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May 19, 2013
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 Lessons From the Oil SpillPosted on Aug 9, 2010Flying back to Washington from Pensacola, Fla., on June 15, President Obama and the man he put in charge of handling the Gulf oil spill, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, had a come-to-Jesus talk. The administration was getting hammered for a slow and disorganized response to the environmental disaster, and the president wanted to know, then and there, what resources Allen needed to get the job done. Obama made clear, in Allen’s words, that “there would be no do-overs.” That conversation aboard Air Force One marked what Allen, in a recent interview, called the “pivotal point” in the effort to contain the biggest spill in U.S. history. Allen said he told Obama that his most urgent problem wasn’t with anything that was taking place underwater or along the Gulf shore, but in the sky. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were buzzing above the oil spill in an uncoordinated swarm, accomplishing little of value and barely managing not to crash into one another—there had already been eight near-miss incidents. What he desperately needed, Allen told the president, was military control of the air space. Obama gave the order to make it so. “We needed to manage the situation as a three-dimensional battle space,” Allen recalls. “I got up at 4 the next morning and wrote an e-mail explaining to everyone that we were going to move away from a traditional spill response and go to 3-D battle management.” Allen said this change made all the difference. With a command center at Tyndall Air Force Base near Pensacola coordinating all air traffic in the area, Allen could stop worrying so much about possible accidents and deploy his ad hoc fleet of military and civilian aircraft more effectively to find the widely dispersed sheets and ribbons of oil. Advertisement The administration announced with fanfare last week that of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil that gushed out of the Deepwater Horizon well, three-fourths of the total had been captured, skimmed, burned, dispersed—or had simply evaporated—before it could despoil the coast. Some experts have called this assessment overly optimistic, and serious questions remain about the possible long-term environmental effects of the oil that remains in the Gulf. There are also questions about the ultimate impact of the chemical dispersants that BP applied in unprecedented quantities. Allen acknowledges that how much oil remains in the Gulf, and what effect the oil and dispersants are having on marine life, will not really be known until scientists have the chance to conduct further studies. Also yet to be known is how the improvised technology that was ultimately used to cap the gusher will change the way the oil industry operates in the Gulf. Before the blowout, Allen said, there was no protocol for handling such an event. By cobbling together some techniques and equipment used in the North Sea and others used in the Atlantic off the coast of Angola, engineers found ways to capture some of the oil, creating, in effect, “an oil production system that did not exist in the Gulf of Mexico.” Allen, 61, was commandant of the Coast Guard when Obama put him in charge of handling the oil spill, but he retired his commission several weeks later. He has agreed to stay on the job until it is certain that the crisis is over. Asked if he knew when the president would release him, Allen said, “I’ve asked for a parole hearing. But I know that my departure has to be conditions-based.” Much of his focus now is on containing and cleaning up the oil that remains—and on doing his best to ensure that the knowledge gained from dealing with the Deepwater Horizon spill is put to good use. “It would be adding a crime to a crime,” he said, “if we didn’t make this one of the great learning laboratories in the history of this country.”  TAGS:
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By drbhelthi, August 14, 2010 at 12:04 am Link to this comment
Stonecutter, if you locate a physician in your area who
Report thiscan assist you with chelation, using EDTA, your
vascular system problems will clear. ALL of them. Even
if you have had multiple bypass bullshit.
By ofersince72, August 12, 2010 at 3:25 pm Link to this comment
Another lesson Eugene,
Remember that Charter boat Captain that was contracted
to BP to help skim oil, set fires, and lay booms??
The day that he allegelly commit suiside, they reported
TWO men died that day…
The media never did say who the other one was and
Report thishow died and if he was with the other guy that day…
You media should have told us because now I believe
they must have caught BP making those phoney videos
that they told the world were live videos.
We won’t ever know now Eugene…..GOOD JOB !!!!!!!!!
By ofersince72, August 12, 2010 at 3:20 pm Link to this comment
Hey Eugene, you forgot this lesson
It you are a well known person in the OIL INDUSTRY and
have access to the media, and call a big corporate
power a liar, as SIMMONS did
Report thisYOU WILL DROWND IN YOU BATHTUB!!!!!!!
By stonecutter, August 12, 2010 at 3:12 pm Link to this comment
After reading this stream of comments, I’m convinced that at least there are large segments of the public that still think critically, still possess basic common sense and still know a crock of BS when they see it or read it.
When Obama was campaigning, I was one of those who wanted to believe he was the real deal, a true agent of fundamental change that would grab the government by its vitals and gradually dissipate the stench of Bush/Cheney and Co. After seeing Kerry go down to ignominious defeat in 2004, I was jubilant when Obama crossed the finish line.
Now, along with millions of other deeply disillusioned and bitterly disappointed independents, I have to admit I was flat wrong about this guy. Whatever he is, whatever obvious strengths he has in the style department, his leadership skills and backbone are gravely deficient, to the point where he hasn’t a prayer of being re-elected unless he puts Hillary, of all people, on the ticket with him.
As a cynical political move, it may work, since she can serve as VP for 4 years and be teed up in the traditions of that office to run in 2016 against Palin, the “Election of the Century”. What entertainment that will provide! After all, if the dismal under-reported turnout across the country for this week’s primaries is any evidence, Americans view politics, especially national politics, as just another “Reality Show”, complete with scripted spontaneity, rhetorical drivel and bottomless pits of corruption and mendacity.
The American middle class is a wheatfield, and this relentless economy is a vast hoard of locusts sweeping down, devouring every last kernel and moving on. Just as the event in the Gulf was not a “spill” but a “spew” of cataclysmic proportions, this is not a “recession”, despite the euphemistic impulses of the BS artists and spinmeisters in the White House and Congress, but a full-blown, cyclonic f’ing depression, the Second Great Depression. What else to call 30 million Americans or more out of work, a real unemployment rate of 25-30%, a paralyzed Congress full of fat cats, con men and future lobbyists paying their dues?
My sons have to live in this muck, somehow find a way to maintain their dignity and integrity and still make a living. Me, I’m almost happy to be facing a cardiac blip that I’ll hopefully overcome…at least I can still watch the PGA on my HD TV, put food on the table and pay my bills. What I DON’T have to do is watch the likes of Fareed Zakaria, who this weekend canonized Robert Rubin on his pathetic CNN show, or the boobs on MSNBC’s “The Rundown” who would not report the actual point drop in the DOW, but only the “2% drop” in the value of the stock market, so they wouldn’t panic too many viewers and attempt to make things far less frightening than they actually are, all the while making sure they “report” the soup of the day at the White House, or read Eugene Robinson, who in his fawning and tone-deaf spinning of Obama’s mediocrity, recalls what Harry Belafonte called Colin Powell a few years ago in relation to the Bush White House House and his place in it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are screwed.
Report thisBy ray, August 11, 2010 at 10:39 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
God removed it- why haven’t u-all figured it out yet?
Report thisBy dbtodd, August 11, 2010 at 10:26 am Link to this comment
I think you are on the right track Justin, it does appear to be a PR produced story. It is junk and puff. I also thought the control of the air space permitted better control of the images being brought out in the media.
Report thisBy norman harman, August 11, 2010 at 7:31 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Good god Mr. Robinson, do you really think this column deserves to be called
journalism? This reads more like a PR script from the Petroleum Institute.
Thad Allen, rather than being lauded for his efforts, should be shamed for
acting throughout the crisis - a crisis that’s far from over by the way - as little
more than a BP spokesman.
How convenient for Mr. Allen, BP and the president (who once again,
throughout the crisis, showed us his mettle, i.e., that he has none) that most of
the oil has “evaporated.” What utter nonsense! Take a half a quart of oil and
pour it into a small bucket of water, mix it up and let it stand in the sunlight
for a week and see what actually evaporates. A week later the water will be
gone but the oil will remain in the bottom of the bucket. Evaporate indeed!
Mr. Robinson needs to remove his Rose-colored glasses when he looks at
Report thisanything related to Obama and start to take a look at the fact that Mr. Obama
looks more and more like Bill Clinton as time goes on. (And keep in mind that
Bill Clinton was the one who smashed the last vestiges of “Democrat” from the
Democratic Party.)
By Justin Weleski, August 10, 2010 at 1:57 pm Link to this comment
I’m just curious, but did Eugene Robinson even write
this piece or was it handed to him by the federal
government’s multi-billion dollar PR team? Of all
the angles to address the Gulf Oil disaster and its
“lessons,” I have absolutely no idea why Robinson
would use this opportunity to pen a puff piece for
Thad Allen. It is beyond comprehension.
Instead of addressing the inherent dangers of deep
sea drilling, or the potentially catastrophic long-
term impacts of the Gulf Oil disaster, or the all-
too-cozy relationship/partnership between the
American government and BP/big business, or the need
for additional regulation, oversight, and safety
measures, or the disaster’s implications on the
Western world’s insatiable desire for “stuff,” or
even the mainstream media’s deplorable job of
providing objective news coverage from day one,
Robinson chose to try his hand at revisionist history
by attempting to convince the generally gullible
public that Allen was doing anything but working to
hide the scope of the problem and misinform the
American public.
Eugene Robinson is occasionally on the mark, but this
article is truly not worthy of a Truth Dig spotlight.
Two thumbs down.
Report thisBy The Donkey Edge, August 10, 2010 at 12:47 pm Link to this comment
I’m a big fan, Eugene, but this is a really soft piece about a really hard truth—part of the reason Allen needed “military control of the air space” was for the unprecedented use of the dispersant, Corexit. Nearly 2 million gallons. The impact that the combination of the dispersant and oil will leave a generation of gulf residents in physical and mental ill-health, particularly the most vulnerable: the children.
http://thedonkeyedge.com/2010/08/04/its-oil-in-your-head/
Report thisBy gerard, August 10, 2010 at 11:25 am Link to this comment
Conversation aboard Air Force One:
President: What am I doing wrong, Joe?
Joe Public: Well, for starters, you are not listening to me. I’m trying, but seems like you don’t want to listen to anything I say.
President: But Joe, you don’t have any expertise in anything. I know you want me to listen to you, but ... my problems are too complex for you to understand, and…
Joe Public: But Mr. Prsident, Sir .. There are a lot more people like me than there are like Geithner and Gates, and we are the ones who vote, and are losing our jobs, and getting killed in Afghanistan! We have a right to be heard!
President: Well, Joe, thanks for your advice. I’m sorry I have to cut this short, but I’m having lunch with Admiral Mullen, and after that ...
Report thisBy balkas, August 10, 2010 at 10:19 am Link to this comment
One always, without fail, learns and relearns the lesson imparted by privately owned media and politocos: never ever impart a lesson for any event.
Report thisAll events presented to us unwashed-ignorant class 5 people by clerico-plutocratic gang of people, are causeless.
Sort of saying: shit happens! Or his finger fell into his nose or one slamming his face into a closing door! tnx
By FRTothus, August 10, 2010 at 8:29 am Link to this comment
Lesson learned is that the American people will believe any damned thing the sold-out media tells them they believe, no matter how absurd. Another lesson learned is that white-collar crime, no matter how destructive, will never be prosecuted, the people will never see justice. And for those with eyes to see, lesson learned is that if we ever had a constitutional Republic, those days are long gone, replaced by the National Security State and the very fascist forces we were told we were fighting against in WW2. (Operation Gladio, anyone?)
Report thisMaybe if our alleged leaders spoke German and wore swastikas, we would know them for what they are and who and what they represent.
By ofersince72, August 10, 2010 at 7:39 am Link to this comment
“Lessons from the Oil Spill”
First Eugene , it was not a spill. Why does the media
keep using this word? You all were English Majors.
What were the lessons Eugene? You didn’t mention, did U?
BP and our Govt., lied from day one , Eugene about
Report thiseverything, BP even had to admit to doctoring photos
and video. They lied about the amout of oil spewing
into the Gulf
THE LESSON FROM THE OIL DISASTER, WE HAVE NO
MEDIA, EUGENE.
That, multi-national companies boss our govt around,
Eugene.
That I , don’t really know if oil is still gushing into
the Gulf or not , Eugene, why should I believe BP, and
your friend’s Administration now Eugene.
I believe the public , learned different lessons
from what you describe as a SPILL Eugene.
By G.Anderson, August 10, 2010 at 6:54 am Link to this comment
Sadly, it doesn’t seem that our government has learned anything at all.
Instead, what’s all too apparent is that the entity’s, I can’t call them people anymore, who run things have entered a time of what James Howard Kunstler, calls “Peak Delusion”.
Instead of lessons learned, what millions around the globe saw was a government praying, and bowing to the corporations, because they were completely powerless to do anything else, but lie.
Report this