If BP declared bankruptcy and walked away from the oil leak and left if for the rest of us to solve

[stray cat]

would that be a step forward and free us to solve the problem more quickly.

After all, It may get to the point that BP has nothing left to lose and they decide to stop trying.

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Who have we identified as knowing how to stop this?

Obama has already sent private scientists to Houston.

Exxon & Co don't want to get anywhere near this.

Maybe Finland? They do have the best track record on offshore regulation. I know Iran offered to send their top people. Chavez?

[Jennicut]

3. No, we haven't. That is what many here don't understand.

It doesn't matter who is in charge of the leak. It is a near impossible leak to stop.
Now the cleanup efforts could be taken over by the govt. But the most important thing is stopping the leak, and best scientists and engineers are having trouble with it. They are already working for BP and the govt. That is how dire this is.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Exactly.

We have been offered help, thousands of suggestions are pouring in. Kevin Costner is bringing a bevy of special 'vacuum cleaners' to the site - but this all addresses what has already spilt.

The people who can best figure out how to plug this thing work for the oil companies, and as mentioned, if Exxon or one of the others had an idea, they would have gotten it to the brass (silently, so as to avoid liability) as this will affect the future of the entire industry, and rightly so.

[RKP5637]

8. I think you're right on track. IMO it well might be impossible to seal without

exploding some type of device down in the pipe and hoping the seabed fills back in and seals it off.

The flip side of this is IMO one can be sure BP does not want to lose this as an oil source, so they will try to seal it such that it can be reopened in the future when the heat is off of them.

One fact is sure, the public will be kept in the dark as much as possible and disinformation will be spun.

[bluestateguy]

2. As long as the taxpayers moved to the front of the line before all the other creditors

Seeing BP liquidated in bankruptcy would be good IF the taxpayers and other persons who were harmed economically by this spill moved to the front of the creditors line.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Then we better move quick. TransOcean just announced $1b to their shareholders.

Expect others involved to do the same before they breakup and form new 'organizations' (or as the SCOTUS likes to call them, 'people')

[KharmaTrain]

6. And You'll Collect In 25 Years...Maybe...

If they declared bankruptcy and went home, there'd be little the government could do at this point. They aren't Supermen. They'd have to find the equipment and expertise that is not part of their normal perview. They don't have submersibles that can go down 5,000 or more feet to do the work and the expertise on hand to do much more than what the rest of us are doing...speculating.

BP has trillions of reasons to stop this gusher...as long as this country remains addicted to oil like heroin, we'll pay top dollar for our fix.

[csziggy]

7. I just decided not to post a way to force BP into receivership

And here you are advocating that they do it voluntarily, LOL.

If the courts could do it, that would be a way for the government to use BP's assets, including their employees, to find a way to shut this thing off and begin to mitigate the damage.

[nosmokes]

9. Boldly Pernicious needs to be Nationalized until the leak is capped and

the efforts at mitigation are complete, including damages to residents and punitive penalties are collected.That should take upwards of fifty years or so taking a reasonable percentage of the corporate net.