Permits for offshore oil drilling, including deep water drilling and specifically the Deepwater Horizon, were rubber stamped without environmental impact studies under the Bush administration, and shamefully, under the Obama administration as well. These so-called “categorical exclusions” exempting them from an environmental impact study are reserved for projects that could never possibly harm the environment, like building a hiking trail or an outhouse. Well, we’ve built a very big outhouse, and its contents have hit the fan. How many trees have died to print these meaningless permits that we rubber stamp with no government oversight? Well, this video contains a little information on the paper industry as well, specifically on Botnia, the Finnish paper mill in Uruguay that was recently the center of international controversy, at least here in South America, due to accusations of treaty violations and pollution of a shared river on the border between Uruguay and Argentina. The international court just passed down a ruling… and showed a clear bias in favor of big business. They claimed the evidence of pollution presented by Argentina was unreliable because Argentina has an interest in protecting its people from pollution… but the evidence presented by Uruguay, compiled BY THE PAPER MILL ITSELF, was admissable and proved that there was no contamination. The governments of the world have been taken over by big business interests, and every industry, from the coal … Video Rating: 4 / 5
Who was ignoring Ken Abbott 2 months ago? Everybody – including the public, government agencies, elected officials, newspeople – and BP. Now when a whistle blows – listen. NEW ORLEANS — The Deepwater Horizon leak is now leading to safety concerns on another BP rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The BP Atlantis is located in more than 7000 feet of water, 150 miles south of New Orleans. According to a lawsuit filed Monday in Houston, the rig is plagued by some of the same possible safety problems as the Horizon. It claims the Department of the Interior allowed Atlantis to operate without completed engineering blueprints needed to operate the rig safely. “This is not a mere paperwork. Without these as-built drawings, the people that are working on these rigs, are flying blind from the standpoint of how to safely operate BP rigs in the Gulf of Mexico,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Mikal Watts. Watts represents the environmental group Food and Water Watch and former BP sub-contractor Ken Abbott. BP fired Abbott, a project control supervisor, last year after he voiced concerns about a lack of documentation on Atlantis. “At BP, I beat my head against the wall, they didn’t care, the government agencies didn’t care,” said Abbott. Abbott said a congressional investigation into the Deepwater Horizon spill indicated that BP could not locate detailed drawings for the rig’s blowout preventer and that workers wasted half a day trying to shut off a valve that had already been disconnected. “BP and … Video Rating: 5 / 5
BP Gulf Spill Fuels Australian Opponents to Offshore Drilling
June 17 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc ’s Gulf of Mexico disaster is generating opposition to deepwater drilling off Australia, where the government is opening new exploration areas less than a year after the country’s third-worst oil spill. Read more on Bloomberg
Platts Energy Podium: BP Oil Spill Seen Leading to Changes in Offshore Drilling
BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will lead to sweeping changes in how the industry drills wells and produces oil and natural gas from deepwater plays, two experts said Tuesday at a Platts Energy Podium here. Read more on PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance
Drilling moratorium challenged by offshore company
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The ban on deepwater petroleum drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is being challenged by a Louisiana oil… Read more on Deseret News
CNOOC reviewing offshore drilling safety
BEIJING, June 7 (UPI) — China National Offshore Oil Corp said it is focusing on safety issues in light of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Read more on UPI
U.S. Offshore Drilling Moratorium May End Sooner, Salazar Says
The Obama administration’s six-month shutdown of 33 rigs to overhaul offshore drilling regulations might end sooner than planned, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a Senate committee today. Read more on BusinessWeek
Gulf of Mexico oil spill intensifies political debate on offshore drilling
Florida voters face choice in Senate race The oil spill has turned a national debate over offshore drilling into a campaign issue. Once the nation’s largest spill is contained, pressures to drill are bound to resume. Florida’s next senator likely will play a prominent role in the debate. Read more on Sun-Sentinel
100511-G-0000X-001 Crater Plume Gassing ROBERT, La. — Oil and gas stream from the riser of the Deepwater Horizon well May 11, 2010. This video is from the larger of two existing leaks on the riser. This leak is located approximately 460 feet from the top of the blowout preventer and rests on the sea floor at a depth of about 5000 feet. (Courtesy video) Source: cgvi.uscg.mil Very courteous, indeed, at www.michaelmoore.com Video Rating: 4 / 5
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