I hope the nation is paying attention this time. What is happening along our coast will affect much of the country during the next several months. If we can't stop the oil from getting into our wetlands ( I don't see how we can), the seafood industry will take a major hit. The number of birds covered in oil will number into the thousands. The price of oil will keep rising. The beaches to our east will suffer chasing away many tourists during the peak summer months. The charter boat industry will cease working for months...and I could go on and on. This is a national crisis and I hope our government reacts much quicker than it did after Katrina.
The weather couldn't be worse as strong SE-S winds will roar for the next 3 days coupled with our usual high Spring tides equal a prescription for an ecological nightmare. We have several rainy periods the next 2 days but the real rain day appears to be Sunday into Monday when a cold front will finally stagger through. The oil spill graphics (done by Kim Vaughn) were equal to or better than the graphics on the major networks. Check out & compare FOX 8 with the other stations. We have not one, but two HD(high definition) graphic systems that make FOX 8 Your Weather Authority. Thanks for watching.
10 comments:
So far, the government response has been right on par with Katrina. The first report was, "we don't see any oil but, we're going to keep an eye out for it". Then, they said, "some oil seems to be seeping up but, it isn't a problem". Finally, yesterday their response was, "Holy Crap! This is major! We need every available resource!".
I'd like to think that, the initial lack of response was do to the intensity of the search of the missing crewmen but, I believe it was an effort to keep quiet about the seriousness and potential environmental devastation.
It wasn't until they realized that, due to the volume being leaked and that the winds were shifting, that they were going to have to put out a call for help.
They should have started gathering resources the moment the platform broke off and sank. They knew then that there was going to be a major spill and they weren't going to be able to just swim down there and close a valve. Yes, our government has definitely dropped the ball on southeast Louisiana again.
Bob the first paragraph of this post is petrifying but so, so true. Thanks for your honesty.
Gov't has done nothing wrong here, it was an accident. Everyone complains about the gov't getting to involved with states etc.. but then when something does occur everyone complains that the gov't is not doing enough. Can't have it both ways. Just like now everyone is complaining about offshore drilling near Louisiana yet over the many years nobody complained about the huge economical impact on Louisiana that it has provided.
What I find shocking about the whole spill and response is that we have been drilling offshore for many years and it is surprising that there has been no plan on what to do should this happen.
You would think the drilling companies or the government would have made a plan years ago on what they would do if a well started leaking way down below. But now everyone stands around scratching their head and wondering what to do. Has no plan ever been made? Has no one ever thought about this before?
CAVEMAN...I agree, it was an accident (probably caused by human error/lack of attention?). However, the government's main responsibility is to defend and protect us from danger. When the scale of an accident will affect millions of people, the government has to get involved. I don't want them involved in many of my daily choices, but remember what their MAIN/FIRST responsibility is. Contrary to many, it is NOT to tax!
I would put some blame on Louisiana and surrounding Gulf states which allowed drilling of their shores because of the huge economical impact to their states economy would have taken the leadership and made sure these rigs and owners did everything possible to prevent accidents like this one. Louisian Dept of Health checks up on restaurants you would think Louisiana would have some dept also checking up on the rigs of their shores on a regular time frame esp considering how much the gulf coast is dependent upon fishing, tourism, and etc.
Heck they are still cleaning up in Alaska from Exon spill from the 80's and this will be much worse.
I just think everyone uses the fed gov't as a scape goat when individual states fail at their own respondsibility to their citizens.
Oh Bob they won't to tax to hit our pocketbook...I see $4 or more a gallon for gas soon and if Obama gets his way, the US will never drill in the Gulf again.
I agree with Patrick, this happened how long enough ago and Obama has done nothing to help the situation. Hey at least Bush flew over the Gulf Coast after Katrina hit, this President hasn't even seen the magnitute of the oil spill nor has he seen how potentially dangerous this is going to be for our way of life.
And this is not to mention the royalties the State may receive from this one rig.
Caveman, you can do as much as you can to prevent these kinds of accidents. However it is impossible to prevent them. Accidents happen... that's just a fact and part of life.
I don't blame the federal government or state government for their response. I say we should blame government and these oil companies for not having a plan on what to do should an accident occur. I hate to repeat myself from my last post but smart people and smart companies plan for good and for bad. And certainly an activity like offshore drilling, which seems inherently dangerous just from anyone's common sense. They come up with a way to send a drill bit down 5000 feet below the water. But no one imagines if there is ever a case where something happens 5000 feet down there?
That is where these companies and our government have really failed. I guess you can't expect much from government. (I certainly don't). However you should expect for-profit companies to have a contingency plan.
pamedee...great comments. You are correct. A for profit company shud have back up plans to the back up plan in case the 1st one doesn't work. I hope the President doesn't allow more drilling until we learn 1) what caused the explosion, 2) Why the shut off valve didn't work and 3) how to prevent another one from happening.
Got to disagree on shuting down drilling. Drilling has been taking place for decades without an accident like this one so to simply shut them down is the wrong approach. Just like coal mining, there are risks but you just don't shut down all the coal mines until they are 100% safe because that will never happen.
I guess they would have to shut down New Orleans until the leeves are completely safe.
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