Administration brushed aside the warnings-
“National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration officials last fall warned the Department of Interior, which regulates offshore oil drilling, that it was dramatically underestimating the frequency of offshore oil spills and was dangerously understating the risk and impacts a major spill would have on coastal residents.”
Story in the Huffington Post. NOAA Warned Interior It Was Underestimating Threat Of Serious Spill. By Dan Froomkin.
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Not to give Obama Administration exclusive discredit for the oil gusher. The zanies are undeterred.
Sarah Palin: ‘Drill here, drill now’. The Alaskan’s support for off-shore oil-drilling undeterred by Gulf spill. By Mark Silvea in the Swamp, Chicago Tribune’s Washington Bureau.
Oil gusher is Act of God says Texas’ secessionist governor Rick Perry. Austin News. KXAN. By Catenya McHenry. Governor “Good Hair” continues say it could have been an Act of God.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is past President of the Western Watersheds Project and the creator of The Wildlife News.
I went through the same NOAA report with a fine toothed comb shortly after Obama announced the big expansion, and found a lot of NOAA’s recommendations being ignored. I’m glad to see that others are now doing the same. FWIW, this is the diary I wrote at the time on DailyKos, which was generally ignored at the time.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/4/5/853875/-Offshore-Oil-Drilling:-Politics-Trumps-Science.
RLMiller – I always try to alert people on this blog to read your stories on DailyKos – however, stories on DailyKos seem to disappear almost immediately in some cases. I guess we are all wondering what has happened to Obama from the campaign trail to the election – very disappointing. Will this administration wake up to the realities and consequences of their actions?
I’ll bet it was also an “Act of God” when Wall Street tanked the economy too. If God is “acting” towards oil industry that might (well, probably not) be understandable. But given that a lot of innocent people have/will be affected, then God is not “acting” on a fair basis. Besides if “He” wanted a hydrocarbonated planet he has several planets and moons where it rains that stuff everyday.