Obama and the Democratic Party's first major disappointment to me was the handling of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I do not exaggerate at all by saying they gave U.S. sovereignty to BP. What I wrote here in June of 2011 during the early days of the NPA remains true and has been further documented. Unfortunately, also documented is the continuing permanent extensive damage to the Gulf. For an up to date description see The Environment under the Democratic/Republican Uniparty
No incident indicates how serious Obama is about the environment as his handling of the BP spill. The President controls the Executive Branch more than any one Senator or Representative controls Congress and more than the Supreme Court controls the Federal Court System. Yes I do hold him accountable. Bush - who had awful ideas and less support - did anything he pleased as president.
- -The idea that Obama controlled everything since day one is a complete lie. Even at day 45 it was a lie as evidenced by nobody could be produced for the press from the white house who talked with BP. The sad part is, he did not even have to lie and letting BP control the initial response was probably a good idea. Perhaps I should not have been shocked or disappointed, but I was.
- -Dispatching our armed services to keep reporters away from the beach and other areas of damage was a shocking violation of the first amendment.
- -After about 60 days, approval was humbly submitted for the United States to attend BP’s control room. There is no evidence that representatives of our country were ever allowed to enter BP’s contol center. (“Consulting” is not the same thing.)
- -The EPA ordered BP to stop using so much dispersant and to stop using a certain kind all together. BP ignored all EPA orders for the duration of the crisis.
- -OSHA allowed BP to use workers for the cleanup who heard they would be fired if they used any protective gear. This is completely against the experience with the Exxon-Valdez incident. Finally, BP was shamed into it. OSHA, an agency of the executive branch, never did anything.
- -The President never offered any public support for the initial passage of the energy bill and was talking about illegal immigration weeks before the energy bill even came up for a vote.
- -The result of BP being able to ignore the orders of the EPA (the executive branch of government) on dispersants was that huge plumes of oil are underwater whose effects won’t be known for years.
- -Because of the Oil Plumes, the claim that 90% of the oil is cleared up is patently ridiculous and not supported by any scientist not paid for by the oil companies.
This was not Obama’s Katrina, it was Obama’s 9-11. Just as Bush failed us then by urging us to go shopping, Obama failed to urge our country to cleaner energy which would help our national security, our economy, and our environment. We do not see much more than sound bites. If the scientists who have published in their field are correct, clean energy and stopping greenhouse gases should be our number one concern even if the beneficial effects on our national security and economy were ignored. Obama may well be one of our most disappointing presidents, akin to those presidents such as President Buchanan before the Civil War who did not do enough to prevent it.
