Jindal to Obama: We’re tired of waiting for the feds to help with the spill
posted at 5:21 pm on May 24, 2010 by Allahpundit
Via Ace, five minutes of pure frustration that’s rapidly turning bipartisan. For instance, who said this yesterday of the White House’s response?
They are risking everything by this “go along with BP” strategy they have that seems like, lackadaisical on this. They seem like they’re inconvenienced by this, this is some giant thing getting in their way and somehow or another, if you let BP handle it, it’ll all go away. It’s not going away. It’s growing out there. It is a disaster of the first magnitude, and they’ve got to go to Plan B.
Answer here. Not only are environmental waivers still being granted for new drilling projects, but at today’s White House press briefing, the Coast Guard’s commandant admitted that even if the feds took control of capping the well from BP, there’s no reason to think they’d do a better job. Direct quote: “To push BP out of the way would raise the question, replace them with what?” More from Tapper:
The federal government could commander control of the entire operation, though they would likely need to rely upon BP’s equipment and personnel, and assuming control of the effort could open the government up to cost and liability issues…
Moreover, there have been contradictions from members of the administration. While Secretary Salazar has continually talked about keeping “the boot on the neck of British Petroleum to carry out the responsibilities that they have” to stop the spill, Admiral Allen seemed to indicate he didn’t have much of an issue with BP…
On May 2, Gov. Jindal requested that federal authorities and BP provide three million feet of absorbent boom, five million feet of hard boom and 30 ‘jack up’ barges. Of that, less than 800,000 feet of hard boom has arrived – less than a fifth of the request. About 140,000 feet of that hard boom is sitting waiting for BP to tell contractors where to take it.
“It is clear we don’t have the resources we need to protect our coast, we need more boom, more skimmers, more vacuums, more jack-up barges that are still in short supply,” Jindal said today. “Let’s be clear, every day that this oil sits is one more day that more of our marsh dies.”
Ace wonders why Obama didn’t have some sort of containment plan already in place in the event of a spill, a question I’ve asked before vis-a-vis the political risk he took with his base in coming out in favor of drilling a few months ago. You would think stricter environmental regulations would be the first order of business for him in order to get the left off his back, but no. The only explanation I can come up with is that, like all presidents, there are certain policy areas that The One is really interested in (e.g., health care) and certain others that he pretty clearly doesn’t care much about and will deal with by doing whatever’s politically expedient (e.g., gay marriage). This seems to be a category two issue. He’s largely indifferent towards drilling, I suspect, but decided to support it as a compromise in hopes of winning some GOP votes on the energy bill and figured that it would soon go away. Oops.
Well, look on the bright side: If nothing else good comes from this disaster, at least now we have a roughly quantifiable sense of how long it takes for media outrage to build towards Obama versus towards Bush. Figure Dubya would have been under fire for dragging his feet on the spill after, what — maybe three days? It’s now 34 days since BP’s rig exploded and only yesterday did frustration really start bubbling on the Sunday chat shows.
Blowback
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Decider on May 24, 2010 at 6:52 PM
You’re an idiot.
Its like the left claim of unbridled capitalism. Who want that?
We want proper regulation not “NO” regulation.
Proper Government not “NO” Government.
However, proper government is a smaller government.
A big Goverment is De facto an evil Government.
Let the People do.
serendip2b on May 24, 2010 at 7:21 PM
The Alinsky disciples have another CRISIS thats’ too good to waste!
Let it go! Let it get blown into a full blown catestrophy
by their media helpers. Demonize Big Oil, Oil drilling, Oil refining, Sarah Palin!
Tax the hell out of existing producers and block any future permits!
A back door cap and tax with the publics help egged on by the complicit media and ginned up public anger!
Sarah has the only answer! Wrap this thing around Obamas neck and make him own it else it will be used against the USA and capitalism!
Its’ all the Democrat Party is about, destroying capitalism one crisis at a time.
How many useful idiot R’s will jump on board? Lindsay Grahamnasty, Juan McCain, Snowe, Collins , Brown?
Watch the usual suspects!
Its’ the feds that are doing nothing!
Again sarah nails it whilst others fiddle and piddle!
dhunter on May 24, 2010 at 7:30 PM
3 seconds tops.
Chuck Schick on May 24, 2010 at 7:35 PM
Why do I get the feeling that the Oministration is deliberately dragging their heels so they won’t help Jindal?
The Monster on May 24, 2010 at 7:38 PM
This is Obama’s Katrina.
Christien on May 24, 2010 at 7:39 PM
2nd that
cmsinaz on May 24, 2010 at 7:43 PM
Not hardly. Obama could take the family down for a vacation on the beaches of the Gulf, sipping drinks with umbrellas in them, shooting oil-soaked birds with BB guns and the media would give him an award for stimulating the local economy with a visit.
ButterflyDragon on May 24, 2010 at 7:45 PM
I imagine Red Adair would have a thing or two to say about dealing with this, if he were still around.
Christien on May 24, 2010 at 7:51 PM
Gov J: crank up the bulldozers and build the berms…dare Obumba to challenge you. Win Win.
Dingbat63 on May 24, 2010 at 8:27 PM
If it wasn’t a planned crisis, it certainly was seen as more useful to Obama and BP not to fix. Again, they already proved that they could siphon a percentage of the oil at the source with one hose and they don’t seem interested in sending down a second hose, several hoses, a hundred hoses, to keep the oil out of the gulf.
Buddahpundit on May 24, 2010 at 8:39 PM
There was a typo in my post. I was trying to say that Jindal isn’t sitting around with his thumb up his azz; he has no earthly clue what to do either, but he’s not just kicking back and leaving it to someone else to handle while he attends to other matters, like state dinners where the President of Mexico bashes one of our states. He’s rolled up his sleeves and is taking charge, acting like a true leader. All in stark contrast to the rudderless White House.
NoLeftTurn on May 24, 2010 at 8:47 PM
Jindal also said that state plans to create protective barriers to the marshes by dredging up sand bars a distance from shore that will trap much of the oil have been stymied by not getting approval from Federal agencies like the EPA.
rokemronnie on May 24, 2010 at 8:55 PM
Louisiana gets absolutely no money from production of the OCS in Federal Waters! It goes into the fund where the states who do not allow drilling can have equal if not more access.
Jindal just wants government to get out of the way.
There are NOT any new permits being issued. These permits are for going back into wells already drilled in up to just over 8,000 feet of water.
I’m tired of morons like Allah who don’t know anything about the oil industry and yet acts like he knows something about it.
There are NOT 4,000 oil rigs in the GoM. There are however over 4,000 production platforms which are not the same thing.
Atlantis and Deepwater Horizon are not the same thing. The first is a production platform and the second is a drilling rig.
Know nothings who jump to conclusions look just as bad as the leftists. That is exactly what has happened here. They basically show that they are dumb except to the ignorant.
Likely this “TopKill” is the last thing before the well is sealed by the relief wells. That was how it was approved that BP would drill two relief wells if there was a blowout.
Another thing is that a company was formed in 1990 called Marine Spill Response Corporation. This new company was supported by Marine Protection Association whose members include most of the oil companies, refiners, pipeline companies and tanker owners. They pay annually to have this company have its boats and equipment sit at docks in case of such an accident as this one. They are supposed to be able to handle VLCC (supertanker) spills of over 1.5 million barrels. They have developed plans with the USCG, EPA, etc…
I have read through the 500 page spill response plan of BP. It looks fine to me.
Allah either needs to get a brain and common sense (regardless of how much education it has) or get off the internet.
Kermit on May 24, 2010 at 9:04 PM
Been reading Prison Planet lately?
You have no idea what you are talking about. Everything you say is from someone who knows nothing about deepwater drilling and production. Oil and gas does not flow in pipes that easily down deep. It requires special systems or it freezes up and blocks the lines.
Kermit on May 24, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Yup! That’s what the gang (A/K/A: our fellow Americans) don’t get…and why we need to keep being vocal and doing everything we dang-well can to edumacate our buds.
We really need to be screaming from the high heavens about this tax that is contained in the (Um, I use the term loosely)”Financial Reform Bill.”
Let’s also rear up on our hind legs with regard to Cap’n Tax (That feckless scamp that only wants to help us improve the planet). Raise your hand if you want to have a sticker on your house that says it’s Okey-dokey for you to sell it. Raise the other hand if you’re just peachy with the gob’ment telling you that you can’t sell it unless you make improvements like, X, Y, Z.
Yup it’s in there! No Chit Cherlock! Very, very scary schtuff.
Chewy the Lab on May 24, 2010 at 9:23 PM
The only thing Obama cares about now is pandering to Latinos. when the White House pays more attention to the President of Mexico than to the biggest environmental disaster in history, you can see where their priorities are. Addressing the oil spill won”t help Harry Reid or Barbara Boxer in November.
rockmom on May 24, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Clear talk. Straight talk. We need more of this and it is a travesty that this oil is just allowed to roil along without proper intervention from you know who. Obama`s regime is a bunch of greasers who appear to like their oil.
Grease, unfortunately, really is the word.
Great speech, Governor Jindal!
Sherman1864 on May 24, 2010 at 10:08 PM
It’s bs to claim that they can show us video of the oil oozing out of the ground but that in 2010 we can’t figure out a way to siphon it up to the surface. Several days ago they reported that they were successfully siphoning up some of the crude at the source of the leak. You seem to be claiming that it is impossible. It doesn’t matter if it’s difficult, they just need to recover the leaking oil until they drill the relief well. Too expensive?
BP was applauded last week for saying that they will forever abandon that well. Isn’t blaming the hole sort of like blaming the gun?
Buddahpundit on May 24, 2010 at 10:29 PM
Kermit on May 25, 2010 at 1:32 AM
Coming from Governor Jindal, a comparison of the spill to the Bhopal disaster would be crazy delicious. I don’t foresee his “playing the race card” that way, and would prefer that he not, but it’s fun to imagine Obama with his own, private Bhopal.
Kralizec on May 25, 2010 at 3:11 AM
They only got one? They can suspend several of these pipes in the plume and it doesn’t matter if each one only sucks up a little oil. There is no limit on how many hoses they can run from the leak. If BP has to bring everything they got to the site, so be it.
They already claimed to have successfully siphoned a percentage of the crude. That makes it a math issue now.
Buddahpundit on May 25, 2010 at 7:25 AM
In the link provided in the article: Gibbs said “the administration was doing everything legally — and “humanly” possible — to stop the leak.” May I suggest as a “human” possibility that they use Gibbs, Pelosi, Reid et al to plug the dang hole!!! (Sorry, I had to say it)
Bush gets slammed for a slow response to an act of God when in fact, state and local leaders refused to ask for federal help (but let’s blame Bush anyway) and this Administration is 30+ days into a disaster and drag their feet when state and local leaders do ask for their help! Jindal should do whatever he deems necessary to stop further damage to the state’s coastal lands. I’m not a “tree hugger” but do believe we should be good stewards of our lands and environment. Allowing this slow process of either plugging the hole or preventing the spread of damage is unconscionable. The feds should give Jindal his dredging permit, send him the tools he’s requested to try and slow the damage and stay out of the way. But then that would take time away from excoriating Arizona’s immigration stance, kissing the backside of leaders who hate us and apologizing for Americans, playing golf and arrogant speeches! And if the feds wait much longer, Jindal should just do it!!
ladyhawke53 on May 25, 2010 at 8:41 AM
Red tape for BP
Should there be public hearings before each and every move to clean up by BP?
The solution interference by the slow moving feds is crazy.
seven on May 25, 2010 at 9:05 AM
Do what needs to be done, governor, to save what you can. You’re in charge inside the 3 mile limit. Remember, too, this is the same federal govt that wants to provide our health care.
Kissmygrits on May 25, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Buddha,
There is only room for one small pipe, and that is it. There are plenty of obstructions in the Riser (which is a 21″ diameter pipe, floatation collars, and other pipes around it.), namely bent drill pipe. The small pipe (called Riser Insertion Tool) is stuck in the end of the broken riser in the only space where it can both fit and get into the oil. There is no other location to do this.
Please get a little education before you make such comments. ANY person with ANY technical knowledge on ANYTHING well understands that one needs to have all the data and understand the entire situation.
Kermit on May 25, 2010 at 10:51 AM
I swear some of the people on here likely also think that they (with no technical knowledge) can easily solve obtaining helium on Mars and pipeline it to Earth.
Kermit on May 25, 2010 at 10:52 AM
Heads have begun rolling. Admiral Allen has just been relieved of duty.
ButterflyDragon on May 25, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Welcome to Jan Brewer’s world.
deewhybee on May 25, 2010 at 11:41 AM
Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Obama deliberately slowed things down to avoid helping Jindal. He probably remembers all the political hay Democrats got when the Democrat Governor of LA and mayor of “Chocolate City” blamed Bush for not getting federal aid to New Orleans immediately after Katrina.
Obama knows that Jindal is a “rising star” in the Republican party and a potential threat to The One, and can use a prolonged oil spill and environmental damage as a club against the oil-drilling companies and as an excuse to stop offshore drilling. Why take the risk of HELPING an oil company stop the leak and making Jindal look good if you can EXPLOIT the crisis to demonize Big Oil?
As Rahmbo said, never let a crisis go to waste!
Steve Z on May 25, 2010 at 11:58 AM
They can dismantle all the pipes so that the leak is coming straight from one opening and start siphoning up the escaping crude from several hoses at the mouth of that one leak. The hoses don’t need to be fastened, they can even be suspended and anchored with lines, for instance 3 lines of the same length every 120 degrees and fine tuned using gps, with buoys helping to suspend the weight of the hoses and the crude within. It would be an oil/water mixture and the water can be continuously pumped out of the receiving tank.
Buddahpundit on May 25, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Okay then tell us how YOU will do this and with what. they already tried collecting via a containment vessel and it failed due to hydrates forming. Then give us you technical expertise and experience regarding such systems. You don’t even have to let us know about your experience of doing this in 5000 feet of water.
Kermit on May 25, 2010 at 3:57 PM
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