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Daily Archives: 05/25/2010
BP wants to pull Video feed while performing the Top Kill
- LIVE Feed of Underwater BP Oil Spill <<<<Click on link for info as well as the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puFJfE7PrhA
After Releasing Public Video Feed, BP Blackout for Well Termination Attempt
May 25, 2010 – After pushing BP into providing a live feed of the spill at the bottom of the ocean, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today learned that BP will terminate the live feed during BP’s pivotal attempt to seal the well this week. BP informed Rep. Markey’s office that the live feed would be terminated some time early Wednesday morning, and would continue to be offline until after the attempt at the so-called “top kill” is completed.
“It is outrageous that BP would kill the video feed for the top kill. This BP blackout will obscure a vital moment in this disaster,” said Rep. Markey, who chairs the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee in the Energy and Commerce Committee. “After more than a month of spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP is essentially saying to the American people the solution will not be televised.”
Last week, after Rep. Markey’s request, BP agreed to provide live footage of the subsea spill operations. Rep. Markey first provided a live link to the accident site a few minutes before 1:30 PM EST on Thursday, May 20. Demand for the video from the public and the news media was overwhelming. Hundreds of thousands of people visited the Select Committee Web site in the first 24 hours. The Energy and Commerce Committee was also able to provide access to the feeds due to Rep. Markey’s request.
According to a BP technical video released yesterday, many of the preparations for the top kill attempt have already been completed. Therefore, Rep. Markey questioned today why the actual attempt to plug the leaking well could not be shown to the American public.
“No one wants to interfere with the operations during the top kill. With those preparations mostly done, now the world should see whether or not this strategy works, and we should see it in real time,” said Rep. Markey.
Rep. Markey yesterday had also asked BP to provide all 12 available feeds from the accident site, and yesterday released a YouTube video showing the differences between the one feed the public has been allowed to see and the 12 possible feeds available to BP. To view this video, click HERE.
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How big is the Spill …
It’s now been over a month since the Deepwater Oil Disaster began — and not only has BP failed to stop the flow of oil so far, but we still don’t even know how big the spill is — because BP won’t allow anyone else to investigate the extent of the problem.
The secrecy must stop.
BP is refusing to share information — data it’s already tracking — that would assist in the response and public understanding of the scope and severity of the Deepwater Oil Disaster. And they have every incentive in the world to keep doing so — news reports say that the smaller the official estimates of the spill, the lower BP’s liability could be in court.1
We don’t let criminals investigate their own crimes, and this shouldn’t be any different. It’s time for BP to get out of the way and allow access for independent scientists and engineers to determine the real size of this catastrophe.
Independent reviews by scientists across the country are suggesting that the oil leak may be as much as 19 times worse than the original estimates — but BP refuses to provide them with the data required to make their estimates more precise. All we know for sure is that the oil just keeps on gushing.
BP is extremely sensitive right now to public pressure — so let’s tell them that we won’t stand for them hiding the truth. We’ll deliver copies of the petitions and any comments you submit to the CEO of BP, as well as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Demand full access to BP’s data and real answers about the Deepwater disaster.
Thanks for joining this fight,
Maggie L. Fox
Chief Executive Officer
Climate Protection Action Fund
P.S. This disaster is a painful reminder of how dangerous our addiction to oil really is – and how critical it is that our elected officials in Washington pass strong climate and clean energy legislation that weans us off of dirty fossil fuels as soon as possible. We must make sure that Americans and our leaders understand the true cost of oil. We simply can’t afford a BP coverup. Sign the petition now demanding full transparency.
___________
1. Marisa Taylor, Renee Schoof and Erika Bolstad, “Low oil spill estimate could save BP millions in court,” McClatchy Newspapers, May 20, 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100521/pl_mcclatchy/3511770
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Tell EPA: Take away BP’s billions in federal contracts EPA can make BP pay Clicking here will add your name to this petition: EPA must immediately take steps to impose discretionary debarment and ban BP from all future federal contracts. Take action now!
Tell EPA: Take away BP’s billions in federal contracts
BP continues to stonewall the American people about the growing Deep Horizon disaster in the Gulf, even while the company reaps millions of dollars in profits each day from its other federal leases. The White House, the Department of Interior, and Congress are all crying foul, but they are not taking action to hold BP accountable. If the Obama administration is serious about making BP pay, there is a very simple and powerful tool at its disposal: the EPA can take away BP’s billions in federal contracts. The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to bar BP from receiving U.S. government contracts. Suspension of BP contracts would mean the loss of billions of dollars and effectively stop the company from drilling in federally controlled oil fields both on and offshore. This is the strongest possible action that could be taken against BP. Discretionary debarment is among the most serious actions EPA can take. EPA’s own regulations allow the agency to ban BP from future contracts after considering “the frequency and pattern of the incidents, corporate attitude both before and after the incidents, changes in policies, procedures, and practices.” Prior to the current Gulf spill, EPA had linked BP to at least four instances of criminal misconduct and BP has paid tens of millions in fines for environmental crimes. According to the public interest investigative journalists at Pro Publica, the EPA is considering re-evaluating BP and determining whether the company’s actions leading up to and following the Deep Horizon spill are evidence of an institutional problem inside BP that would qualify for debarment action. If BP is hit with discretionary debarment, the company would lose valuable contracts for selling fuel to the military and would be prohibited from obtaining or renewing drilling leases on federal land. It could also cancel BP’s current federal leases. The impact on BP’s bottom line could be in the billions of dollars. Neither Congress, nor President Obama, nor Interior Secretary Salazar have taken steps to truly hold BP accountable. It’s up to EPA to use the regulatory tools at its disposal to make BP pay. The American people are outraged by the politicians’ inaction in the face of an exponentially growing economic and environmental disaster in the Gulf. It’s time for EPA to take immediate and decisive action. Your pressure works. Sign the petition to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson today. Becky Bond, Political Director |
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ThinkProgress.org
ECONOMIC JUSTICE — 35,000 PEOPLE PROTEST CHRISTIE’S BUDGET CUTS, OUTNUMBERING EARLIER TEA PARTY RALLY 87-TO-1: About 35,000 people rallied outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton on Saturday after Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed a progressive attempt to fix the state’s budget crisis. New Jersey is facing a projected $10.7 billion budget deficit due to the recession, and to close it, progressive state legislators passed a bill creating a new tax bracket on residents making more than $1 million. The state’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services estimates that the new tax would lead a household making $1.2 million annually to pay only $11,598 more a year. Yet Christie vetoed the bill, despite the fact that the state has the “second-highest personal income in the country.” Instead, the governor has proposed massive cuts to public services, like an $820 million reduction in the state’s education budget, and ending millions of dollars of aid to cash-strapped municipalities. On Saturday, 35,000 New Jerseyans, outraged at Christie’s choice to protect the wealthiest citizens of his state rather than its schools and infrastructure, demonstrated outside the statehouse, chanting, “We are not the problem.” It was “one of the largest protests ever in the state.” Christie, meanwhile, was at a bill signing at a racetrack where he simply dismissed the protests. “I’m here. They’re there. Have a nice day,” he said. The massive rally is particularly significant when compared to the right-wing Tea Party protests, which the media have covered obsessively. At a Tea Party rally in Trenton last month, police estimated that, at a maximum, only 400 people attended. Which means that at the very least, the protesters marching against Christie’s budget cuts and for decent investment in public infrastructure outnumbered the anti-government tea party protesters 87-to-1.
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