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June 19, 2013
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 Oil RulesPosted on May 19, 2010By Joe Conason The more we learn about the BP oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the more we ought to question the basic assumptions that led us here. Like the explosion of the housing bubble that ruptured the world economy, this human and environmental tragedy resulted from a system that encourages reckless profiteering without effective regulation. It is impossible to understand why an accident like the Deepwater Horizon disaster was inevitable without looking back on an era when the energy industry dominated government. The oil bidness, as it is known affectionately in Texas, could do no wrong under the Bush-Cheney administration, which was run by former oil executives and their lobbyists. Remember that among the top priorities of the secretive energy task force run by Vice President Dick Cheney was relief for Big Oil from “burdensome” environmental regulations. As The New York Times reported recently, the Washington zeal for deregulation let offshore oil drilling proceed virtually without interference from government, even though scientists and engineers repeatedly raised safety and environmental concerns over the past decade. Warned specifically that the blowout-prevention technology that drillers were relying on to avoid an explosive spill was faulty as long ago as 2000, the oil industry did nothing except to drill deeper. As for the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department agency responsible for overseeing the drilling operations, it too did nothing—except to reduce its inspections of safety equipment. Presumably, the MMS failed to act because it was infested with crooked officials who took illegal drugs and engaged in sexual relationships with oil industry personnel—and accepted bribes from them, too. The oil industry was allowed to drill, baby, drill wherever it wanted, often without even paying royalties to the federal government. But the culture of American government, from the executive branch to Congress and even the judiciary, has been infected with a disease deeper than corruption: an ideological deference to corporate power, in the name of “free markets” and efficiency, that enriches a wealthy few at the expense of the nation. While this pattern can be detected across many sectors of the economy, its effects are now felt most acutely in the financial and energy sectors, whose power over government is legendary. Advertisement Free-market ideologues and other corporate shills insist that this is the most efficient way to do business, which is true enough for a corporate manager or a stockholder. But it isn’t very efficient for the nation whose public wealth, natural resources and future prosperity are depleted by these ruinous practices. In America, we have been told for more than three decades that there is indeed no other way to run an economy—and certainly not if we wish to preserve our traditional freedoms. But looking around the world, it’s easy to see through those old platitudes. Countries that impose stronger regulation on their financial sectors did not endure the same kind of disruption we did—and emerged more swiftly from the recession. Countries that impose strict oversight on their energy sectors, including offshore drilling, are exemplary in protecting worker and environmental safety. The world’s best record on offshore oil is enjoyed by Norway, a free and democratic country where North Sea oil provides not only a major source of employment, but the funding for universal health care, education and a panoply of other important benefits. In Norway, oil drillers are expected to implement the most advanced systems of environmental protection. That’s because the Norwegian people own the oil—and the oilmen answer to them. Joe Conason writes for The New York Observer. © 2010 Creators.com  TAGS:
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By MarthaA, May 23, 2010 at 5:56 pm Link to this comment
ofersince72, May 23 at 2:40 pm,
It isn’t a matter of blame. It is fact.
George W. Bush represented his constituents, the capitalists; he even said that he represented his constituents, the upper 10% and said most of them were at the dinner where he was speaking at the time.
The capitalists use socialism to protect themselves and expect the populace to adhere to the requirements of capitalism, while the populace never have any capital and don’t even know what capital is, which makes it easy for the capitalists to use socialism to take advantage and run rough shod over the populace..
Ownership of your home and land is NOT capital.
Owning a business that just gets by is NOT capital.
Your paycheck working for a capitalist, is not capital.
Your savings in a savings account is NOT capital.
The only people who have capital are those who have enough capital assets to provide a revenue stream, which is capital, but only the stream is capital, the asset that provides the capital is NOT capital.
Populace Republicans think they are capitalists, and don’t even know what capital is. The base and control of the Republican Party are huge capitalists, corporate and elite, but all peon hangers on to the Republican Party that do not even know what capital is, are NOT capitalists, and unless they learn what capital is, will never become a capitalist and should not allow themselves to be used by the Republican Party against the best interest of the populace.
Report thisBy ofersince72, May 23, 2010 at 10:40 am Link to this comment
I find it humorous progressives found another thing
to blame on George Bush.
What a great example of democracy we must have had
Report thisbefore Bush
By SoTexGuy, May 22, 2010 at 3:50 pm Link to this comment
This is a good article and I thank the author for it..
One thing I take issue with here and elsewhere is the idea that BP or the government or anyone, anyhow, will ever achieve a ‘cleanup’ worthy of the name.. No matter how much money, from wherever is poured into the effort to mitigate the spill.. It’s a canard, the idea that we can pay to have this fixed.. Money can’t buy everything.. and the Gulf of Mexico, as it was before this.. is one of those things that can’t be brought back with money..
This is a permanent thing, the oil and man-made pollutants put into the water column won’t go away.. oh sure enough of it will be picked up to look good on TV and eventually there will be a stifling or even close to a cessation of the flow from the floor of the Gulf..
Then we can enter into a waiting period.. waiting for the next ‘accident’ and also for the accumulated effects of these incidents to come home to roost .. big time.
Adios!
Report thisBy NZDoug, May 22, 2010 at 1:38 am Link to this comment
Osama couldnt do a better to job to sink America.
Report thisWake up!
By msgmi, May 21, 2010 at 4:50 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This oil crisis should tell us all that leadership on Capitaol Hill is dysfunctional, delinquent and in some cases a criminal enterprise…no one gets fired, no one is being investigated for wrong doing…big busness has carte blanche authority to reject any authority to ensure its profit making machine is operational at all costs. Whether its Obama, GW or whoever else, big business, shamefully, rules.
Report thisBy garyrose66, May 21, 2010 at 9:54 am Link to this comment
Mr. Conason makes excellent points and comparisons. If only these were made in the MSM on television so that the vast public that only watches TV and doesn’t know how to read can get exposed to these thoughts. Further we we can do now but won’t: This oil gusher is a crime scene, and should be treated as such. BP as the suspect in the crime should not be allowed access. On 9/11 the government federalized the WTC site, and private entities were not allowed in except as instructed by the Federal government. Same here. It is obvious that BPs prime directive is to manage the liability of their blatantly criminal act in causing the worst environmental disaster in world history, and to cover up as much damaging evidence as possible, not to be the “good guys” that the federal government is pretending they are. It is inconceivable that the US government cannot generate a team of independent oil experts from around the world and companies who are not BP to take over the problem and try to fix it. Why is BP still allowed to be involved? As much as I appreciate this administration versus the previous one, this is a policy blunder of epic proportions. Second, the Federal government should shut BP’s entire American operation down from top to bottom unless they deposit $50 billion in cash with the Federal government as a down payment on damage and cleanup, before they can restart operations. If a landlord knows the tenant is risky, doesn’t he always insist on a security deposit that will be refunded when the tenant leaves the apartment in good condition, and taken for cleanup if it is not? What’s the difference here? If $50 billion turns out to be too much (it won’t), we will cheerfully refund the difference when the accounting is done. ALSO, WHERE THE CALLS FROM THE GRASS ROOTS CALLING FOR A BP BOYCOTT???? BP is a company that smugly makes a billion or two in profit per month off of the American sheeple. And they are treating the US as they do third world countries where they just extract, destroy and leave. BP markets gasoline under the oil companies they swallowed up in 1999, Amoco and ARCO, as well as BP. Stop buying BP, Amoco and ARCO. If you do you are subsidizing corporate greed and failure.
Report thisBy Archie1954, May 21, 2010 at 9:46 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
American culture is based on excess. Excess at all levels is the foundation of the country today. Bush was a prime example of venality at work destroying the country. His deregulation of industry, his disregard of the environment, his tax gifts to the oil industry have all combined to produce disaster. We all know how completely incompetent Bush, Cheney and his gang of neocon thugs were but no one thought such incompetence would continue to work its destructive way through America for years to come. Well it has and I totally blame the Republicans and their supporters for this debacle. They deserve to suffer for their gross ignorance and greed.
Report thisBy prosefights, May 21, 2010 at 7:00 am Link to this comment
Energy is likely be the major concern of governments in the future.
BTUs are getting harder to extract as evidenced by the Deepwater Horizon event.
The Energy Dilemma was written in 1972
http://home.comcast.net/~bpayne37/davidson/davidson.pdf adresses the problem back then.
Photo of the author is here
http://home.comcast.net/~bpayne37/whitman59/whitman1960.htm
I posted an mp3 of our conversation of Wednesday May 19, 2010 available at the above link.
“By then, the Pentagon plans to have at least 4 or 5 US aircraft carriers visible from Iranian shores.”
Report thishttp://www.debka.com/article/8794/
IS related to energy too.
By Warsong, May 21, 2010 at 5:31 am Link to this comment
Mr. Conasson,
If you have the type of contacts to reach someone who can put this ‘remedy’ in play, please do, and, I claim no Inventors Rights to it. I’ve simply used this type of Plug in many situations where it could be installed with a Ball Peene Hammer.
It’s an old Millwright/Pipefitters fix that we’ve all used.
Report thisBy Warsong, May 21, 2010 at 5:14 am Link to this comment
Should the Crane not have the type of Load Brakes that you can “cut Loose,” place a Shaped Charge on the Shank of the Hook, and, when ready, cut the Hook in two…dropping the Plug into the Well Head.
Report thisBy Warsong, May 21, 2010 at 5:04 am Link to this comment
Engineer/Inventor talking, and, it is well past time for talking…the simplist solution is always the best:
1. Take a Steel Bar 10 feet long by .010” (Ten Thousandths of an Inch) larger than the inside diameter of the Pipe.
2. Beginning 12 inches from one end, machine the other 9 feet to a long, fine point Taper.
3. Weld the Tapered Plug to the bottom of a Crane Counterweight of sufficient heft, say, 20,000 lbs(?), to overcome the Well pressure (they’ve got them on every Platform).
4. Suspend the Plug over the Pipe, and, lower it until the Point is well within the Pipe, cut the brakes loose on the Crane, and, let it jam itself down into the bore of the Pipe.
5. Have pipes nearby, swing them into place as soon as the Plug bottoms out, and, bury the entire Plug and Well in Concrete.
Report thisBy chambalkirani, May 21, 2010 at 4:46 am Link to this comment
like Dwight says - The Obama administration had ample time to clean house on
Report thisenvironmental protections, banking regulation, not everything needs an act of
congress. Many (post-constitutional) laws and regulations are already in place.
Obama could have sent a clear signal that energy policies would change had he
reinstalled Carter’s solar panels on the White House.
It’s politics not fate. Just because the Bush administration was in bed with oil,
doesn’t mean the Obama administration couldn’t kick them out of bed, in fact
shown them the door, and bolted behind them.
What happened to lobbying reform? to election reform?
By Dwight, May 20, 2010 at 10:41 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Obama has been in office for 16 months, and appointed Salazar who ignored NOAA’s warning. What’s the point of talking about Bush-Cheney, Mr. Conason?
Report thisBy LostHills, May 20, 2010 at 5:30 pm Link to this comment
The lesson here is the same lesson as Upper Big Branch - our elected
Report thisrepresentatives have become totally and completely corrupted by corporate
money. No “democracy” can stand as long as bribery is legal. There is no hope for
the future of this country because the corruption has become so entrenched that
there is no way to turn it back.
By kerryrose, May 20, 2010 at 4:15 pm Link to this comment
It is not the US Constitution that is at fault. The Constitution is actually a progressive ideology. It is the interpretation of the Constitution, and how it has been twisted to do the bidding and enriching of the powerful few.
Report thisBy taikan, May 20, 2010 at 3:41 pm Link to this comment
“It is impossible to understand why an accident like the Deepwater Horizon disaster was inevitable without looking back on an era when the energy industry dominated government.”
This quote implies that somehow, in some way, the situation has changed significantly so that the energy industry no longer dominates government. Conason should be required to provide some evidence that such a change has occurred. Certainly the government’s response (or lack thereof) to the current disaster in the Gulf, and its willingness to accept BP’s vastly understated estimates of the amount of oil released into the ocean as a result of the blowout despite scientific evidence to the contrary, do not indicate that such a change has occurred.
Report thisBy DaEggman, May 20, 2010 at 9:12 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
If the people owned the oil, as in Norway, there would be no rush to profits and no cut corners. But when you involve profits in necessities, like energy, food, water, shelter, drugs etc. the tendency to cut corners to get products to the market or to inflate values always outweighs the risks involved especially if the companies know that the slap on the wrist fine equates to a cost of doing business. If these corporations want to be people, fine. Put them in jail when they kill, like anyone else would be. The boards of Pfizer, BP, Texaco, Chevron, Monsanto and a host of others could be filling up death row spots today if only the government had the balls to prosecute these felons. Instead it’s business as usual, screw the people, reap the profits.
Maybe we need a little Louis XVI treatment for these criminals who scoff at the laws, poison and kill the people of America and the world, steal their wealth with their “free market” casinos, bankrupt the world and then lend them the money with ridiculous derivative products backing them, create environmental nightmares and then circle the wagons in the endless blamestorming, trying to figure out which subsidiary will take the plunge for the greater good of the wealthy once they can strip it of all its assets. We live in times where we are so scared of loosing our incomes because of a false fragility of the markets created by the Greenspan generation just to hide the flagrant and illegal gambling that was going on with pensions and retirement accounts. Did we not learn in the Icahn years when he would take pension funds from corporations he bought and dump them into his personal accounts, literally stealing people’s retirements from under them? Have we forgotten Enron and the “deregulation” of the energy markets allowing them to bankrupt California, who is still paying off the false debt to the Wall Street banks today, and the execs convincing their employees to buy more stock while they were selling theirs? How much more will Americans and citizens of the earth itself take from these monstrous individuals who play their games with their buddies, winning, losing, destroying, plundering, contaminating, and bubbling everything up to ridiculously high and dropping them to the ground, just to make profits by doing absolutely nothing that benefits anyone but themselves?
Report thisI see the “terror” of the future coming from within America, not from without. Watch out you high rollin’ thugs. Americans may one day just burn your existences to the ground after you steal just a little too much from those who have nothing left to lose. We might be able to keep the terrorists out of the country from overseas, but the ones born here…
And now to the news of the future..“Let them eat oil laden GMO cake from a Chinese mix possibly laced with diethylene glycol” the first lady said today before she was lethally injected at 8pm this evening…“and there was much rejoicing!” M Python
By Jim Yell, May 20, 2010 at 8:58 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this disaster and not just by the far right, far left or center.
What is obvious is, Yes, a set of enforced regulation & rules with severe punishment for violators is needed and is not optional. Given the chance myopic people, one issue people will destroy the planet along with the rest of us. They can not and should not be allowed to win.
A big issue this illustrates is that business can not be trusted to take responsibility for the damage they do, to tell the truth about what they have done, or are going to do. The quite frankly are liars. We should not in panic turn from the poison of Petro-chemicals to the even more poisonous Nuclear Option. As we see how distructive an oil spill is going to be, can you even imagine what will happen with nuclear radioactive waste set lose in the environment? Of course, we should be able to even though most of the results are hidden in increased cancer rates and Chernobyl is ignored even though it has only been hidden, not controlled, not cleaned up—-just hidden.
What happened was a Crime off the gulf coast, a crime that is not restricted to just this one instance but by the nature and goals of the businesses that authored it. Why have we still no idea of the actual matters discussed on government time and money by then vice-President Cheney? Do we really think it had nothing to do with the irresponsible happenings in the energy business?
The one thing missing in this whole mess, not just energy, but financial too, is an unwillingness by dishonest corporations and the governments their money has corrupted, the laws their money has corrupted is punishment for the crimes they have committed. A pretence that no one person is responsible. In fact all the top 5% of over compensated executives and owners should be personally held responsible for their neglegence, and crimes. To prison with the lot of them.
Report thisBy zaphodity, May 20, 2010 at 6:28 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Seems the world could learn a thing or two from Norway.
Report thisBy balkas, May 20, 2010 at 5:19 am Link to this comment
So, to simplify it, the holy of holies, the US constitution [a set of laws], failing americans in many ways.
It allowed slavery; then lynchings, oil spills, personal cars, abuse of nature-god, 180 wars, corporate rule, etc. tnx
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