaves now,,,and it’s going to get much, much worse.

Same as it ever was. This reminds me of Detroit automakers. They made crap vehicles for years that no one wanted to buy; CEOs kept ripping off the proftis to feather their personal nests. Rather than re-invest in R&D to improve their product, the Big 3 Auto just blamed their plumeting profits on “bad PR.”

Although it would have caused pain for many auto workers, I was halfway not in favor of any bailouts for the auto industry bc of how crappy they ran themselves.

But this kind of stupid thinking is rife throughout the vaunted private sector. So much for how the vaunted marketplace handles everything so exceedinly well.

Jane Hamsher has done some good diaries here on FDL on how many of the environmental groups are in the “veal pen.” I have seen a few talking heads out there decrying this disaster, but certainly not enough. Allof the environmental organizations should be shouting from the rooftops, organizing actions together (clean up, if nothing else), plus their web sites should be nothing but this crisis with links on where to go to help out, to donate, etc. Sadly, that’s not happening much so far.

I live in Gulfport and once the oil hits the beaches they’ll care and what they’ll care about is their property values.

Sadly it appears that almost all, if not all, of BHO’s appointees are just a continuation of the Bush Admin appointees – bought off hacks out shilling for the corporations and/or asleep at the wheel and/or just venally incompetent.

I don’t believe ANY advance PR anymore about some new appointee in this admin as being … whatever… the latest greatest super science-y progressive hero or heroine. Point out just ONE of BHO’s appointments who has worked out and really done a good job; I’d love to be pleasantly surprised for a change but sure won’t hold my breath.

Yeah, well, watch the real estate market go bonkers when all of these people are stuck with worthless property. Could this pre-sage the fabled double dip in the recession? Oh well, as long as BP makes out like a bandit, the serfs can whistle…

Good luck to you in Gulfport; don’t know what else to say at this point. Sorry for your situation sounds uselessly ineffectual, but I certainly am sorry about this sorry sorry mess.

I’m beginning to think the national organizations have devolved into access seekers and fundraisers. The local branches of the Sierra Club and other groups, on the other hand, are doing all they can to prepare for oil hitting the beaches in FL. The local groups are where the action is but they don’t get a lot of press outside of the local rag.

Yes, I see that in my part of the country, as well. The national groups are pretty nigh onto being worthless these days. Jane’s FDL posts were very helpful in pointing that out. It’s very sad and sickening to realize how very little these groups are doing in the face of this appalling situation.

Mr. Hayward “I Want my Life Back” has a PR piece in the WSJ:

WHAT BP IS DOING RE GULF GUSHER

” It spent more on federal lobbying last year than all but two other industries, with $174.8 million in lobbying expenditures”

I wonder what those two other industries are that outspent Big Oil in lobbying dollars…hmm, could it be the healthcare industry and Wall Street, two other vampire squids that have benefitted from BHO’s corporatist agenda?

This well leak has to be planned. Look, I’m an old welder and I used to work for an interstate natural gas pipeline company. Granted, I worked on shore and this leak is 5000 feet under the ocean. When I worked in for this company, I had to deal with problems similar in nature. Here’s how to fix it. At the top of the blowout preventer there is an existing flange. The technology exists to tighten and loosen flange bolts, even in deep water. With that being said, here’s the procedure you would use:
1. Fabricate a spool piece. A spool piece is nothing more than a short length of pipe with flanges welded on each end. The spool piece would be used to extend the valve above the cut off drill pipe which is stuck inside the blowout preventer.
2. Bolt a high pressure valve with flanges on both sides to one side of the spool piece. Make sure that the valve is in the open position.
3. Lower the fabrication near the point of installation.
4. Remove the old flange from the top of the blowout preventer.
5. This will leave the one flange, with the drill pipe protruding out of it.
6. Install the fabricated spool piece with the valve bolted to one end. With the valve open, the oil and gas will continue to leak through the new valve.
7. Tighten the bolts.
8. Close the valve.
9. Leak is stopped.
10. Install a blind flange for added protection. A blind flange is a thick flat piece of plate with corresponding holes that line up at the flange.
11. Leak contained

The reason I say that this leak was engineered, is because this isn’t rocket science. Almost anyone working in this industry should be able to see how to fix this problem. The top kill was a waste of time because the drilling mud is going to go to the area of least resistance. The area of least resistance was the broken pipe and they were trying to push the mud against a pressurized well. The junk shot and top hat, was also a waste of time. It’s almost like they wanted to waste time to allow more oil to flow into the Gulf.

After realizing this, I asked myself – why? The only answer that I could come up with was the Kerry Lieberman American Power Act. This bill is riddled with billions of dollars allotted for nuclear power. Most Americans have deep reservations about nuclear power especially after the near melt down of Three Mile Island. I contend that the oil leak was deliberate in order to form public opinion and sell it to the American people. After seeing so much oil and so much destruction, the people would accept anything. I hope I’m wrong, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.

Can we send the “flotilla of Lobbyists” to Gaza? Maybe Israel can take this problem off of our hands!

In seriousness though, the terrible policies we as a nation have pursued in the past have come back to haunt us. If we weren’t reflexive supporters of Israel, Muslims wouldn’t feel a need to fly planes into our buildings. If we were on better terms with the Muslim world, there would be less need for Gulf drilling in the first place. And we could spend those trillions of dollars pouring into never-ending wars on renewable energy research and development.

Shame we didn’t get any change we could believe in.

The company running BP’s new ad blitz is an outfit called Purple Strategies. It’s run by Democratic strategist Steve McMahon (a frequent guest on MSNBC) and Republic strategist and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos.

Apparently, BP decided a regular ad agency wouldn’t do…they wanted a company with political experience running the show.

It just goes to show how incestuous the relationship between corporate and political types really is.

I’m sorry to say there are no good guys left, in government, in business.

the system is broken—

Obama=Bush

The elite prey upon the citizens of the country

Obama-BP are a giant vampire squid sucking our blood

our grandchildren will live in a contaminated world–they laugh at us!!!!

to them we are impotent fools..