Barack Obama under fire for grossly underestimating Gulf oil spill

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The Obama administration lost the public trust and may have sabotaged clean-up operations in the Gulf of Mexico by grossly underestimating the amount of oil gushing from BP's broken Macondo well, according to a White House commission appointed to investigate the spill.

In a scathing critique of the administration's handling of the disaster, the two co-chairs of the commission yesterday said government officials made a serious blunder by releasing early estimates of the spill that were about 60 times too low.

"It's a little bit like Custer underestimating the number of Indians on the other side of the hill and paying a price for that," Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida, told reporters.

Government agencies have come under sustained assault from independent scientists for initial estimates that put the size of the spill as low as 1,000 barrels a day – even as footage from the ocean floor showed a huge cloud of oil and gas billowing out of the BP well. A team of scientific experts assembled by the government eventually raised the estimate to more than 60,000 barrels a day.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/28/barack-obama-gulf-oil-spill

[Pirate Smile]

1. I don't want to hear a fucking word from the British press on BP's oil spill.

They can just fuck off. After how they acted during it, they have no credibility. I'll read about it from papers located somewhere else.

[Techn0Girl]

2. The British papers have been covering the story in more depth and honesty than the American media

[DeSwiss]

6. The British press didn't cause the oil leak. n/t

[Pirate Smile]

11. Of course not but I remember some of the ridiculous coverage during it.

Screw the gulf coast, BP is the real victim and Barack Obama wants British pensioners to be destitute.

[truebrit71]

31. Please quote the sources for that sort of coverage...I highly doubt the Guardian said that...

..The Daily Mail, The Torygraph and The Sun maybe...

The UK has it's fair share of RWer's too don't forget..

[uncle ray]

12. neither did obama.

[Owl]

36. +1

[Autumn]

3. It was kind of obvious that they were all

underestimating the Gulf oil spill.:shrug:

[Aramchek]

4. this isn't Breaking News. It's an opinion piece.

[dipsydoodle]

23. There are however other links to the subject title

Its just that The Guardian chose not to treat it as news and printed it in their environment section as an article. Some here : http://news.yahoo.com/topics/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill

I remain surprised that such a direct and not necessarily founded attack on Obama is here on DU.

[depakid]

5. Ouch

Well, we knew all of this (and MUCH more) was going to come out.. and none of it was going to be looking too good when it did.

Haven't even gotten to Salazar's agency(s) yet.

[ProSense]

7. "Barack Obama under fire" Actually,

that's a gross exaggeration.

<...>

As for the future, Graham said the government should take a stronger role regulating oil wells in the Gulf.

"There is a tendency to forget the fact that this property out in the Gulf of Mexico where all this is happening belongs to all of us," he said. "We are the landlord. They are the lessees. And we need to start acting like a landlord."

That may be happening sooner rather than later. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management chief Michael Bromwich told the panel that he is one month ahead of schedule in issuing a report on whether a ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf should be lifted. The report is due to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in late October. Bromwich said two significant rules on safety inspections will come this week.

President Barack Obama imposed the drilling moratorium following the April 20 oil spill, the largest offshore in history. The ban is set to expire Nov. 30, but federal officials have indicated it could end early.

The moratorium has come under criticism by the oil industry and local residents for harming the Gulf economy. But a recent government report said it had not increased unemployment.

link

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[unblock]

9. yeah, cuz bp was all over saying "no, no, it's MUCH bigger than that!"

:sarcasm:

[DeSwiss]

10. K&R

- They screwed-up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIWI_KVGxA4&feature=player_embedded">and they still are.

[Bluebear]

13. The Guardian never really loved him

:cry:

[bherrera]

15. It is a smear article

President Obama is a good man, he is under attack from the left wing, and the right wing, because he tends to be moderate. Which is what allows an American to be a good president.

[Bluebear]

16. Yes, poor guy, under 'attack'

:eyes:

[t0dd]

20. I don't consider him a moderate. I consider him a corporatist.

During health care, he struck a deal early on to make sure the public option and drug reimportation wouldn't make it into the final bill. I'm not sure how such things, that are harmful to Americans, makes him a "good president". And I don't buy the argument that he had to do these things to pass the bill: had he fought and tried to deliver on his promises of change, the American people would have stood behind him. He surrounds himself with the same economic advisers that were responsible for the financial collapse. He's escalated a useless war in Afghanistan. He's continued Bush-era policies on civil liberties, detainee policy, intelligence sharing, etc. He hasn't closed Guantanamo Bay. He's actively worked against gay rights and hilariously remains opposed to same-sex marriage. The list goes on and on. A lot of democrats that support him have a celebrity crush on him, but some of us look at his policies.

[truebrit71]

33. I wish I could recommend this post...

..there are so many people that feel EXACTLY the same way..

[bherrera]

14. In the USA the President makes oil spill estimates?

I didn't know that. I thought they did other things, not make oil spill estimates. Also, there are indications the oil spill was indeed increasing the rate gradually, which means the rate was lower in the beginning and increased as the valves sitting on the sea floor became eroded.

[Bluebear]

17. No, but he evidently left the BP fox in charge of the henhouse.

[jaxx]

25. Thanks for the real information about the flow rate.

People are too easily led by the negative reporting, you tell the truth as the BOP examination has shown. The flow did increase as time went on.

:thumbsup:

[Vidar]

18. As he should be.

[Sinistrous]

19. ROFL!

[comtec]

21. *facepalm!*

There are many things that one can legitimately criticize this resident on.... but the bullshit that BP itself has been spewing out, before, during, and since this disaster isn't one of them!

what utter tripe!

Has everyone magically forgotten that it was BP supplying all those numbers?!

[Romulox]

28. The President allowed BP to be in charge of the cleanup.

:hi:

[comtec]

30. oh yes he did, and he deserves that blame completely

but he was lied to.
this was caused by BP buying congress.
it's like blaming the dog you constantly hit for biting you.

[Democat]

22. This is not news, it's a personal attack!

Move to the opinions section.

[dipsydoodle]

24. ditto

.

[Kolesar]

26. Yes, a "President McGiuliani" would have done a better job...eom

sarcasm

[groundloop]

27. I call bullshit

The Headline is BULLSHIT; the article is BULLSHIT. President Obama never underestimated the spill - hell, he never even estimated the size of the spill. He had to listen to various other experts on the matter. Worthless British press.

[and-justice-for-all]

29. I agree...

sounds to me like shifting the blame.

[truebrit71]

34. 'Worthless British press." Really? I'll see your "worthless" Guardian and raise you a New York Post

"Worthless" indeed...:eyes:

[Owl]

37. I also agree. Bull-shit article.

[truebrit71]

32. He was only saying what BP told him to say..can't really blame him..

:sarcasm:

[thereismore]

35. So he was supposed to just "estimate" the size of the spill? Based on? nt

[G_j]

38. Barack Obama under fire for grossly underestimating Gulf oil spill

Source: Guardian UK

Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
The Guardian, Tuesday 28 September 2010


Barack Obama under fire for grossly underestimating Gulf oil spill

White House commission finds that administration lost public trust and may have sabotaged clean-up operations


The Obama administration lost the public trust and may have sabotaged clean-up operations in the Gulf of Mexico by grossly underestimating the amount of oil gushing from BP's broken Macondo well, according to a White House commission appointed to investigate the spill.

In a scathing critique of the administration's handling of the disaster, the two co-chairs of the commission yesterday said government officials made a serious blunder by releasing early estimates of the spill that were about 60 times too low.

Government agencies have come under sustained assault from independent scientists for initial estimates that put the size of the spill as low as 1,000 barrels a day – even as footage from the ocean floor showed a huge cloud of oil and gas billowing out of the BP well. A team of scientific experts assembled by the government eventually raised the estimate to more than 60,000 barrels a day.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/28/barack-obama-gulf-oil-spill

[FrenchieCat]

39. 4 weeks till election day.....

and the commission that Obama appointed is generating a headline....
Barack Obama under fire?

Gotto love politics!

[Divine Discontent]

40. horrible headline. big breaking news underneath it however. that commission's

lambasting of the admin. for its blunders is pretty much how many feel down here. but, there's no oil left..........

[Divine Discontent]

41. "It's a little bit like Custer underestimating the number of Indians on the other side of the hill

"It's a little bit like Custer underestimating the number of Indians on the other side of the hill and paying a price for that," Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida, told reporters.



so so true, good ol senator Graham...