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[HideousBeing]

Someone remind me why banning drilling was a good idea? Honestly, what idiot thought that would help anything.

[nenjin]

It was a politically expedient decision for someone being criticized as not doing enough in the Gulf.

But yeah. Would any company drilling a new well seriously not consider how carefully they did it while BP's well is still gushing and Americans are still paying attention? Compared to BP, the other oil giants are saints as far as their safety records are concerned.

[Zangi]

Someone remind me why banning drilling was a good idea? Honestly, what idiot thought that would help anything.

It might help, if they had some sort of plan to go and check on the current oil rigs out-there... 

Hell, they can still do that without it.  Its a feel good knee-jerk legislation.

But yea, my problem is the context of that article.  Judge overturns ban.  And then they have...  The decision to overturn the ban follows heavy lobbying by the oil industry.
Sounds like the Judge was influenced by the lobbying?

[Footkerchief]

Someone remind me why banning drilling was a good idea? Honestly, what idiot thought that would help anything.

It might help, if they had some sort of plan to go and check on the current oil rigs out-there... 

Hell, they can still do that without it.  Its a feel good knee-jerk legislation.

The MMS, the agency in charge of drilling regulations, is hilariously corrupt and dysfunctional.  Overhauling a large agency is not something that can be done quickly, and until it's done, the inspections don't mean shit.  Nobody knows whether the other rigs are safe or not.

[nenjin]

That's spin. It was written specifically to make that implication...which is bad journalism.

The MMS, the agency in charge of drilling safety regulations, is hilariously corrupt and dysfunctional.  It'll take a while before the safety inspections actually mean anything again.

To be fair, there are other agencies out there that do monitor safety, like OSHA. But they lack the enforcement powers that the MMS had. So going by OSHA's records, and the stark contrast in safety violations (would someone on the take really cite you for 600+ violations?) by BP...I still have a modicum of faith in some oil well safety inspections. I believe the MMS was responsible for granting the licenses and determining how much direct oversight a well needed. That's separate from other safety inspections by other agencies.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Oh, please. It's like you are impling that the most massive corporations have functionaly unlimited funds, and that they are using those funds along with their position in the economy to force the government into acting in favor of their bloated market, while not providing suffient study into replacement energy sources untill the same corporations are ready to immediately dominate the new market, allowing them to continue gold farming the entire world forever. That's just crazy.

[HideousBeing]

But yeah. Would any company drilling a new well seriously not consider how carefully they did it while BP's well is still gushing and Americans are still paying attention? Compared to BP, the other oil giants are saints as far as their safety records are concerned.

I guarantee you that every other oil company CEO wants to ride their yaught in peace. They wouldn't dare have anything explode right now.

[Zangi]

*snip* That's just crazy.

Business as usual.

Honestly though.  They really should have an independent party(if that is even possible now which is now impossible) take a closer look at em rigs.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I guarantee you that every other oil company CEO wants to ride their yaught in peace. They wouldn't dare have anything explode right now.

Yes they would! Believe it or not, they can pay for such a event. Or have you forgotten that BP, Exxon, and Shell all have the same plan to deal with oil spills, copy and paste accurate? And that involves a guy who's been dead for five years?

[nenjin]

At this point, it's probably proving cheaper to not cut costs and stay safe than pay huge in the public opinion. BP's stock is mega-fucked atm, and they've frozen payments to stockholders for the next 6 months.

[Aqizzar]

At this point, it's probably proving cheaper to not cut costs and stay safe than pay huge in the public opinion. BP's stocked is mega-fucked atm, and they've frozen payments to stockholders for the next 6 months.

One can only hope.  It's true that you can save a fair bit of money by cutting corners and pushing safety limits, right up until your company's name becomes a byword for disaster and your stock price plummets to $5.

Regarding the federal judge overturning the ban (which the executive lawyers are already appealing), I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that the judge in question reported in 2008 owning like eighty grand in stock in various oil and drilling companies.  Supposedly none from BP specifically, and he may have already divested it; but I know if I was a federal judge and I had nearly six figures of oil money in my pocket, I'd rule any way they wanted me to.

[nenjin]

That will all come up when the Obama Administration appeals the ruling. If the judge didn't recuse themselves because of a conflict of interest, the administration can always argue they should have, and the ruling will be invalidated if the appeals court agrees.

[smigenboger]

So...what would the media be focusing on if this thing didn't happen? I'm guessing the rest of the bad shit going on in the world didn't pause for this.

[nenjin]

Oh...

This

Definitely this.

Can't forget this good old stand by.

And it's much more serious, much less politically ambiguous cousin.

[Nonsapient]

Safety has improved drastically in the past 20 years.  that doesn't mean it isn't abominable still though.

It's no longer common for beer to be the on-duty drink of choice,  but I've known several guys doing dangerous fucking shit that were regularly drunk while doing so.


Beyond that,  it would be really illuminating if ya'll saw a rig in operation;  just the miscellaneous spills that go unreported are retardedly noxious and horrid for any wildlife, not to mention the rig workers that get it on them.

Case in point:  my first job in the oil industry,  I was told to use scotch brite to scrub every one of our tools until it shined.  That got this nasty black dust all over my hands that wouldn't wash off, not to mention my snot and spit having dark particles in it.

After a year of this, I discovered these tools were made of beryllium copper.

I know exactly how I will be dying;  the best part is that that company doesn't exist anymore.  There's no one to sue.

Edit:  the point of the post is this:  a moratorium on drilling is not necessarily a bad idea;  just the incidental runoff will worsen the situation,  not to mention the (slim) possibility of another problem developing.  Our energy industry is horrid for the environment, as well as those that work in it.

I support the moratorium.