After more then 50 days of an unparalleled Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, US- President Obama realized that this catastrophe
can be compared to catastrophes such as Chernobyl, 9-11 or the Katrina-Hurricane.
Although 9-11 was an act of terror, an act to harm civilians.
Still the results on the public conscience is almost the same. The Katrina-Hurricane was needed, so that Mr. Al Gore could make his movie An Inconvenient Truth. Which led to the so called Al Gore-Effect. Public awareness was rekindled.
But in the end public awareness went to sleep again, since nothing dramatic has happened since then.
And now the Oil Spill has struck the world.
One more link in an endless chain of ecological catastrophes!
The lesson is clear, just as president Obama said, America must stop its addiction to fossil fuel. He added, that this will be an expensive transition. This is not exactly right, it seems that Mr. Obama has not yet heard of the TOTEM System from Nesseq.
The other question which arises is, whether this addiction to fossil fuel must only be broken by the USA? The answer is simply, NO! The task is a global one. We all have to overcome this addiction. As individuals and as nations!
But even if a new fuel is found for engines, this does not still the global hunger for oil, since the oil is also needed as a raw material for various products. And with a growing world population the demand will inevitably grow. The conclusion must be, that such accidents will not happen again in the future, that everything must be done to avoid such disasters.
Mr. Obama, you are being held responsible. After your words, deeds must follow!
But it will be, as it always is. The spill will eventually be stopped and the media will report about other urgent matters
and the public is known for its short memory.
And in the end nothing will change until the next environmental catastrophe. And no one will take responsibility again. BP will pay a fine and some compensations and business will go on as usual.
Related Articles:
- BP – Congratulations! On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded,...
55 Responses to “Oh, Mr. President”
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Obama is using the spill to further his agenda at the exspence of the American people and the Gulfs Enviroment.
Much like he’s holding the Border hostage till he gets his “Comprehensive Immigration” passed. A plot to swing millions of new immigrant votes to the Dems.
Risking National Security and Economic well being for political gain.
It’s becoming obvious that Obama has made the spill much worse than it could have been. Create or worsen a problem then offer the solution? Typical progressive tactic.
Preventing foreigen skimmers from helping, not allowing burms to be made, not deploying all the booms available, not burning oil. The list goes on.
The shutting down of drilling despite all evidence to the contrary, which will put tens of thousands out of work. While he invested in Brazil’s deep water drilling. He will attempt to foist the costs of lost wages onto BP in an attempt to Nationalise them.
All this to push his socialist anti capatilist agenda.
Meanwhile China is trying to become more Capitalist and Europe is realising they can’t afford Scocialism.
Oh and Paul. No one denys the Climate Changes. We just don’t buy the man made warming theory. It’s a socialist pipe dream.
Time for “Hope and Change” to go back on the compost heap of history.
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Max, this is one of the best article i have read so far about the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
I was not impressed with the President’s speech. I think it lacked vision and a call to action for the American people. I want to see him announce a detailed Apollo type plan to get off carbon based fuels and energy within 10 years. I believe if we have the direction from the government it is totally possible. But Obama still says it will take a long time to make the transition. Maybe it will, but I guarantee it will happen much faster if we try to complete it in 10 years than if we just keep droning on about how long it will take!!! Let’s get busy doing it already
The Navy doesn’t have equipment large enough to lift the rig and it’s the well that’s spilling anyway, not the rig.
It amazes me that people actually think that the government and BP are just sitting back with their feet propped up waiting on the NOLA.com peanut gallery to come up with a solution.
The best oil spill and well control minds in the world are working on this accident. The Coast Guard has whatever they want at whatever cost at their disposal. This is not a “stick your finger in the hole” situation.
He gave the full resources of the government to the people in the gulf, I know you don’t want him to come down here to look around….thats stupid. Bush didn’t even think about us til it was forced on him.
Legislation needs to be passed sending the board of directors and other head personnel of companies responsible for these spills into bankruptcy if this crap happens b/c they decided to skim on up-to-date, state of the art safety standards and protections in the name of short-term profit. That is the only way to incentivize these people to add the safety and environmental protection costs up front. This whole situation makes me sick to my stomach.
It is a sad time for us all in on the Gulf Coast and beyond. We need the best minds of our world and many more resources to deal with this spill. If it is going to kill us and then creep up the East coast of the US then this is not only a matter of national interest but international interest. Bring in the big guns no holds bar and let us know how we can volunteer to begin the clean up. Every hand will count on this one.
drillthegulf, you must be new to the forum. We’re not all dumb southerners but you seem like you have a huge bone to pick and you are not even from here? If you hate all of us – why post and why start stuff with people on here? It is a bit strange. What is your point or angle? We are not perfect but for those of us who’ve traveled and seen a bit, it is not so green on the other side either…..
The oil industry and its surrogates have crushed every attempt to provide alternative materials and methods for less-impacting lifestyles. Sure all Americans have contributed to the “spill” by using oil derived products in all sorts of ways. A lot of us try to limit our use of oil products but a thousand mile journey starts with one step… Refuse, Reuse and Recycle to the best of your ability!
He’s only the President, with what’s left of a squandered mandate from the voters like me to do what’s right for the country. He doesn’t control the Congress, all of which is greedily following him in a bipartisan effort to get rich serving the corporations while giving the voters lip service. BP is fully in charge, and their elected employees can do nothing.
I shouldn’t say that he’s lost my one measly Indy vote, or pray for an Indy Franken/Grayson/whoever ticket, because it’s ‘cutting off my nose to spite my face,’ or ‘stupid,’ or (my personal favorite) it will lead to ‘my defeat.’ (see above thread, you can’t miss it.) One poster informed me that I now have to inform incumbents before I cast a protest vote. I think I can get approval online, but I’m not sure who to write the application fee check to, Obama’s campaign or Goldman Sachs? Gee, I thought democracy was a little different from this.
Obama’s losing the Indy/Dem Progressive vote in droves…they are the largest consistent voter block in the US, bigger than either party, and were Obama’s kingmakers. Emmenuel is now using fear politics to keep them in line (not working). (Pew center stats online) Obama’s love making to Wall Street and now the oil lobby has scared me more than the democrat’s fear tactic ever can.
There is no vision to be given, because there is nothing he can do anyway. Not much more than what’s already been done. I think that’s what we’re all not grasping here.
It would be nice to “make a better world” or whatever for the next generation, but that cannot just happen. To make any change, even gradual will require lots of government changes and that creates costs.
There could a be gradual reduction, but to “give a better world” would require loads and loads of money. Or a major reduction in overall energy use.
holy crap that thing is hugeee,, why the hell dont they put some type of containment around all rigs, so if something happens they have some sort of buffer zone so they have time to regroup and contain any spills that happen wtf is really going on here, man no0ooooooooooooo more drilling , let your voice be heard lousiana
It’s a sad day for our coast, our State and the Nation. Anyone who is happy about this should leave our State and our Country. Why has Obama not called in the Navy with their deep water recovery and lifting equipment? I know that this isn’t President Bush’s fault so Obama has no excuse not to react. Stop wasting time and bring in the Navy to remove the rig so the well head can be closed!
I have seen studies about how a mix of technologies can drastically reduce oil use. Full elimination of oil could take quite awhile, but if it were reduced to only the most bare minimum uses, like for powering airplanes (hard to use electric for that), then existing supplies in far less risky oil fields could be used for hundreds of years, buying time for a full transition.
If necessary, the world can do without a lot of the products oil is used for. People would adjust. We wouldn’t go back to the Stone Age either. Internet, highspeed communications, etc, would all still exist. Trains could still run, cars could be electric, cities could become less sprawling. It would mean a re-alignment of human society.
But we are going to face a realignment anyway if we continue to rip up our ecosystems. Something will give, a tipping point will be reached, and we’ll have to change how we do things.
No matter which way, tons of money will be spent. I’d rather spend it on building something new than cleaning up devastating, easy-to-reoccur messes.
Let’s have little fun with solar power for a moment. Current technology in solar would require about 10’000 square miles of panels to produce enough electricity to power the country–about 4 terawatts. That is not that bad. But that does not deal with everything. Our energy use is not equal to our electricity use. The country uses an estimated 29 PWh or 105 exajoules per year. That requires a lot of energy.
For wind power all the turbines in the world produced about 340TWh. So we need 85 times as many turbines as there are in the entire world at current output level to manage the US level of energy consumption. That is not accounting for “lost” energy either.
The amount needed to be produced would be less than the 105 exajoules (because not everything is petroleum based–some is coal or natural gas derived), but that number shows our problem with replacing the system with anything. The current technology is still working on megaWatts. We need gigaWatts. There was something released before that showed that the US had an internal potentional of 10 million MW of wind power (which would be 37PWh), but that would require at least one million turbines using the most power turbines that exist (at a cost of aroud ~$40 million per turbine–you can do the math). The technology is not there for a wholesale change. The cost will be ridiculous even with efficient tech.
In New Orleans, this should have been a celebratory weekend. Jazz Fest and then on Monday, the inauguration of the new mayor and the dawn of a new era.
But watching Dan Swenson’s graphic, and imagining its implications, casts a terrible shadow over the next two days and beyond.
It is not Obama.
It is you, the South, the right-wingers intent on continuing the republican Mantra (look it up);
“Drill Baby Drill.”
Enjoy your oily beaches and do not move North.
Strike three comes from the Bible my friend. as the second trumpet sounded. something like a mountain ablaze fell into the sea, a third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the sea life died and a third of ships were destroyed.
The comparison of Katrina and Bush to Obama and this oil spill can’t be validated.
As Katrina approached, Bush sat drinking beers or whatever with his buddies. He could have put vessels off of the coast just out of reach of Katrina and been on top of it, but he decided not to make a move at all.
This oil spill wasn’t a situation where-as one could be ready as it got closer to blowing. Granted that many safety protocols were obviously in question, the fact is, this is not weather which is much more predictable than accidents.
I can’t even begin to visualize “W” dealing with what President Obama has in his lap right now.
The problem is not republican nor democrat. The problem is progressive or conservative. If the conservatives win, progress stops.
Again.
Have a nice day. Time for a bike ride in my clean, green hills.
Kindly don’t visit bringing any right wing bigotry.
If you just vote all the dems/repubs out of office, the new ones (no matter which party) will be corrupted by the BIG money that controls who gets elected. WE HAVE to get the money outta government/elections. Also I hope you guys with oil jobs aren’t selling yours and our future generations out to make a little more money now.
Pull your head out. The Republicans and the Democrats are equally responsible for the mess our country is in and we must remove all incumbent and lifetime politicians from office to right our country. However, this spill is seriously affecting everyone on the planet and this administration should have every piece of nautical equipment, including nuclear subs and robotic equipment, in the gulf of mexico doing everything in their power to stop the waste of oil and the destruction of so many livelihoods. Get it in gear Obama!
Its easy to focus on the criticisms of Obama and debate whether they are fair or not, but that just obscures the real issue, which is the total denial in some sectors that no energy solution other than oil is feasible for our society.
The concept is total cost of a system. There’s research, infrastructure creation, effectiveness, maintenance and safety considerations.
Geothermal, solar, wind, tidal energy, etc, are derided because they aren’t cost effective when you factor in the research, production and other startup costs. Maybe so, but this is looking at these alternate sources of energy as they stand now. They haven’t really been pushed with serious funding to the next level. Then we’ll see. I do not include nuclear, because we don’t need more Chernobyl-type accidents.
But back to the total costs of the system. One cost that is usually left out of equations is the cleanup and environmental costs. There will be no massive wind turbine, solar panel or passive tidal generator disasters that will kill massive swaths of life, destroy businesses all along a coast, or potentially add to global climate change. When you look at it that way, cleaner energies quickly seem a whole lot more cost effective.
So never mind Obama. Like him or not, most people, right or left, should be united in the drive for clean energy. Its not just some ‘socialist’ leftwing concept, but common sense, that is if we want a world left to give to our children.
Throwing stones when you live in a glass house is not a good idea. Being critical of the Oil industries relationship to government oversight is easy when you have a BP to blame. One day the light will shine on the backroom Pharma deals & Lack of concern for our children. The Real Oil Spill is Autism. With a new diagnosis every 12 minutes and Pharma hiding in the skirts of government. Oil on birds is tragic. Robbing children of their life is a sin… Autism Answers Now.
Id!ots: The President didn’t give me enough shiit to oppose…so I’m making up shiit to oppose!
I’d like to believe Obama was up to this challenge, yet just two weeks ago he was going to rescind moratorium on deepwater drilling early (before 6 months were up). His single mindedness to continue with all of the Bush policies, foreign, domestic, make me wonder if he’s not a plant (instead of Alvin Greene).
Nobody listens to him anymore. His complete inability to act in the interests of the People, appoint good people and kick out the clowns shoved down his throat by Rahm is sickening.
In my 58 years I’ve heard countless politicians say “get off oil”. Why are we still on it? If they really wanted to promote alternate fuels, then we’d be using mainly them today!
This is just more posturing for the crowd, with no real intent. We’ll get off oil when the oil barons have something different to sell us.
Funny to watch these Republican apologists desperately trying to somehow make this Obamas fault by trying to compare it to Katrina.
The two are entirely incomparable. Your partisan outrage is purely scripted.
Actually he’s playing stand up comedian with Jay Leno tonight at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. As usual, our coast can wait for more important things to be taken care of first.