Gulf Coast Disaster: Morning News Round-Up, May 26
Posted May 26, 2010 in Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans, The Media and the Environment
Highlights in this issue:
- All eyes on BP as it tries “top kill”
- Warning signs on the Deepwater Horizon hours before explosion
- Obama plans trip to the Gulf; pressure mounts for White House to take over
- Permits issued despite moratorium because Obama didn’t put it in writing
- BP ran the botched cleanup of the Exxon Valdez
This morning’s summary:
The demand is growing louder - It’s time for President Obama to take to the bully pulpit. If BP’s latest attempt to stop the oil spill fails, there will be no alternative but for the federal government to take over the so-far failed effort to plug the leak that is causing billions of dollars in damages and untold destruction to the environment. There are critics who might argue that it’s not a good idea for the government to take control of this deteriorating situation. But it certainly seems that there is no other course of action. BP is supposed to initiate the “top kill” technique today to stop the leak. Let’s hope it works. And let’s hope BP and the government are prepared for alternatives if it doesn’t.
Quotable quote:
“BP is 'big and important' to the U.S. just as the US market is an important market for BP” -- Carl-Henric Svanberg, chairman of BP
National News
New York Times: BP prepares for “top kill”
The eyes of the world will be on BP Wednesday as the company makes its Hail Mary “top kill” attempt to plug the leaking well a mile below the Gulf of Mexico. Company officials have given it just a 60 to 70 percent chance of success.
Read more from Clifford Krauss
Also see:
CNN: A pivotal moment
New York Times: Warning signs before rig explosion
There were serious warning signs just hours before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that something was going terribly wrong.
Read more from Henry Fountain and Tom Zeller
AP: BP played key role in botched Exxon Valdez response
It is a truly chilling case of déjà vu now coming to light. The Exxon Valdez disaster shares more than a general similarity to the spill in the Gulf. In the first hours after the Alaska spill, the company presiding over the botched containment was not Exxon Mobil. It was none other than BP PLC.
Read more from Noaki Schwartz
CNN: 11 Deepwater Horizon victims honored at memorial service
The eleven victims of the Deepwater Horizon were remembered Tuesday in a service in Jackson, Mississippi, held by Transocean, the company they worked for on the rig.
Read more:
Financial Times: BP chief takes on critics in U.S.
In an interview with the Financial Times of London, the Chairman of BP, Carl-Henric Svanberg, said that critics of the company’s response to the oil spill should remember that BP is “big and important” to the U.S. just as the US market is an important market for BP. He acknowledged that his company’s reputation is tarnished, but believes it can come back “if we do the right thing.”
Read more from Ed Crooks
CEO scolds photographer at spill site
BP CEO Tony Hayward walks down a stretch of oiled beach followed by a number of news photographers and is heard, several times, yelling at them to “get outta here” and not take pictures of the sludge and the BP workers shoveling it up.
Watch:
Times Picayune: Lack of blowout risk didn’t concern MMS
In its exploration plan in March 2009, BP assured the Minerals Management Service that The well blowout was so unlikely that "a blowout scenario ... is not required for the operations proposed."
Read more from David Hammer
Times-Picayune: Lawyers flock to legal seminar on oil spill issues
Sign of things to come: A seminar for lawyers was organized by the New Orleans Bar Association Tuesday. On hand were lawyers who had represented plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Read more from Rebecca Mowbray
CBSNews: Poll: 70 percent say BP handling spill badly
BP is not winning accolades from the public over the Gulf spill. Only 18 percent of those polled said they approved of the way BP was acting in response to the spill while 70 percent said they disapproved.
Read more:
Los Angeles Times: Lawmakers want tough liability measures
Angry lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday began looking into putting teeth into legislation to make sure oil companies pay the costs of oil spills.
Read more:
AP/Huffington Post: BP agrees to show video of “top kill” plug attempt
At first BP notified the media that it was going to interrupt the hard-won live video of the spill at the bottom of the Gulf. Then an infuriated Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass) called out BP. Finally the White House asked BP to run the live video uninterrupted during the “top kill” attempt. BP agreed.
Read more:
USA Today: Obama to inspect Gulf Coast oil spill on Friday
President Obama returns to Louisiana for the second time since the oil spill began to assess the damage from the worst environmental disaster in US history.
Read more:
See also
NPR: Freeze on offshore drilling was verbal order
How could it be that permits were issued for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the president said he was placing a moratorium on permits? Well, it wasn’t put in writing.
Read more from Ari Shapiro
Business
Wall Street Journal: BP faces bleaker prospects if “top kill” fails
The next possible attempt to stop the leak would come in August after drilling a relief well. Until then, untold gallons of oil would still be spilling, environmental damage would be enormous and it would cause untold leaking in BP’s profits.
Read more from Guy Chazan and Neil King, Jr
Reuters: Special report: Civil fine in Gulf spill could be $4,300 per barrel
Democratic members of Congress have been working hard to try to raise the limited liability cap of $75 million and make sure BP pays for the costs of this disaster. But the federal government has other means of recourse— a clause in the U.S. Clean Water Act which says that civil fines could compel BP to pay for every drop of oil that is spilled in navigable waters. That, of course, makes it all the more necessary to calculate exactly how much oil has been spilled in the Gulf.
Read more from Joshua Schneyer
Los Angeles Times: Oil companies have a rich history of U.S. subsidies
On Monday, three senators introduced a bill to reduce tax breaks and royalty waivers they deemed a giveaway to big oil companies. Industry officials contend the incentives have resulted in gains in domestic production, additional fees paid to the Treasury, and many jobs created in Gulf state oil communities.
Read more from Kim Geiger and Tim Hamburger
Businessweek: BP donates $1 million to fishermen affected by Gulf oil spill
BP donated $1 million to a local food bank to help fishermen forced out of work by the oil spill.
Read more:
CNN: Gulf coast chefs, fishermen, fight tide of misinformation
This is the other side of the fishery disaster that has been declared in the Gulf, where a third of the nation’s commercial seafood is harvested. New Orleans, traditionally a real foodie town, is rolling out the culinary stars to tell the public that the seafood is being monitored and what’s on the table and in the stores is safe to eat.
Read more from Kat Kinsman and Sarah LeTrent
Politics
Huffington Post: Menendez introducing unlimited cap on liability
Once again this legislation was blocked by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) who said the prohibitive costs would deter smaller oil companies from doing business.
Read more from Sam Stein
Washington Post: Greens call for Salazar’s resignation
Several dozen environmental groups are calling on the president to replace Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary. They say he has done nothing to clean up the notorious Minerals Management Service.
Read more from Juliet Eilperin
FoxNews:Coast Guard ceremony overshadowed
It was a change of guard at the Coast Guard, as a new commandant took over from Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen. But as he handed the baton over to Admiral Robert Papp, his successor joked “I was afraid there might be oil on that baton.”
Read more from Steve Centanni
Editorial
Times-Picayune: Time for Obama to show who is the boss
President Obama has the bully pulpit to come down hard on BP and its executives, and he should use it. Most Americans are ready for the president to light a fire under the company.
Read more:
Feature
Times-Picayune: Oysters are uniquely sensitive to oil spill
As the oyster goes, so goes the entire estuary, a scientist says. And the oyster is facing big challenges as a result of the massive oil spill.
Read more:
Also read
delmarvanow.com: Hair salons join Gulf Coast cleanup
Star-Ledger: NJ monitors spill in case slick reaches East coast
The View
The ladies of the View had a heated exchange about BP and the spill: If Kevin Costner has a device to try to clean up the spill, where is the government?
Watch:
Propublica: Fed report blasting regulators on ethics, drugs and porn
New York Times: Zoos and aquariums on alert
- http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/zoos-and-aquariums-on-oil-spill-alert/
Graphics:
CBS poll showing public disapproval of BP
Spill now size of Maryland and Delaware
