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Obama Officials Still Approving Flawed Gulf Drilling Plans
WASHINGTON - Despite President Barack Obama's promises of better safeguards for offshore drilling, federal regulators continue to approve plans for oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico with minimal or no environmental analysis.
The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service has signed off on at least five new offshore drilling projects since June 2, when the agency's acting director announced tougher safety regulations for drilling in the Gulf, a McClatchy review of public records has discovered.
Three of the projects were approved with waivers exempting them from detailed studies of their environmental impact - the same waiver the MMS granted to BP for the ill-fated well that's been fouling the Gulf with crude for two months.
In a May 14 speech in the Rose Garden, Obama said he was "closing the loophole that has allowed some oil companies to bypass some critical environmental reviews."
Environmental groups, however, say the loophole is as wide as ever and that the administration is allowing oil companies to proceed with drilling plans that may be just as flawed as BP's, which concluded that a major spill was "unlikely" and that the company was equipped to manage even the worst-case blowout.
"It's just outrageous," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation organization. "The whole world is screaming and . . . they're just continuing to move this stuff through the system."
The Obama administration has said it's cracking down on the oil industry with a six-month moratorium that prevents regulators from granting new permits for offshore wells deeper than 500 feet underwater in the Gulf of Mexico. That, however, hasn't stopped oil companies from submitting new drilling plans, which, as McClatchy reported earlier this month, routinely underestimate environmental risks and overestimate the companies' ability to respond to a disaster.
According to MMS records, since June 2 the agency has granted environmental exemptions - known as "categorical exclusions" - to three new drilling projects. Of those, an Exxon Mobil site at a water depth of 1,000 feet and a Marathon Oil site at 775 feet are classified as deepwater; the third is a shallow-water project by Houston-based Rooster Petroleum.
Environmentalists say these approvals fly in the face of the June 2 order by acting MMS director Bob Abbey that requires oil companies to submit additional safety information in their development plans. All three drilling plans were submitted to the MMS before Abbey's order.
The MMS also approved two other deepwater drilling plans - for a Chevron site 6,730 feet underwater and for an Exxon site at a depth of 6,943 feet - after subjecting them to environmental reviews, the records show.
When Obama's six-month ban is lifted, experts say these projects could form the basis for new, flawed wells unless the MMS submits them to tougher oversight.
"At no point did any of the moratoriums cease the use of (categorical exclusions)," Suckling said. "They're cueing up all these drilling projects with no environmental review, so they're just sitting at the starting line" until the ban ends.
A spokesman for the Interior Department said the policy on categorical exclusions "is still being studied" as part of a 30-day congressionally mandated review of U.S. drilling policy. The department issued a separate directive Friday that requires oil companies to submit information about the possibility of a blowout, which had been missing from many drilling plans, but made no mention of the waivers.
Suckling's group filed a petition with the department this week to ban the waivers and charged that the MMS violated the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act when it approved a 2007 lease sale - including for BP's blown-out Macondo well - saying it would have "no significant environmental impacts."
The center also has filed suit in federal court in Louisiana to force the MMS to review all 49 exploration plans for the Gulf that were approved with categorical exclusions.
Other environmental groups have brought similar suits, with lawyers charging that the ongoing issuance of the waivers is part of a business-as-usual mentality among the oil industry and the Department of Interior.
Congressional investigators found that, 11 days before the April 20 explosion aboard BP's Deepwater Horizon rig, the company sent a letter to federal officials urging them to continue issuing the waivers "to avoid unnecessary paperwork and time delays."
"The fact that the agency continued to spit them out while oil was pouring into the Gulf is just ridiculous to the extreme," said Mike Senatore, an attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit environmental group.
There are other signs that the BP spill hasn't put the brakes on offshore drilling in the Gulf.
Last week, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed suit in federal court in Alabama challenging the MMS's approval of 198 new deepwater leases in the central Gulf since the BP spill began.
The lease sales - an earlier step, before oil companies submit drilling plans - create an incentive to continue offshore drilling despite the risks, attorneys argue. If federal regulators opt to cancel a lease once it's issued, the government must repay the company the fair market value of the lease or compensate it for the cost of its bid plus interest, the lawyers said.
"It immediately puts the U.S. taxpayer on the hook financially," Senatore said.
The lawsuit challenges Lease Sale 213, which covers 36 million acres in the central Gulf off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and drew $1.3 billion in bids at a March auction at the Superdome in New Orleans, according to MMS records. Of 198 deepwater leases sold, at least 10 are owned by BP and are located over a mile deep, the groups say.
"The moratorium does not stop this process," Senatore said.
42 Comments so far
Show AllBP was the proximate cause of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but as this article insinuates, Obama the corrupt, corporatist, president is the real culprit. It couldn’t have happened without his complicity, and if you think he’s going to change his MO because of this unprecedented ecological catastrophe, think again.
Sadly I agree. Obama cannot be trusted. He is a serial liar. His interests lie with the elite right. When the heat becomes too great he tosses a few crumbs to the progressives; and unfortunately, progressives then mute their criticism of him and some even praise him. If the oil gusher and it's aftermath do not awaken you to the reality of Obama's corporatist politics, then you are too ideologically left to make a difference. Progressives must greatly raise the temperature in their opposition to this fraudulent president. What blows and sucks at the same time? Obama and Deepwater Horizon.
Listen to this incredible speech given by Sheldon Whitehouse on the floor of the Senate:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/karoli/sheldon-whitehouse
Sen. Whitehouse for The White House in 2012!!!
I would absolutely vote for Whitehouse over Obama in a primary.
Ah, but here's the problem. Would Whitehouse, as did Kucinich, cave when the pressure on him got serious? That is the problem with parties, when you depend on them for your political survival, at some point, all your speeches notwithstanding, you must make a choice between party and principle ......
I go by the following quote, of which the writer's name escapes me at the moment:
"It's better to vote one's conscience and to vote for someone who CAN'T win than to vote for someone who CAN win and will betray you."
good one. It's about $$$$ Democracy Inc., it's just business.
I agree with you completely, which is why I made the comment I did.
But i would add that, IMO, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, destroyers of Indys is the mantle of "can't win", once you allow that epithet to be tied around their necks, you have gone most of the way to making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyone CAN win, if enough folk will VOTE for him/her. I can't tell you how many times I have heard "I like and agree with so and so, but I won't vote for him/her because he/she CAN'T WIN".
I sympathize with the intent of your post and have followed that rule myself, but i also have come to understand that the "can't win" label is a real killer ....
The point I was trying to make is that when guys like Kucinich, who has longer, consistent progressive bona fides than Whitehouse, a "new kid on the block", cave under party pressure, that perhaps it is their party membership that is, ultimately, their Achilles heel ....
Eugene Debs said something like that.
-------------
I go by the following quote, of which the writer's name escapes me at the moment:
"It's better to vote one's conscience and to vote for someone who CAN'T win than to vote for someone who CAN win and will betray you."
-------------
How about instead:
Why bother playing at all in a rigged game?
Whitehouse (what a name for a politician!) would be taken to the same woodshed for schooling that Obummer went to, were he ever to take power. Why pin your hopes to someone who sounds like Oblunder did five or six years ago? Don't vote Democratic. Don't vote Democratic. Vote your conscience if your conscience needs it. Don't vote at all if your conscience is clear. We will never take back power (and stolen public wealth and welfare) with our votes. We will only take back power by turning our backs on Dumbs and Repugs and shutting down the MIC. We need a massive public boycott of work and consumerism, a week-long work stoppage and spending boycott, just to get their attention. Strike, citizens, strike! May civil disobedience prevail!
Oh, who am I kidding...
Ok, nice speech. But where does he get most of his campaign contributions?
Lawyers. The people who will be suing the bastards in big oil. Do you think he is saying all those progressive things because his heart is in the "right" place? Hah.
He is only laying the rails for the train of lawyers going after big oil and energy.
Go to:
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00027533&cycle=2010
for details.
None of the bastards in Congress have the interests of the country in mind, only their buddies.
Good Grief Charlie Brown.
"He is a serial liar."
You give him too much credit.
He is a pathological serial liar. He is a lawyer.
Ahhh, it's good to find another person who does not consume this turkey. Obama lies profusely but slowly. We are living in a time of hyper change and hyper disasters. Even Obama's lies will lose pace with the increasing speed of slam dunk disasters. A super volcano here, a nuclear meltdown there, an economic collapse everywhere, as people's psyche's shatter the Whitehouse bumblef**k's lies will spill from his lips in paroxysms of meaningless stuttering puffery.
"In a May 14 speech in the Rose Garden, Obama said he was 'closing the loophole that has allowed some oil companies to bypass some critical environmental reviews.'"
See, this is why you have to pay attention to EVERY word Obama uses - he said he was closing a loophole that allowed SOME oil companies to bypass SOME reviews, not ALL companies or ALL reviews, just some. I realized this before the election. This guy is trained as a lawyer, and they are taught to use words very carefully - they can mislead without technically lying ......
This is another reason why folks like Helen Thomas were so valuable - she didn't allow him to get away with it, which is why you could see him fumble occasionally when he "answered" her. When he couldn't quickly obfuscate, he simply didn't answer ....
Heckuva job....Never mind.
I see Obama partly as a puppet, controlled by the military and the corporations. For this reason he can't do much more or less than what they allow him. BP is a favorite child of the military because of their ability to supply petrol to Iraq.
End of story.
however, there is another social angle to this which I explore here
www.usaliberalism.com
The deadly obombastic lies continue... from obomber and his lackeys... hypocrisy after hypocrisy ! All while our planet suffers !
Mr. Phenicie, Obama needs to cut the strings. He could if he wanted to. The wrong people are in his ear.
He doesn't want to ......
Oilbama is a Con Man of the first order. His loyalties are with the elite pulling the strings, and he is happy to hold the strings patiently as the Corporations take hold.
Outlaw all offshore drilling now.
I'm concerned that sea surface temperatures in the northern Gulf of Mexico continue to rise beyond any precedent that I know. Coastal Louisiana is at perhaps 87 degrees Fahrenheit. I would link it to the oil sheen on top of the water. Because the oil is still out there, I would expect further increases into places unknown.
First of all, hot temperatures suffocate all sea creatures. The oil on the water also keeps fresh oxygen from entering the water column. That, and 100 million gallons or so of methane, hydrocarbons and toxic dispersants, are going to create one huge dead zone. Relatively tiny dead zones have rarely occurred in coves in extremely hot weather. Generally the dead fish wash up first. Then the clams stink.
Second, I don't think there's any record of a hurricane getting fed by 87 degree water before. We're headed into the brave new world.
If you live in the Gulf, get your insurance policy now, not later! Get a company with large cash reserves that won't go bankrupt in a bad hurricane, or isn't bankrupt already with bad mortgages. Demand flood insurance on the policy.
Lots of Gulf locations are showing 87+ temps. You can get them by using this map and those it links to, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/WestGulf.shtml Some locations post recent ea temps as high as 90, like buoy 42040, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42040 and each buoy is linked to a graphic representation of its past 5 days worth of data measurements, like this from buoy 42036, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/show_plot.php?station=42036&meas=wtmp&uom=E&time_diff=-4&time_label=EDT
What powered Katrina and several other recent hurricanes is very warm water located in the Loop Current, which may have been over 87. The Gulf buoy data, however, doesn't support your oil sheen hypothesis as some of the very warm temps are from locations unaffected by the oil blowout.
But John Nichols, Katrina vd Heuvel and others at the Nation, FluffPost, and "the Progressive" blame the bad ol Rs and Dirty Dick for all this.
I'm shocked! how could Obama tell so many lies? How could they be such hypocrites? How could they be worse than the Rs? (sarcastic rhetorical questions, sorry)
Amen to that. Add to that Thom "remember the SC" Hartman.
It's about time more folk raised our voices in protest over what our "progressive" media is actually doing to our progressive causes ......
Tea comment.
This comment smalls like tea to me. If guys like so-called "socialist" actually read and listend to the people mentioned they would know that there is considerable criticism of Obama from the left.
Really?
Have you listened to Ed Schultz lately?
He spends ten minutes lambasting Obama then turns right around and says he will vote for him again, today and at the next election.
Good Grief. Ed looks a little like an older Charlie Brown, doesn't he?
So Whitehouse is now the new savior of the Democrat Party,
wow. He does talk so pretty, especially at committee
hearings.
There are so many still supporting Democrats, it's laughable.
Because of this, i am not even going to bother to vote
anymore, third party or otherwise because
we're screwed and
the public is stupid,
especially dem supporters
Ah yes, can you say; SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY?
I don't use your crude language, but otherwise you've said it all.
BP SILVER LINING
As for 9/11, it requires calamities such as the BP gusher, to force measures that were so obviously needed beforehand.
This event underscores the crucial need, not only to enforce drilling safety, but to reduce our dangerous fossil fuel dependence through conservation and renewable energy development; which industry has obstructed through decades of lobbying, misinformation, & fabricated science--albeit with help from cooperative administrations, defaulting legislators, and an apathetic populace.
This environmental disaster provides our president with a special opportunity to detooth the energy cartels, and forge these vital reform measures.
If he eludes this mandate, history will judge him harshly.
He has and will continue to elude. This is what the ruling elite hired him to do. The people who voted for this shill have yet to judge him harshly, however.
"It's better to vote one's conscience and to vote for someone who CAN'T win than to vote for someone who CAN win and will betray you."
That's what I say to everyone who lambastes me for voting for Nader.
My friend, most people are followers and cannot see their own best interests; therefore, they fall for every shill, like Obama, then act surprised.
Good Grief. Most people are "Charlie Brown."
Dang!
If that don't beat all:
"The moratorium does not stop the process."
Who's in charge?
The Red Queen?
It has become apparent to me that the progressive writers here on CD are as clueless as the membership of the Democratic party, The Nation, and other left wing rags.
How stupid can you writers be? Obama has been this shill for the corporations since before the presidential election. You fell for a very smooth talking con man who is a hireling of the ruling elite.
Stop acting surprised and do some real hard hitting investigations.
Do not vote in protest. If enough people don't vote the political system will loose credibility then change.
I second that thought!
Grandma Jefferson sez:
Speaking of Resource Exploitation, more Good News, from the National Mayor of Amity....
"THEODORE, Ala. - In a newly optimistic tone, President Barack Obama promised Monday that "things are going to return to normal" along the stricken Gulf Coast and the region's fouled waters will be in even better shape than before the catastrophic BP oil spill.
"He declared Gulf seafood safe to eat and said his administration is redoubling inspections and monitoring to make sure it stays that way."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37681811/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/
Dumbyah urged the boobs to "go shopping" after 9/11, this one says, "keep eating all that naturally-blackened gulf shrimp, the FDA is keeping you safe! It's all good, dammit! Now buy the fuckin' shrimp!"
And everything in the gutted, ruined region will be "in better shape than ever", with the addition of millions of gallons of crude and dispersant to enhance the ecosystem there. Of course, the innocent millions of animals currently being murdered, if not rendered extinct, not so much so, but hey, you gotta break a few trillion eggs, right?
The indentured slave clean-up crews can look to their newly reformed health insurance to cover all their medical bills for the years of disease and death to which they have to look forward, since BP told them they don't need no stinkin' respirators or safety gear in the ongoing Kabuki swab down of the beaches. It's all good. No worries about the Gulf Stream, hurricanes or toxic rain, boys, the future's so bright, we'll have to wear shades!
I tell you, it makes me proud, seeing people, government and corporations working hand in hand to solve our major catastrophes! Only in America! Yes we can!
Now show your patriotism and order some scampies.
Many laughs, thanks.
Off with their useless, addled, corrupt heads.
Joe
SCENE: Obama outside the Oval Room leaning up against a pillar
ZOOM IN: He's puffing hard on a cigarette and keying his Blackberry
wot u want me 2 do bout BP spill?
A REPLY APPEARS ONSCREEN: Continue as instructed.
OBAMA KEYS ONE LAST MESSAGE: ok i'll do nothing but give speeches and fake warnings