BP reaches settlement for 18.7 billion over Deepwater Horizon spill.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

BP and five Gulf states announced a massive settlement Thursday that resolves years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by the energy giant's oil spill in 2010. 

Roughly $18.7 billion in settlement money will be used to resolve the Clean Water Act penalties; resolve natural resources damage claims; settle economic claims; and resolve economic damage claims of local governments, according to an outline filed in federal court. The settlement involves Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. 

"If approved by the court, this settlement would be the largest settlement with a single entity in American history; it would help repair the damage done to the Gulf economy, fisheries, wetlands and wildlife; and it would bring lasting benefits to the Gulf region for generations to come," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

Yes 18.7 billion is a huge amount, but considering the damage the spill caused, the incredible impact on marine life, and the loss of revenue to the states affected, I still think they got off pretty lucky.

Yeah, very lucky indeed.

Still these five states did a hell of lot better than Alaska did after the Exxon Valdez spill. 

No more government contracts for BP, and penalties equaling 4.5 billion. I STILL think they got off easy.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

The U.S. government banned BP Plc on Wednesday from new federal contracts over its "lack of business integrity" in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, possibly imperiling the company's role as a top U.S. offshore oil and gas producer and the No. 1 military fuel supplier. 

The suspension, announced by the Environmental Protection Agency, comes on the heels of BP's November 15 agreement with the U.S. government to plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The British energy giant agreed to pay $4.5 billion in penalties, including a record $1.256 billion criminal fine.

This very good news, though considering the devastation caused by the negligence of this company there will NEVER really be an appropriate cost which can be levied against them in my opinion.

However I have to say that being forced to pay 4.5 billion in penalties, which is the most EVER paid out by any company in US history, along with having the opportunity to bid on new contracts stripped away, MIGHT cause enough pain to the company to make them put safety concerns front and center from this point forward.

By the way I am not sure if any of you are aware, but the first time there were any allegations that BP cheated while testing those blowout preventers, you know the ones that failed and caused the giant oil spill in the Gulf, was up here in Alaska, was actually from tests performed on the North Slope to be exact.

And do you know who was the manager in charge of testing those blowout preventers on the North Slope at that time?

You guessed it.

Just ANOTHER example of the Palin curse at work I suppose.

Author Geoffrey Dunn shines a light on one of Sarah Palin's most troubling advisers.

(Pictured at left is Randy Scheunemann with Sarah Palin)

From the Huffington Post:

According to sources close to the Palin camp, Scheunemann plays a major role in advising Palin on foreign policy issues as she positions herself for a run at the White House in 2012. As Ben Smith of Politico pointed out, it was Scheunemann who drafted Palin's first major foreign policy speech in Hong Kong a year ago. Scheunemann accompanied Palin overseas to that engagement.

FEC records indicate that Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, is paying Scheunemann's Virginia-based Orion Strategies $10,000 per month and has expended $90,000 to date for his services.

As the media focus on Palin disintegrates into discussions about Spanx girdles, alleged remarks about her daughter Bristol's marriage plans and the mistaken identity of her infant son at a campaign event two years ago, Palin is readying herself for a major 9/11 rally this weekend with Glenn Beck in Anchorage (with a second one in her hometown of Wasilla) at which she will be shoring up her foreign policy credentials as the most vital mouthpiece of the conservative, evangelical wing of the Republican Party.

Geoffrey's article pulls from the shadows one of the many puppeteers behind Sarah Palin's career, and her bizarre unconventional path toward a Presidential campaign in 2012. Believe me, Randy Scheunemann is NOT somebody you keep around to help you choose which book to write or which reality show you appear on next.

I urge you to read Mr. Dunn's entire post as it will give you much of the information you need to decide what Sarah Palin's plans are for 2012.

Climate activists decide that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not disliked enough to convince Americans to embrace clean energy so they replaced him in their advertisements with Sarah Palin.

This is the old advertisement that the American Values Network would put on city buses.

Now here is the replacement.

The ads will run on about 100 D.C. buses for at least a month, said American Values Network Executive Director Eric Sapp. The campaign is “well into the six-figure range,” he added.

Yeah I think they made the right choice. Seeing that smug face of Sarah Palin next to an oily bird makes me REALLY want to embrace clean energy and piss that bitch off!

Do you know what my favorite part is about this group?  The fact that they are a FAITH based group comprised of religious leaders and people of faith, as well as veterans and military leaders.  There is no WAY for Sarah to fight back!

What is she going to do, start insulting her base?

Ah Karma, I just love it when you make an appearance!

Republicans lying again that foreign ships are being kept away from Gulf clean up efforts because of "Jones Act".

From Miami Herald:

From former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to Arizona Sen. John McCain to junior members of the House of Representatives, conservative Republicans have accused President Barack Obama of failing to do all he can to help clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill because he hasn't waived a U.S. maritime law called the Jones Act.

That statute, established in 1920, requires that all goods transported between U.S. ports be carried on U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built and U.S.-owned ships crewed by U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Critics say that's needlessly excluded foreign-flagged vessels that could have helped.

"It's a little shocking to me that a president that has such a multinational orientation as this president didn't immediately see the benefits of waiving the Jones Act and allowing all of these resources to come in," former House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-Texas, said in remarks to Newsmax.com, a conservative website.

Maritime law experts, government officials and independent researchers say that the claim is false. The Jones Act isn't an impediment at all, they say, and it hasn't blocked anything.

"Totally not true," said Mark Ruge, counsel to the Maritime Cabotage Task Force, a coalition of U.S. shipbuilders, operators and labor unions. "It is simply an urban myth that the Jones Act is the problem."

In a news briefing last week, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said he'd received "no requests for Jones Act waivers" from foreign vessels or countries. "If the vessels are operating outside state waters, which is three miles and beyond, they don't require a waiver," he said.

On Tuesday the State Department announced that new offers of aid would be accepted from 12 foreign countries and international organizations, but spokesman P.J. Crowley noted that booms donated by Mexico, Norway and Brazil had been in use since May 11,and that 24 foreign vessels from nine foreign countries already have been helping with the cleanup.

To read more simply click the link at the top, the article goes on to spell out exactly how the Right is using this misinformation to attack the President's response to this crisis and to make political points on the backs of those along the gulf coast who are suffering due to this spill.

I find this particular lie especially insidious because it has filtered down even into the progressive community.  I have been confronted by liberal acquaintances who demand to know why the President is keeping foreign ships from helping, when of course that is actually not the case.

So if you hear any of your friends or colleagues saying anything similar please direct them to this post or perhaps to FactCheck.org to help educate them.

The woman who could not even stand up to the local bloggers in her state, and ran away from her elected position, dares to give our President advice.

From the AP:

The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate told thousands of people at a convention center in Tyler that the president should have been more aggressive in going after BP executives after the spill. The British company was leasing a rig that exploded April 20, causing the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

"You asked for the job, Mr. President, so buck up," Palin said to voracious applause inside the nearly packed Oil Palace. Organizers said the event drew about 5,000 people.

He does not need to "buck up" you "fuck up"!

He is doing the best job he can in the face of constant push back from Republicans and their blatant attempts to protect BP from the financial liability for this disaster. Some Republicans are even going so far as to apologize to BP for what the President has already done to hold them accountable, and yet he continues to stand firm and demand that BP take responsibility for this disaster. In other words he did NOT run away when the job got too difficult.

She also said the U.S. must become independent of foreign oil by using its own resources, but that it must be done responsibly and under government oversight.

"I chant, 'drill baby drill,' because it will help make the country energy independent," she said.

You know lady if you were not a total moron who NEVER understands what she is talking about you might come to realize just how stupid that claim is, and stop saying it in front of intelligent people.

Here let the always factual Rachel Maddow explain it to you once again.

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Sarah Palin is a person who found that her job was too much work, and that people were going to demand accountability for the unethical and illegal things that she did, and she quit!  And that is who is she is until the end of her life.  The woman who quit!

I don't care how many books she sells, or how many stupid people pay to watch her circus act on the speaker's circuit, she is now, and forever will be, the half term Governor who quit!

And that is not somebody who should be offering advice to ANYONE!

Oil getting on children playing at beach in Florida.

Look how much oil landed on that beach in just one day.

It can only get much worse from here on out.

BP is going to need a hell of a lot more than 20 billion dollars set aside to cover for the lost income that will result from the closing of all of the beaches along the Gulf coast. When people start seeing these images there will be a mass exodus of tourists from beaches along the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

Keith Olbermann calls Palin out for recommending an article comparing President Obama to Hitler. And now Sarah has again picked up her Blackberry to deny that she did what she did.

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That must have really pissed Palin off because in the middle of that segment she posted the following on her Twitter page:

Lamestream media: I never compared Obama to Hitler. Quit making things up.

Okay well at least we know that she actually wrote THAT!  You know I almost feel sorry for her Blackberry, it must take a horrible pounding on some days.

Stephen Colbert wonders just what is behind all of the bad news coming out of the Gulf of Mexico.

I thought that both the Daily Show and Colbert Report were great last night. But as I watched the segment below it made my ears perk up.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Put the Cursed Monkey Paw Down
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

You see parts of it kind of reminded me of one of my posts from Wednesday. Only, you know, much better.

Could BP declare bankruptcy to avoid paying for the damage done to the Gulf of Mexico?

From the Atlantic:

There is a reasonably high chance that BP could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the next few years, or even months, and the result would be an "absolute horror" for the government, according to a bankruptcy expert.

Peter S. Kaufman, the President of investment bank Gordian Group and head of the firm's Restructuring and Distressed M&A practice, told me that if he had BP's ear, "I'd advise them to explore the option of bankruptcy." If he had the government's ear, he'd tell them to stop berating the company to the point where BP would find it appealing to use bankruptcy to limit its liabilities.

The specter of Chapter 11 bankruptcy terrifies Gulf residents because it could allow BP to delay, or even avoid, paying billions of dollars to businesses and individuals affected by the Gulf spill. The chapter is specifically for companies in temporary financial trouble who can reemerge as viable if they receive new funding, cancel burdensome contracts and delay, restructure, or wall off repayment obligations.

What would a BP bankruptcy look like?

It could work a lot of different ways. They could cut loose BP America and it could be BP America that files for bankruptcy. My presumption is that it's BP America that's responsible for the spill. They can wall off the non-BP America assets from the Gulf -- which is about 50% of the company's net value --and try to reorganize BP America. That's likely to take a very long time, and BP would not make good on its promise for the 20 billion [in the escrow fund].

Or they could file all of BP, and do so in London. Wonder how well-received our government and legitimate Gulf claimants would fare in a British insolvency court?

I would hope that making a decision this radical would be completely off of the table for BP, but considering how much the Gulf clean up may eventually end up costing the company it is naive to believe that this will not at least cross their collective minds. And if they DO make that choice, simply put, we are screwed.

And while we are on this subject here are 15 Gulf Oil Spill Myths that you can digest as well.

There is a lot of very interesting and frightening information on that list. Here is just one part that really caught my eye:

Myth. Republicans may scream "drill, baby, drill" louder, but when it comes to political money being spent to influence government, it's more or less a tie. Key Democrats are among the top recipients of political money from oil companies, as are Republicans. The money flows to those in oil-rich states, to high-profile candidates and those with the most power in Congress (ie, the chairs of key committees). Here's a look at the Friends of Earth tally of opensecrets.org data, showing the biggest recipients of money from BP and other oil companies since 2006:

Senate


* John McCain (R-AZ) - $36,649 from BP; $2.43 million total
* Mary Landrieu (D-LA) - $16,200 from BP; $329,100 total
* Mark Begich (D-AK) - $8,550 from BP; $85,958 total
* Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) - $8,500 from BP; 223,326 total
* Mitch McConnell (R-KY) - $8,500 from BP; 408,400 total

I believe that may go along way toward explaining why Alaska is still pushing hard to open new deep water drilling projects while the Gulf is currently hemorrhaging oil.

Is it raining OIL in Louisiana?

From Jalopnik:

So considering the effect of light and crude oil evaporation and seawater emulsification oil from the Deepwater Horizon may be having an effect on the water cycle. An unknown variable on the overall cycle is the introduction of BP's dispersant of choice, Corexit 9500, which may be either helping or hurting the degree of evaporation. Dispersants break up the natural surface tension in oil, sending small droplets into the water column and reducing the surface area which may evaporate, however it also changes the chemistry of the oil which remains on the surface. We have yet to find any science on the subject of the effects these evaporated compounds and their likelihood to come back down as contaminated rain.

In the worst case scenario this sheen is actually oil mixed Corexit, which according to Bellona.org:

"is associated with headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems as sides effects at high doses to clean-up workers. 2-BE has also been documented to cause the breakdown of red blood cells, leading to blood in urine and feces, and can damage the kidneys, liver, spleen and bone marrow of humans – effects not included on the information sheet for workers."

So WTF?  Oil is not supposed to evaporate and end up in the water cycle!  When has THAT ever happened before?

What, did Sarah Palin pray the Corexit laced oil out of the Gulf and up into the clouds so that it can rain down and poison the people along the Gulf more effectively?  Hey lady, STOP trying to help!

Look if this were happening back in the fifteenth century I have no doubt that people would believe that God is mad at them.  And you know what?  Maybe he fucking is! Perhaps it is time to take the hint and start taking care of this planet that so many Christians consider a gift from the Almighty.

Oh Shit! BP removes containment cap dramatically increasing the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf.

From Yahoo News:

Hundreds of thousands of gallons more oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday after an undersea robot bumped a venting system and forced BP to remove the cap that had been containing some of the crude.

When the robot bumped the system, gas rose through the vent that carries warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.

The cap was removed just before 10 a.m. Wednesday and crews were checking to see if crystals had formed before putting it back on. Allen did not say how long that might take.

"There's more coming up than there had been, but it's not a totally unconstrained discharge," Allen said.

In the meantime, a different system was still burning oil on the surface.

Before the problem with the containment cap, it had collected about 700,000 gallons of oil in 24 hours. Another 438,000 gallons was burned.

The current worst-case estimate of what's spewing into the Gulf is about 2.5 million gallons a day.

Jesus, the news just keeps getting worse and worse.

More evidence that BP's use of Corexit as a dispersant did nothing to get rid of the oil.

Submerged oil at Bon Secour shoreline

I cannot get over how calm this reporter's voice remains while he describes such terrible devastation.

As you can see in this video the plumes of oil are forcing thousands of fish closer to shore in search of oxygen and caking everything it touches in a thick coating of oil that will eventually suffocate and kill the sea life it comes into contact with.

When BP used the dispersant they had to have known that the oil would not really disappear, but simply break apart and kill creatures deeper underwater and out of sight of the news cameras and public scrutiny. 

Oh I think they knew alright, they simply did not care.

You can read the article that accompanied the video here.

For those Christians who believe the Republican party best represents their values. Think again.

I have often wondered how the Republicans, the party of greed and avarice, have been able to co-opt Christianity.  I believe if this really were a "Christian nation", based on the true teachings of Jesus Christ, we would be a more tolerant, more peaceful, and more spiritual nation.

In effort to destroy oil on the water's surface BP is burning rare sea turtles alive and running off people trying to rescue them. Is it my imagination or this the most evil company on the planet?

From Raw Story:

A rare and endangered species of sea turtle is being burned alive in BP's controlled burns of the oil swirling around the Gulf of Mexico, and a boat captain tasked with saving them says the company has blocked rescue efforts.

Mike Ellis, a boat captain involved in a three-week effort to rescue as many sea turtles from unfolding disaster as possible, says BP effectively shut down the operation by preventing boats from coming out to rescue the turtles.

"They ran us out of there and then they shut us down, they would not let us get back in there," Ellis said in an interview with conservation biologist Catherine Craig.

Part of BP's efforts to contain the oil spill are controlled burns. Fire-resistant booms are used to corral an area of oil, then the area within the boom is lit on fire, burning off the oil and whatever marine life may have been inside.

"Once the turtles get in there they can't get out," Ellis said.

Here is an interview conducted with Captain Ellis.




Is this the company that Rand Paul accused President Obama of being un-American for criticizing? And the same company that Republican Representative Joe Barton apologized to after he accused President Obama of engaging in a "shakedown" for extracting 20 billion dollars out of these criminals?

You know I try to give people, and companies, the benefit of the doubt,  but I do not have one bit of sympathy left for this company.  As far as I am concerned they can sell off their stock to pay the people suffering in the Gulf, and close up shop any day now. 

Simply put, fuck em!

The Upright Citizen's Brigade brilliantly mocks the BP oil executives.

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Bobby Jindal, Tony Hayward and Sarah Palin each deal with the Gulf Spill in thier own unique way.

GazetteXtra.com

BP continues to use every means available to control the message and to minimize potential litigation.

Have you Googled "oil spill" lately?  Well if you have you may have discovered this amazing fact:

BP, the very company responsible for the oil spill that is already the worst in U.S. history, has purchased several phrases on search engines such as Google and Yahoo so that the first result that shows up directs information seekers to the company's official website.

A simple Google search of "oil spill" turns up several thousand news results, but the first link, highlighted at the very top of the page, is from BP. "Learn more about how BP is helping," the link's tagline reads.

A spokesman for the company confirmed to ABC News that it had, in fact, bought these search terms to make information on the spill more accessible to the public.

"We have bought search terms on search engines like Google to make it easier for people to find out more about our efforts in the Gulf and make it easier for people to find key links to information on filing claims, reporting oil on the beach and signing up to volunteer," BP spokesman Toby Odone told ABC News.

How many of you really believe that BP did this to "make it easier for people to find key links to information on filing claims"?  Not very damn likely.

From the first moment that the oil started gushing into the Gulf, BP has done everything it could to keep the oil from reaching the surface and to hide just how much was flowing out of the broken pipe from being seen by the public.

It appears that rather than treat this as the disaster that is obviously is, BP has treated it as a public relations problem and have worked diligently to control the message. And this has included keeping reporters away from the beaches so that we the public cannot see just how much oil has washed up on them.

Well on that last point, just this weekend on the news program "This Week", Admiral Thad Allen, the former Coast Guard head who has been appointed the "incident commander" for the oil spil, promised that things would change:



At this point I have little confidence that BP will release their iron grip that controls the message willingly, so if Admiral Allen is serious about getting the reporters access he may have to knock some heads together over at BP, and I for one would willingly come up with the Pay-Per-View price to see that happen!

It looks like the CEO of BP is not the only one!

It looks like Olbermann read Sarah's bizarro Tweet yesterday as well.

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And if that is not informative enough about WHO exactly owns the phrase "Drill baby, drill" this YouTube clip will drive that point home.