We are a month and a day after the oil blowout. Has the US Gov't done enough?

I was initially of a mind they were doing it right.

I am no longer so sure.

What is your view?

What does that tell you?

(Serious question from me - no snark) Is there proof of that or is it suspected but unfounded?

USCG: "Those are BP's Rules, Not Ours" on preventing reporters to film the oil washing ashore in LA.

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8364906

Start here:

<http://twitter.com/MacMcClelland>

That should do it

they should have stepped in immediately and insisted it be curtailed . . . or face the consequences.

One month later and still flowing.

They are letting jindal look decisive and leader-like. The sand bar construction may wreck parts of the environment, but the oil will do that anyway.

what they might do if they actually did something?)

drilling business and doesn't have the people, the equipment, or any remote know how even from shallow wells to start with but be shadowing BP to assist or supplement their efforts especially if they struggled or failed. Here we are with failure after failure and it seems that the government hasn't been gathering scientists or reaching out to other corporations/governments (someone mentioned another country had/has experience with deeper wells in another thread) for help. Even more disturbing is the government isn't concerned with trying to figure how bad this whole thing is, testing, measuring the rate of the gusher etc, oh right they'd have to be watching BP to even get close to gathering any of that data. If the data has been collected BP isn't telling us and it seems the government is complacent in BP's efforts to cover up or obscure the real impact of this geyser of oil flowing into the ocean.

So no, I thought there needed to be a time for the government to let BP deal with it while they gathered resources in order to assist or take over and they don't seem to have been looking at it like that but rather BP will deal with it period. I can only hope that we get billions on billions OR trillions, whatever the cost turns out to be out of them for cleanup and impact economic etc, as well as the coast of all the government costs in sending the coastguard out there and whatever other resources the government fields to stop this.

as to how to stop this leak and this includes the best scientists in the world. If anyone knew it would have been done. The only thing I believe Obama can be blamed for at this point is his failure to communicate better with the American people about the difficulties of dealing with this monstrous environmental tragedy.

I agree with you.

that BP, a foreign corporation, is using OUR Coast Guard to keep journalists at bay. This is definitely fascism at work.

545 people in goovernment hold all the political power over 307,006,550 US citizens. We're where we are because that's where they WANT us to be.

Despite years of criminal conduct, BP is a major fuel supplier to the US military. That's all you need to know.

The government, however, should be enforcing the cleanup to ensure that it's being done to suitable standards and with harsh penalties if the cleanup is not being done adequately and in a timely manner. Harsh penalties on top of what they already deserve.

I also feel that the government should not have given BP (or anyone else) a license to drill without seeing a contingency plan on what to do in the event of an accident. I realize that last one is a little late, but hopefully they'll learn.

given that its a mile down with pressure that crushes subs and explosive gas and cold temperatures and gushing oil - I don't think people lack the will to act and just like watching gushing oil destroy the coastal economy. DUers don't believe in miracles by god but many seem to think Obama in omnipotent and just lacks the will to act.

that Obama is NOT in BPs pocket...but unfortunately TVEE and peoples lying eyes say otherwise.

:kick:

The Federal government has neither the equipment, nor the expertise, to deal with this problem.


The *ONLY* entities that have working submersibles that go down that deep are the oil companies. The *ONLY* entities that have any experience at all with working at those depths are the oil companies.


It is unfortunate, but all the Gov't can do is keep the pressure on BP to keep working and to provide them with whatever help they can.

The Gov't has enlisted as many experts as they can to work the problem..... but most of those are affiliated with the oil industry.



It is what it is. There is literally nothing, short of nationalizing BP, that the Gov't can do. And since BP is a British company, nationalizing them would be problematic.