Barry's Katrina

Discussion in 'Politics' started by John_Wensink, Apr 30, 2010.

  1. and that chump isn't even going to visit.

    I thought he could just "wish" the oil away.

    The rapidly expanding environmental catastrophe caused by the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana is presenting a growing political challenge to the Obama White House, with Mr. Obama and his aides at pains to defend the response and forestall comparisons to the Hurricane Katrina crisis.

    Nine days after British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew apart and began spewing 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, a massive oil slick is set to wash ashore on the southern coast Thursday evening and, experts say, could dwarf the damage caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

    Failure to get control of the relief effort and contain the environmental challenge could pose the same kind of political threat to Mr. Obama's popular standing that the much-criticized handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina did for former President George W. Bush. And unlike Katrina, it is likely the federal government will be the clear lead authority in dealing with the BP spill.

    But Mr. Obama only Thursday dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson to help coordinate the federal response to the potential environmental disaster.

    "We are being very aggressive and we are prepared for the worst case," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara said at the White House.

    OTHER TWT STORIES:
    • Candidates' cash can't buy a bump in the polls
    • Obama's census form offers window into race views
    • Wanted: Accurate information that a terrorist is dead or alive
    • PRUDEN: Calling in the clowns to reform Wall Street


    The president said Thursday his administration has held daily briefings on the disater and will use "every single available resource at our disposal" to respond to the spill. His comments came at the opening of a Rose Garden event to honor teachers.

    The spill has been sweeping across the gulf for nine days. At first, BP estimated the flow from the snapped-off, mile-down well at 1,000 barrels a day; now, officials say the flow is more like 5,000 barrels a day,

    The spill, as of Tuesday, was 21 miles from shore, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said during a press conference. On Thursday, the slick was just three miles from shore and blowing in quickly.

    The White House contends that the federal reaction to the spill was immediate.
     
  2. You are comparing a natural disaster to a man made disaster?

    This on BP...

    I imagine you cheered for Exxon when you read this, right?

    Exxon Valdez Injustices Exxposed
    “You have had some good luck and you don’t realize it. You have Exxon and we do business straight." We will do “whatever it takes to keep you whole.”
    - Exxon spokesperson, March 1989
    On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez, carrying more than 50 million gallons of North Slope crude oil, ran aground and ruptured in Alaska's Prince William Sound. Approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil poured into the Prince William Sound in less than five hours. By August 1989, the oil had moved across nearly 10,000 square miles of water in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.

    ExxonMobil had immediately promised to make the communities "whole." Yet, while the company did pay $300 million to more than 11,000 Alaskans and businesses affected by the spill and $2 billion to start the clean up, it never paid a dime to the more than 30,000 people pushed into a class action lawsuit.

    In 1994, the plaintiffs were awarded more than $4 billion in punitive damages. The company has kept the case in appeals courts ever since. Meanwhile, 6,000 plaintiffs have died awaiting compensation. After years of having $4-$5 billion upheld through several appeals, in 2006 ExxonMobil succeeded in getting the award lowered to $2.5 billion plus interest. Still, the company argues it should not have to pay any punitive damages at all, or $25 million at most. The case now stands before the U.S. Supreme Court with a decision due to come out in Spring/Summer 2008.

    Despite statements by the company, Prince William Sound has yet to fully recover from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Exxon Valdez Trustee Council (formed to oversee restoration of the injured ecosystem) reported that populations of six different animals - had shown little or no improvement since the spill injuries occurred. The once thriving multi-million dollar herring industry that supported the local economy has also not recovered.





     
  3. Good grief lucy.




     
  4. You are comparing a natural disaster to a man made disaster?

    Katrina was on God...
     
  5. 377OHMS

    377OHMS

    Bush didn't cause Katrina. Obama didn't cause this spill/leak.

    The measure of each is how fast and how appropriately they react in the face of a big disaster.

    I was not happy with the Bush Administration. That FEMA guy was a total joke. Bush left people hanging. He sorta didn't get it for about a week.

    Honestly, if I had been president I would have done a Berlin Airlift and dropped stuff around that stadium until those people were 2-feet deep in food and water and stuff. This is America for crying out loud!
     
  6. Comparing an oil spill to Katrinia...Has to be the stupidest shit ever from the Republicans.Probably was Sarah Palins idea