Political Ruminations

Idiot Quote of the Day - Michele Bachmann

Presidential hopeful, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), claims that her election as president would mean lower prices at the pump:

“The day that the president became president gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. Look at what it is today. Under President Bachmann, you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen.”

Is she right? Not in the sense of her implication that Obama is at fault.

Think Progress addressed this issue in June when Exxon claimed it had found abundant oil supplies in the Gulf. That “abundant supply” would provide only enough oil for 9 days worth of global oil consumption. 

Setting aside that big ‘if’, while 700 million barrels is enough to ruin the Gulf if we get another blowout, it represents only 9 days of global oil consumption — and roughly one month’s worth of U.S. consumption.

The discovery doesn’t prove we have ‘abundant’ oil reserves, as Hastings claims.  It proves the exact opposite, that ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ can’t solve our problems.  Steve Greenlee, president of Exxon Mobil’s exploration business, unintentionally admitted that when he said, “This is one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade.”

There just isn’t enough oil in the Gulf to make a dent in our addiction.  A 2009 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Impact of Limitations on Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf” analyzed the difference between full offshore drilling and restriction to offshore drilling.

The EIA found that there is no impact on U.S. gasoline prices whatsoever in 2020.  Gasoline prices would be a mere three cents a gallon lower in 2030. So much for Drill, Baby, Drill.

The fact is that that oil prices have been soaring in spite of the fact that U.S. domestic oil production has also been soaring, “to its highest level in almost a decade,” as EIA’s own data shows:

And, you should know that Barack Obama is not the only president to have seen gas prices double during his administration, and as you’ll see laid out in the linked article, gas prices are affected by the economy, as well as by supply and demand in general.

In January 2005 when Bush was inaugurated for a second time, gas cost $1.83 per gallon. That bargain didn't last long.

Gas prices shot up rapidly as the U.S. economy heated up and oil topped $100 per barrel. Gas soared to a national average of $4.11 in July 2008. That's a rise of about 125 percent.

Then the bubble burst.

Currently, gas prices are high (oil is again over $100 per barrel) because demand is high due to an economy that's heating up.

The takeaway is that  an economy slowing or crashing means demand is lower so our gas costs less. An economy heating up correlates to higher prices at the pump as demand becomes greater.

Is that so difficult to understand?

Watch Rep. Bachmann spew:

More trouble in the Gulf update

The AP reports a statement from a White House spokesman:

WASHINGTON — A White House spokesman says BP's ruptured oil well is leaking at the top, along with seepage about two miles away.

Robert Gibbs also says officials are monitoring bubbles that can be seen on an underwater camera.

BP claims that the seepage is unrelated to the Macondo well, but is naturally occurring.

BP shares, which had dropped more than 6 percent after engineers detected seepage on the floor of the Gulf after the well was capped on Thursday, recovered in late trade on the news. They were down 3.9 percent in late afternoon trading in New York.

BP spokesman Mark Proegler told Reuters: "Scientists have concluded that the seep was naturally occurring."

Investors had feared that seepage could signal that the April 20 blowout that preceded the leak damaged the wellbore, which could allow oil and gas to leak out the sides and possibly breach the seabed.

Take BP’s statement with a grain of salt. There has not yet been any confirmation of this from Thad Allen.

BP recently sought to hire Gulf scientists @ $250/hour. They were told that they must keep their research confidential for three years.

Some scientists from LSU, Southern Mississippi, and Texas A&M have seemingly accepted the offer. Alabama Press-Register, July 16, 2010:

BP PLC attempted to hire the entire marine sciences department at one Alabama university, according to scientists involved. The university declined because of confidentiality restrictions that the company sought on any research. The Press-Register obtained a copy of a contract offered to scientists by BP. It prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years. …

More than one scientist interviewed by the Press-Register described being offered $250 an hour through BP lawyers. …

Scientists from Louisiana State University, University of Southern Mississippi and Texas A&M have reportedly accepted, according to academic officials. …

Robert Wiygul, an Ocean Springs lawyer who specializes in environmental law, said that he sees ethical questions regarding the use of publicly owned laboratories and research vessels to conduct confidential work on behalf of a private company. … It also buys silence, he said, thanks to confidentiality clauses in the contracts.

“It makes me feel like they were more interested in making sure we couldn’t testify against them than in having us testify for them,” said George Crozier, head of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, who was approached by BP.

Richard Shaw, associate dean of LSU’s School of the Coast and Environment, said… “The first order of business at the research meetings is to get all the disclosures out. Who has a personal connection to BP? We have to know how to deal with that person,” Shaw said. …

“This is not an agreement to do research for BP,” Wiygul said. “This is an agreement to join BP’s legal team. You agree to communicate with BP through their attorneys and to take orders from their attorneys. … The contract requires scientists to agree to withhold data even in the face of a court order if BP decides to fight such an order. It stipulates that scientists will be paid only for research approved in writing by BP.

One thing for certain. BP does not have the interests of the American people at heart, and, there is still much that we do not know.

UPDATE: Admiral Allen stated that the seepage is naturally occurring.

There had been concern that the seepage spotted over the weekend could mean oil and gas from the damaged well was flowing into geologic formations from which they could eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico. That would be a much more difficult situation to deal with it.

But BP said Monday that appeared not to be the case. That view was echoed by Adm. Thad Allen (ret.) at an afternoon briefing.

More trouble in the Gulf

Via Bob Cesca:

One of the concerns everyone had about capping the BOP was that it might create other leaks in the sea floor -- leaks that are more difficult to plug. It sounds like it's happening now.

This is why I didn't comment/cheer when they capped the well.
Whether it's methane or oil, we could be in serious trouble.

A well respected geologist on The Oil Drum, ROCKMAN:

A top kill method is a very common way to get a shut in well under control. Been done 100's of times in the GOM on shut in wells. Those incidents never made headlines becuse no oil hit the water and no lives lost. But you've got to be 100% certain the BOP/well head/csg can handle to pressure. The injected mud has to push that 13,000' column of oil/NG all the way down and back into the reservoir. Obviously a gutsey call either way you roll.

For reference purposes, the well is currently a "shut in" well.

Personally, I'd be interested in knowing if the people working on the boats in the Gulf of Mexico are sleeping in lifeboats, and walking around with respirators on their belts.

Scary stuff.

BP lobbied for a mass murderer of Americans

BP is nothing if not profit-driven, as are a majority of corporations. But, this news, via Rachel Maddow’s blog, is just too much:

This might be a candidate for our lead story of the day. It certainly fits in the category of "You're Kidding Me." From the New York Times:

The oil giant BP faced new furor on Thursday as it confirmed that it had lobbied the British government to conclude a prisoner-transfer agreement that the Libya government wanted to secure the release of the only person ever convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing over Scotland, which killed 270 people, most of them Americans.

BP was trying to secure its $900 million deal to explore for oil and gas in the Mediterranean off Libya. Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and released by Scotland in 2009 when doctors said he had three months to live. He bounced back and is now reportedly living well in Libya.

Why do we allow BP to do business in this country?

Thanks, BP: New images of the Gulf

Just beyond words. This oil spill, horrific environmental disaster that will affect us for a lifetime. But BP will "make it all right". Drill, baby, drill.

The turtles are dying

What is occurring in the waters of the Gulf is horrific, and it will likely be years before we know the full extent of what was wrought. We do know, however, that many of the animals are struggling for life.

The seemingly endless oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is killing countless sea animals and sea birds, large and small. But there is no story as tragic as the plight of the sea turtles.

These magnificent, graceful, creatures are particularly vulnerable to the effects of oil in the water, which weakens their eggs, chokes and poisons their young, and leaves adults addled and starving.

The turtles bury their eggs in the sand on the beaches of the Gulf. Then, they hatch, and when I would see them all scurry towards the water, the sight conjured up a sense of joy. So natural, seeking food and water, just as they have done for thousands of years.

I used to love to watch the baby turtles run for the water, and it breaks my heart that the baby turtles run for life now, means almost certain death for the little turtles.

I don't think the Gulf can be returned to something resembling normal for at least a generation. The beaches, maybe. The water, no.

Drill, baby, drill.

The image is of a dead turtle lying in a pool of oil on a Louisiana beach in early June,

H/T Bob Cesca

Music Video: The BP Blues

The calamity in the Gulf of Mexico affects real people. People who rely on it to make a living, feed their families, survive.

Video: John Wathen documents the death of the Gulf of Mexico

A horrifying, and heartbreaking tale of life in the Gulf of Mexico waters by John Wathen, who has been documenting the destruction from the air, and appeared on Olbermann's "Countdown" last night. The sight of the dying and struggling dolphins made me want to drive the "drill, baby, drill" chanters in to the oil permeated waters to see for themselves.

Maddow Blog:

Hurricane Creekkeeper John Wathen posts this video of a recent flight over the Gulf of Mexico. I don't necessarily agree with all of Wathen's conclusions, and I could have done without the souping-up at the end. Still, a lot of what you need to see about the Deepwater Horizon disaster is right here -- the bad booming, the dolphins and whales swimming in oil, the slick and sheen and gunk spilling night and day into the water.

If you're looking for the big critters, start around minute six.

[Wathen's BP Slick blog]
[Wathen's amazing first footage]

H/T Bob Cesca.

Sarah serves word salad in Texas

Oh, sweet sky fairy. Can this woman and her barely understandable word salad really have fooled so many people in to supporting her?

Palin's speech at the Oil Palace in Texas on Saturday, was served up with unintelligible slogans and numerous quotes, unattributed. One of the. worst. speeches. ever. Ever. Along with "Drill, baby, drill", we heard phrases such as

"We are a rule of laws, not a rule of presidential fiats that I think President Obama would rather have sometimes, it seems."

What?? We "are a rule of laws"??? Listen for yourself.

More moronic word salad from Palin's speech.

"I want this most exceptional country in the nation to be free, to be prosperous..."

Um, which "country in the nation" is she speaking of? Secessionist-leaning Texas?

"We’ve also learned more about government’s proper role and not violating the separation of powers, which I think Obama is kind of flirting with also, some government overreach."

So......President Obama wants to "rule" by Presidential "fiats"? Okey dokey.

Via Think Progress