OIL SLICK THREATENS FLORIDA!

[COOPER&BURNETT]

BP faces another setback; oil slick threatens Fla.Our beloved white FLORIDA beaches could be covered in oil!! PENSACOLA, Fla. – The BP oil slick drifted perilously close to the Florida Panhandle's famous sugar-white beaches Wednesday as a risky gambit to contain the leak by shearing off the well pipe ran into trouble a mile under the sea when the diamond-tipped saw became stuck.BP engineers will turn to giant shears to slice off the leaking pipe, said Lt. Commander Tony Russell, an aide to Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the crisis. The saw had sliced through about half of the pipe when it snagged, and it took BP 12 hours to free it. The company said it hoisted the saw back to the surface after finally yanking it out of the pipe.The plan is to fit a cap on the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to capture most of the spewing oil; the twisted, broken pipe must be sliced first to allow a snug fit. The company had said preparations were being made to resume cutting, but didn't give a timetable. The shears have already been used to slice off another part of the riser, but crews hoped to use the diamond saw to get a finer cut so they could use a dome that would fit the pipe more snugly."I don't think the issue is whether or not we can make the second cut. It's about how fine we can make it, how smooth we can make it," Allen had said earlier.As the edge of the slick drifted within seven miles of Pensacola's beaches, emergency workers rushed to link the last in a miles-long chain of booms designed to fend off the oil. They were slowed by thunderstorms and wind before the weather cleared in the afternoon.Forecasters said the oil would probably wash up by Friday, threatening a delicate network of islands, bays and white-sand beaches that are a haven for wildlife and a major tourist destination dubbed the Redneck Riviera."We are doing what we can do, but we cannot change what has happened," said John Dosh, emergency director for Escambia County, which includes Pensacola.Allen said more staff, boats and helicopters were sent to the eastern Gulf Coast as the slick spread, including a cutter in Mobile Bay, Ala., and one off Pensacola. The boats will help skim oil and add more boom to collect it. Four helicopters would help skimmers spot threatening oil.Since the biggest oil spill in U.S. history began to unfold April 20 with an explosion that killed 11 workers aboard an offshore drilling rig, crude has fouled some 125 miles of Louisiana coastline and washed up in Alabama and Mississippi as well. Over the past six weeks, the well has leaked anywhere from 21 million to 45 million gallons by the government's estimate.The latest attempt to control the leak is considered risky because slicing away a section of the 20-inch-wide riser could remove kinks in the pipe and temporarily increase the flow of oil by as much as 20 percent.If the strategy fails — like every other attempt to control the leak 5,000 feet underwater — the best hope is probably a relief well, which is at least two months from completion.As the oil drifted closer to Florida, beachgoers in Pensacola waded into the gentle waves, cast fishing lines and sunbathed, even as a two-man crew took water samples. One of the men said they were hired by BP to collect samples to be analyzed for tar and other pollutants.A few feet away, Martha Feinstein, 65, of Milton, Fla., pondered the fate of the beach she has been visiting for years. "You sit on the edge of your seat and you wonder where it's going," she said. "It's the saddest thing."Officials said the slick sighted offshore consisted in part of "tar mats" about 500 feet by 2,000 feet in size.County officials set up the booms to block oil from reaching inland waterways but planned to leave beaches unprotected because they are too difficult to defend against the action of the waves and because they are easier to clean up."It's inevitable that we will see it on the beaches," said Keith Wilkins, deputy chief of neighborhood and community services for Escambia County.Florida's beaches play a crucial role in the state's tourism industry. At least 60 percent of vacation spending in the state during 2008 was in beachfront cities. Worried that reports of oil would scare tourists away, state officials are promoting interactive Web maps and Twitter feeds to show travelers — particularly those from overseas — how large the state is and how distant their destinations may be from the spill.In other developments: • Investors ran from BP's stock for a second day, fearful of the potential cleanup costs, lawsuits, penalties and damage to the company's reputation. • President Barack Obama said it is time to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil companies and use the money for clean energy research and development. • A pair of Democratic senators pressed BP to delay plans to pay shareholder dividends worth $10 billion or more. They called it "unfathomable" that BP would pay out a dividend before the total cost of the cleanup is known. BP had no comment. • More fishing grounds were closed. More than one-third of federal waters in the Gulf are now off-limits to fishing, along with hundreds of square miles of state waters. • Florida was added to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana for a fishery disaster declaration by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The declaration, which requires congressional and presidential approval, would authorize emergency unemployment pay for commercial and charter fishermen. "I'm going to be bankrupt very soon," said fisherman Hong Le, who came to the U.S. from Vietnam and rebuilt his home and business after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 wiped him out. "Everything is financed. How can I pay? No fishing, no welding. I weld on commercial fishing boats and they aren't going out now, so nothing breaks."

[Frey]

President Zero wants to roll back tax breaks for all oil companies? Does he think they're gonna just eat that money? No. They're gonna pass it on to everyone at the pump. If he keeps it up, we just might see a return to the gas lines we had in the 70's. :evil:John Stewart on the oil spill:http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-1-2010/the-spilling-fields

[COOPER&BURNETT]

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-1-2010/the-spilling-fields

Funny, funny video for a sad, sad event.

[jpaul1]

what's the most terrible it's when you hear comments talking about irreversible losses on the local flora and fauna . some talk of USA biggest ecological disaster ever . latest french news were talking of BP lies about the oil escaping , the real quantity was in fact twice the amount they announced on a first hand . at a time on french TV news they were talking of about 2 000 000 L a day don't know if now we should talk of about 4 000 000 L . sad images of sticky animals on TV , i've made a donation to NWF myself , from Europe it's the only way i found to help

[timm525]

Roll back the tax breaks, yeah right! As Frey said it is us that will end up paying for it at the pump.I have a better idea. Why don't they take all the mahogany row execs at BP and yank their bonuses, stock options and golden parachutes and use that money to pay for the clean up instead of sticking it to the consumers which we know will end up happening soon. Those guys will let BP go bankrupt with what has happened and then walk away with their golden multi million dollar parachutes. That is what needs to be stopped and that should be illegal for them to do. They need to be held accountable and not be allowed to walk away with millions in their pockets. They should not be rewarded for failure.OK rant over!

[jpaul1]

an oil slick at key west , it would nearly make you being shamed of human race , miami vice fan worst nightmare . how a technology with such risks could have been validated

[Sonny-Burnett]

Roll back the tax breaks' date=' yeah right! As Frey said it is us that will end up paying for it at the pump.I have a better idea. Why don't they take all the mahogany row execs at BP and yank their bonuses, stock options and golden parachutes and use that money to pay for the clean up instead of sticking it to the consumers which we know will end up happening soon. Those guys will let BP go bankrupt with what has happened and then walk away with their golden multi million dollar parachutes. That is what needs to be stopped and that should be illegal for them to do. They need to be held accountable and not be allowed to walk away with millions in their pockets. They should not be rewarded for failure.OK rant over![/quote'] True but where is the Obama administration in getting the roughly 2000 skimmer ships in to prevent oil from reaching the beaches? On the news this AM a congressional rep from Florida mentioned that several nations have huge skimmer vessels capable of sucking up large volumes of oil but Obama refuses to accept multinational help.

[COOPER&BURNETT]

True but where is the Obama administration in getting the roughly 2000 skimmer ships in to prevent oil from reaching the beaches? On the news this AM a congressional rep from Florida mentioned that several nations have huge skimmer vessels capable of sucking up large volumes of oil but Obama refuses to accept multinational help.

Our "president" did, in fact turn down other nations help while this disaster is still going on.The "president" has had two vacations, George Lopez, Sir Paul McCartney, and Lionel Richie concerts in the time this disaster has taken place.He has done nothing.......except rolling up his sleeves, and eating at the local seafood places for photo opps. Tonight on TV, he will face the nation and let you all know that everything will be A-O.K.. P.S.....where's FEMA?

[Frey]

True but where is the Obama administration in getting the roughly 2000 skimmer ships in to prevent oil from reaching the beaches? On the news this AM a congressional rep from Florida mentioned that several nations have huge skimmer vessels capable of sucking up large volumes of oil but Obama refuses to accept multinational help.

All he has to do is suspend the "Jones Act." It's a piece of legislation that doesn't allow foreign ships in our waters without our permission. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about this on Fox this morning and he said, "No one has put in a request to do this..."So, we're just gonna wait for someone to ask for help rather than asking for it? No wonder people in Louisianna view Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina (50%) more favorably than Obama's handling of the oil spill (35%).

[COOPER&BURNETT]

No wonder people in Louisianna view Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina (50%) more favorably than Obama's handling of the oil spill (35%).

I just heard that today.

[Frey]

Here's another video of John Stewart trying to figure out whose a@# Obama is going to kick:http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-June-8-2010/ass-quest-2010

[COOPER&BURNETT]

Once again, why do we have an organization like FEMA if we don't even use it for a disaster like this??Why are we funding FEMA? Isn't that what they are supposed to be there for???

[Gary1911A1]

Guys, you have this all wrong. This is a crisis Obama can exploit to get his "Cap and Trade" passed. It's all about government control by people like himself and the hell people's lives and the environment. After all they know best, and never mind what the people want.

[jpaul1]

i think we often blame politics but the problem isn't really up to them . i come back to Obama first , oil slicks are a bit like floods once they began you canno't do other thing than wait till they stop by themselves . and the technogical failure that the disater came from has been validated years before , i don't see how Obama could have avoided the disaster . the problem is , i think , that people aren't enought involded in voting the laws . if people could give their opinion on the laws by a vote there would be fewer chances for cock-and-bull decisicions to pass . but a system where people could vote for the laws directly isn't easy to create , the politics are like us they don't know exactly what to do . Obama is a man i don't really see how he could do better . even with all the world specialised ships the result would have been the same .the amount of money involded in oil industry is so huge that only a disater of that scale can make the mentalities change . and it's BP it could have happened to any other company . it's a huge , huge , huge mess another example of a system where money can take the upper hand on reason

[COOPER&BURNETT]

Guys' date=' you have this all wrong. This is a crisis Obama can exploit to get his "Cap and Trade" passed. It's all about government control by people like himself and the hell people's lives and the environment. After all they know best, and never mind what the people want.[/quote'] This is also true.You know who will benifit, and profit the most from CAP AND TRADE????Al Gore and Warren Buffett.It's another hoax on the American tax payer.

[timm525]

...the problem is ' date=' i think , that people aren't enought involded in voting the laws . if people could give their opinion on the laws by a vote there would be fewer chances for cock-and-bull decisicions to pass... [/quote']Don't want to turn this into a political rant but here is a small problem we face.In our country, our system is to elect officials that are supposed to represent the will of the people they serve. Unfortunately most of our current crop of elected officials have decided to ignore the will of the people and just go off and vote for what they want with a "we know what's best for you" attitude.A large portion of our population is very upset and come November's voting time for us, a large portion of those elected officials with no longer be elected officials, they will be voted out of office and a new crop of elected officials will take their job.We can only hope that the new officials will have learned the lessen and get back to listening to what the people want.OK, rant over.

[jpaul1]

Don't want to turn this into a political rant but here is a small problem we face.In our country' date=' our system is to elect officials that are supposed to represent the will of the people they serve. Unfortunately most of our current crop of elected officials have decided to ignore the will of the people and just go off and vote for what they want with a "we know what's best for you" attitude.A large portion of our population is very upset and come November's voting time for us, a large portion of those elected officials with no longer be elected officials, they will be voted out of office and a new crop of elected officials will take their job.We can only hope that the new officials will have learned the lessen and get back to listening to what the people want.OK, rant over.[/quote'] yes but do they act because of pride or because they are stuck in front of a system that doesn't give them the powers to act the way the people would like to see them act like .. i don't know how it works in the US but Obama can't do want he wants , he needs support of his congressmen then the project goes to the congress to be be approuved by all the congress members don't know if it's exactly that but you know

[Frey]

Don't want to turn this into a political rant but here is a small problem we face.In our country' date=' our system is to elect officials that are supposed to represent the will of the people they serve. Unfortunately most of our current crop of elected officials have decided to ignore the will of the people and just go off and vote for what they want with a "we know what's best for you" attitude.A large portion of our population is very upset and come November's voting time for us, a large portion of those elected officials with no longer be elected officials, they will be voted out of office and a new crop of elected officials will take their job.We can only hope that the new officials will have learned the lessen and get back to listening to what the people want.OK, rant over.[/quote'] I agree, but have one thing to add. The voters are already speaking in primaries around the country by voting out long-time incumbents.

[VinceLombard]

Well Pals...looks like these days Crockett woldn't have to drive to the dock to gas-up...he could just stop the boat and poor some oil straight from the sea......ahhhhh...aint life getting comfortable? :rauchen:yep yep...ever cloud has silver lining... lol

[timm525]

Sorry, but I'm going to have to step out of this conversation. I don't wannna get banned!

[Richie Rich]

I wonder how our European members feel about Obama and all his Democratic Party friends and associates in Congress? Yesterday, they had Englishman and BP boss Tony Hayward in their grasp, and they insulted and humiliated him up and down. The Democratic friends of Obama did everything to this Englishman short of spitting in his face and insulting his mother. I was shocked and appalled, and you can bet that any international firms that can do business with China, instead of the US, will do so in the future.I still remember the European rallies that Obama held, where he was worshipped like the second coming.Here's a quote from a Democrat, literally beating his chest and whipping up the frenzy of hatred against this man (Hayward), who is working to get the cleanup accomplished to the best of his ability:

Before a congressional hearing on the oil spill held on 17 June 2010, subcommittee chairman Bart Stupak said that he expected Hayward to be "spliced and diced" by both himself and other committee members.

Stupak is an embarrassment to America, and so were the other Democrats who participated in this uncontrolled frenzy of hatred.

[Ferrariman]

I wonder how our European members feel about Obama and all his Democratic Party friends and associates in Congress? Yesterday' date=' they had Englishman and BP boss Tony Hayward in their grasp, and they insulted and humiliated him up and down. The Democratic friends of Obama did everything to this Englishman short of spitting in his face and insulting his mother. [/quote']Surprising that they should be so hard on this guy since it's my understanding that Americans own about 40% of BP. It's always so easy to play the blame game instead of doing something about it!

[Gary1911A1]

The Congressional Hearing was a show for the not so smart public. BP wasn't going to say anything that could be used against them in a public forum. It's a wonder they didn't take the 5th even if they aren't americans. All congress did was waste time and money putting on a show for the dummies back home. Sorry if I sound negative, but I'm as tired of worthless politicians as I am BP.

[2morgen]

Our "president" did' date=' in fact turn down other nations help while this disaster is still going on.[/quote'] In the press overhere ( the Netherlands) they publiced that the Netherlands is going to help clean the oil spils with boats which are made for that purpose.

[VinceLombard]

In the press overhere ( the Netherlands) they publiced that the Netherlands is going to help clean the oil spils with boats which are made for that purpose.

Yay for Netherlands!!!!(Poor Crocket, won't be able to use the ocean water to gas-up his boat anymore )