Obama to create commission to investigate gulf oil spill

[kpete]

Source: Washington Post

Obama to create commission to investigate gulf oil spill


Obama to create commission to investigate gulf oil spill

By Juliet Eilperin
President Obama will establish an independent commission to investigate the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to an administration official who asked not to be identified.

The panel, which will be established through an executive order, will resemble those that investigated the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, the official said, and current and former federal officials will be barred from serving on it.

Several lawmakers, including Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), had been pushing for such a panel and had introduced legislation in an effort to force the White House's hand on the matter.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/05/obama-to-create-commission-to.html

[MannyGoldstein]

1. 27 New Offshore Drilling Permits Issued Since The Spill Began

26 of these exempted from environmental review.

That's the real response here - the rest is window dressing.

[gateley]

4. Didn't Obama say there would be a moratorium on offshore drilling until we

investigated this disaster?

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Permitting Process Continues

But the permitting process continues, with almost all environmental reviewing waived.

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/46035

[gateley]

8. How can they justify that? (Kind of rhetorical, but maybe you know the answer). nt

[Mike K]

9. Yes, he did say that.

But do you still believe what Obama says?

[defendandprotect]

10. Shameful -- and Suicidal -- !!

[PSPS]

2. The reliable first step to bury something: Create a commission

[Scruffy1]

3. Just what we need-another commission

They'll publish their findings in a few years and release it on a Friday night and it will clearly show that everyone did the best they could. Fuck this.

[salguine]

7. I'll bet he finds a way to put someone from Goldman Sachs in charge of it!

[NoodleyAppendage]

6. Yes. That's what we need. A meeting...

Flashes of the People's Liberation Front of Judea.

J

[Odin2005]

11. Commision = code for sit around a do nothing.

[jillan]

12. +1. Why doesn't he find the best scientists to figure out what to do now, and worry about the blame

game when the oil leak is stopped.

All a commission does is create the illusion of getting something done.

[intheflow]

13. You got that right, jillan.

Why is BP still working on this? They should have been pulled off Day 1. They could still pay the bill to pay the scientists and engineers who might actually care about stopping the oil instead of capturing profits.

[HappyCynic]

14. Do you mean...

Assembling some scientists like this:

Bomb Designer, Mars Expert Sent by Obama to Fix Oil Spill

Source: Bloomberg

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu signaled his lack of confidence in the industry experts trying to control BP Plc’s leaking oil well by hand-picking a team of scientists with reputations for creative problem solving.
Dispatched to Houston by President Barack Obama to deal with the crisis, Chu said Wednesday that five “extraordinarily intelligent” scientists from around the country will help BP and industry experts think of back-up plans to cut off oil from the well, leaking 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below sea-level.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4382246

(article from Friday May 14)

[jillan]

16. Why isn't that more known???? I listened to several commentators on msnbc today say that the Obama

admin needs to send Scientists to help BP, obviously it made me agree, and obviously I didn't know about this.

Thank you for educating me....I feel better.

[FreshRocket]

15. Why is BP still "in charge"?

[progressoid]

17. Great.

Because commissions seem to really get to the bottom of things.

Straight to the bottom. And then they stay there.



But who knows, maybe this one will have a Richard Feynman on it and really get something done.

[tavalon]

18. Yeah, that'll do it. Appoint a commission

Put Arlen Specter in charge of it. He'll know what to do.

[Rhiannon12866]

19. MSNBC: Obama to name special panel on oil disaster

Word comes as key official retires; senators want criminal inquiry

WASHINGTON - A day that started with optimism from the site of the Gulf oil disaster quickly shifted to one of recriminations by lawmakers and word that President Barack Obama would appoint an independent commission to investigate.

On top of all that, the retirement of the federal official who oversees offshore drilling was revealed Monday.

Chris Oynes, the associate Minerals Management Service administrator for offshore drilling programs, informed colleagues he will retire at the end of the month, according to an e-mail sent to agency officials and obtained by The Associated Press.

<snip>
Criminal inquiry demanded

In Congress, lawmakers on Monday voiced anger towards federal regulators and oil companies in the aftermath of the Gulf disaster, with some going as far as demanding a criminal investigation.

Democrats on the Senate Environment Committee urged the Justice Department to open an inquiry.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who chairs the committee, said that operators of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig did not appear to have required equipment and technology needed to respond to the spill, which has dumped millions of gallons into the Gulf of Mexico.

Six other Democratic senators and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont joined Boxer in requesting the Justice Department investigation.
<snip>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37188621/ns/gulf_oil_spill/



A NASA satellite captured this image of the Gulf oil spill on midday Monday. The oil slick appears as a dull gray on the water and stretches south from the Mississippi Delta with what looks like a tail.