Yes, Senator. It’s “too soon.”
~Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images (Vigil for the BP disaster, Florida)
Here on the last frontier, like in all other states, we’ve got two Senators – Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich. One of them is an unapologetic Republican oil shill, and one of them is a Democrat. The Republican thinks we ought to cap damages for oil companies at $75 million. The Democrat thinks if you can’t afford the cost of damages, you shouldn’t be drilling. He is also introducing oil spill escrow legislation.
“I believe this legislation achieves what many of us want: Americans damaged by this oil spill and future spills are fairly compensated in a timely way. That didn’t happen to Alaskans with the Exxon Valdez. We must ensure it does happen with our fellow citizens in the Gulf of Mexico,” [Senator Mark] Begich said. “It’s another tool for our toolkit as Congress works on liability reform designed to make those injured whole again, while at the same time allowing responsible companies to provide oil our country needs.”
So far, so good.
Don’t get too comfortable though, because here’s where the waters get murky, if you’ll pardon the analogy. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good thing to take care of people after catastrophe. The victims of the Exxon Valdez would have loved for this legislation to have been on the books before 1989. But better still than remediation, is prevention. The victims of the Exxon Valdez would have first preferred not to be victims at all. An ounce of prevention is worth a million gallons of “Corexit“.
Regarding the ruling that came from a Louisiana judge yesterday blocking the moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling, one of Alaska’s senators had this to say:
“Today’s decision by the Louisiana judge overturning the Obama Administration’s temporary ban on deepwater offshore oil and gas development shows the moratorium was overreaching. It should serve as a shot across the bow to the administration and Congress that American workers must continue to develop America’s energy resources within our borders.”
Now you get to guess which one said it, and no – Sarah Palin is not one of your choices. Who thinks that the suspension of deepwater offshore drilling (NOT the kind that happens in Alaska by the way) is ‘overreaching’ while the chasms on the sea floor continue to hemmorhage oil, and the crime of gross negligence is still in progress? Who’s feeling good about using naval battle rhetoric touting the “shot across the bow” of the Obama administration?
Lifting a ban on deepwater activity, which carries greater risk than low-pressure, shallow-water development like in Alaska, hopefully will get responsible exploratory drilling planned by Shell in Alaska’s Arctic waters back on track soon.
Who is relieved that the green light for the really dangerous thing in someone else’s back yard may mean that our less dangerous thing can proceed in our own, before we feel confident that we actually know how to STOP whatever caused this catastrophe? Mind you, the administration didn’t shut down the industry. They shut off 33 deep water offshore drilling units of the type that caused the biggest environmental catastrophe in history, for six months during hurricane season. Overreaching?
Actually, what the judge’s ruling shows is NOT as Democratic Senator Mark Begich claims above, that the moratorium was “overreaching.” It shows that the Louisiana judge, who has large holdings in energy stock including TransOcean, Halliburton and BP’s two largest shareholders, ruled in his own self-interest. It shows that oil money corrupts everything, including our judicial system. That’s what it shows.
When Alaska elected the woman originally appointed to her seat by the most notorious, corrupt oil shill in the history of the state, who also happened to be her father, we knew what we were getting. Then, Alaska elected a Democrat. And Alaska elected someone to think about the needs of ALL the people. This means not only oil companies, and jobs in resource development, and oil service industries. It also means those of us who make our money from tourism, from fishing, from guiding, and those of us whose very survival and culture depend on our coastline. It also means those of us who live here because we have a profound respect for nature, and wildness, and who see the value in these places that transcends the dollar sign. Shell will survive if they have to wait six months to drill in the Arctic Ocean. I know that the Minerals Management Service in Alaska had that fun cake that said “Drill, Baby Drill” on it and all… but they’ll survive. Really.
But the drilling that is set to happen in the Arctic Ocean by Shell? The drilling that will be done by BP from a manmade gravel island with a glorified 10-mile long bendy straw? If that goes wrong, there are Alaskans who rely on those waters for subsistence whose way of life will not survive. Frigid waters that prevent degradation of oil, ice pack, arctic wildlife, severe weather, and one of the most remote locations on Earth means that if we do this, we have to do it right. And if it takes six months for the nation to catch its breath, and mourn its loss, and feel confident that any offshore drilling done ANYwhere in the future is the safest it can possibly be, then so be it.
So, please. While America is looking at pictures of commercial fishermen reduced to tears, and Red Lobster is no longer selling oysters, and pelicans are suffocating in pools of oil, and endangered sea turtles are being incinerated alive while we try to burn off the oil, and parents know that their children will not inherit the family business because there won’t be one to inherit, and people are getting profoundly sick from the chemicals we pour on the already toxic mess, and eleven families are still grappling with the grief over losing their loved ones to a horrible violent death that could have easily been prevented by BP… please don’t talk about “shooting across the bow” of an administration that is trying to make sure it never happens again.
Please, when the nation attends together a spiritual funeral for one of the most incredible ecological jewels of our country, and the economic devastation of a region, don’t tell us that we can’t allow “emotion to get in the way of sound energy policy.” Please, don’t tell us we need to “get over it” while the planet still hemmorhages crude oil because of the recklessness of the industry whose interest you are trying so hard to protect, and there’s no end in sight.
It’s too soon.
~Photo Dave Martin/Associated Press
way too soon. the judge should have recused himself, and his ruling should be thrown out immediately. jeez.
When I hear Democrats speak this way I want to cry! The candidate for Gov. that wrote the piece on your site last week, Berkowitz(?) leaves me to wonder. Can anyone get elected in Alaska without “Drill,Baby,Drill embroidered on their assets?
Apparently not.
The state of Alaska runs on oil money.If not Alaskan would have a state income tax like most other states.No official will say stop the drilling especially in Alaska as they would lose all or most support from Alaskans.Not all but enough to make a big difference on who gets elected.Does not surprise me at all that he would say what he did.To many officials in Alaska only care about the revenue from the oil companies and nothing about the damage they do by not following safety procedures.
Certainly makes a case for having a diverse source of revenue.
Begich is just doing the math. At the point he won his Senate seat by beating Ted Stevens, Stevens had been convicted of multiple felonies within 2 weeks before the election. The Senate was going to refuse to admit him if he won – and Begich still just barely beat him by less than 5,000 votes. “Shots across the bow”? Begich has obviously decided that if he is going to be re-elected, he’ll need the “drill, baby, drill” crowd and that he either doesn’t need the progressives anymore or he figures progressives will have no choice but to vote for him.
That was a very ill-advised press release. He could at least have waited for the appeal to be decided.
It could easily be more than a year before that happens.
This is why Democrats have such a hard time getting things done even when they hold a numerical majority. They fail on some key issues because they do not have a philosophical majority. Some Democrats are not true progressives, some are barely moderates, and some are Republicans in disguise. Though I would not want a lock-step approach with strict discipline within the party as the Republicans have, I do expect Democrats to follow the wishes of the majority of voters who elected them!
I am very disappointed with Begich’s stand on deep-water drilling. The moratorium affects such a small percentage of oil well operations in the Gulf (only affects exploratory drilling as I understand) – hardly overreaching. Particularly when you consider the government is green-lighting the sham “artificial island” near Alaskan shores. That judge should have recused himself because he has vested interests in the oil companies – or so I’ve read.
I was really liking Begich. I can’t believe he would say this. Can’t someone talk to him? And I like your title which sums it up : it is too soon.
How sad that he came out with this. Is he receiving $$ from big oil now? Someone should tell him that it is too soon…… and much too late for those men who lost their lives, the beautiful and defenseless creatures of the Gulf, those whose jobs have been affected, and the ecosystem of the Gulf. Shame on him. I can’t believe he said “…they need to get over it”. Wow.
Don’t these judges have an ethics officer? Maybe they need one. Or several. Fvck knows I can’t even buy stock in freaking SIGMA without a waiver (IF I could get one) and I’m a lowly plankton in the biomedical food chain.
This is going to be appealed, probably all the way to the Supreme Court. That will effectively turn it into a six to twelve month moratorium.
Well, that’s my bet anyway.
These anti-moratorium yahoos make as much sense as The W did when he said: “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” GWB – Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002 [Hear it here:
http://www.entertonement.com/clips/fwngrqhfvz--Fool-me-once-shame-on-%E2%80%94-shame-on-youGeorge-W-Bush-Gaffe-Fool-Top-10-Dumbest-Quotes- ]
Do these anti-moratorium yahoos have ANY idea what they are huffing and puffing *against*? Have they NO concept of what the *purpose* of the moratorium is?
Do they NOT know the workers on the *other* rigs WILL BE PAID by BP (the “strong-armed” escrow) while the moratorium is in effect? [ http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=12676135 ]
Do they NOT understand what AKM has so precisely, completely, and beautifully stated above?
Are they ALL complete idjuts? Lord, preserve us! beth.
Too worried about his job to do right by his mother earth.
Typical politician .
No guts , democrat my butt.
Alaska is a petrocracy. That is a sad fact. No one seems to be able to see past the fast bucks that oil brings in. Without it, and without truely developing other resources in this state we would be paying state income taxes (like most other states). Oil pays for almost everything up here. Every politician in this state (and most of the voters) are wedded and bedded to the oil industry. They want ANWR opened, they want drilling everywhere possible. They cannot see beyond tomorrow. They will scream and holler and demand restitution (and not get it-read here Exxon) if it happens up here but until it happens, it is just business as usual.
Look, I know when we elected Senator Begich we were not getting the second coming of Ted Kennedy in terms of political philosophy. I knew he would be leaning towards the right on some issues. Of course it made me shake my head when he decided to become one of the Blue Dogs along with Landreau, Lincoln, Ben Nelson etc. But this is a bit much. I guess if he thinks the people in the Gulf should get over it after only two months, he probably thinks the people who lost everything twenty one years and still are getting screwed by Exxon are a bunch of cry babies. While I understand he represents Alaska, he is also a United States Senator and should care more about our fellow citizens, regardless of where they are from, than poor old BP.
I believe the “get over it” was meant for us here in Alaska. Those who are not “drill baby drill”. Sigh…
I didn’t get to comment on the earlier Liberty Project post, so I’d like to throw in a few things (sorry, I know they aren’t completely relevant to this post). The “island” they are drilling from is actually an extension of an already existing man-made island. It is just off of Endicott’s SDI (Satellite Drilling Island). Gravel has been brought to make this island expansion since the Fall/Winter 2008-09. Endicott itself is also a man-island.
I used to work with people who were planning this project as contractors. The amount of time they spent trying to get everything right was borderline insane. BP operates another “artificial island” in the Beaufort called Northstar. It’s been around for the past decade, with few mishaps. Northstar is actually out in the Beaufort Sea and mainly accessed by an ice road in the winter. It is essentially an “offshore” platform. Endicott, the SDI and the Liberty extension are accessible by road year-round.
The main difference that concerns me about the Shell project is that it’s out in the middle of nowhere with no support system, particularly their proposed exploration wells in the Chukchi. At least the Liberty and Northstar projects are within the established oilfield already. At the minimum, the permits for all these exploratory wells should be reviewed.
I can’t blame Begich for saying what he did. Even if it seems harsh, he is looking out for his constituents. Since Alaska is currently so dependent on the oil industry, how does it help if Alaskans are out of work? I don’t want to defend the oil companies; unfortunately they are a fact of life for now.
I’m sure that may be the case, but what is also the case is that BP has a sh:tty track record and has proven they can’t be trusted.
In addition, the MMS fox was guarding the henhouse, so who knows what was approved.
Also, since the Gulf spill response plans were worried about walruses that don’t live in the GoM, shouldn’t someone make sure that the above Shell/BP plan doesn’t have inappropriate animals like sea turtles and pelicans?
Taking the time to review after an accident isn’t unreasonable. After the Space Shuttle Challenger spectacularly failed and killed the astronauts on board, I don’t think NASA ran out and launched the next one 75 days later without some kind of investigation of what happened and how to prevent it in the future.
The Oil Barrons made SH:TLOADS of profit in the past few years. Those fvckers can afford the minor hit to their bottom line and to keep their employees employed. Give me a fvcking break.
That’s sort of the point. BP running a sh:tty operation isn’t really a good reason to shut everybody else down. Do a systematic review and shut down any rig that isn’t compliant – I don’t think the court would have had a problem with that. It’s the sweeping generalization that one incident – and, albeit, a big, catastrophic one – means that every other operation presents a risk unless they are all shut down that the court didn’t go along with.
The MMS’s oversight is suspect here, too.
“I can’t blame Begich for saying what he did. Even if it seems harsh, he is looking out for his constituents.” — ‘Burgher in AK
I do – I blame him (and the others) for NOT being the leaders they OUGHT to be. *IF* they were the leaders the ought to be, they would’ve had the intelligence to understand *why* the moritorium is *so* important for the safety of *all* of us, and they would’ve had the balls to stand up in front of their constituents and explain something like:
“Hey, none of us are thrilled that we’ve got this moratorium – it’s turning our lives upside down and is a very scarry thing. But the thing of it is, there are too many things we *don’t* know about deep sea exploration and drilling; we’ve already had 11 men killed, many injured, and a whole way of life in the Gulf Coast devastated.
Beaches from Louisiana to Florida –and possibly even up the East Coast– will be fouled for years; the habitats of birds, oysters, shrimp, turtles …all destroyed. The ocean water is toxic with fumes, gas, and oil; the bayous are suffocating and dying. UNTIL we know *exactly* HOW to prevent this type of thing from happening again, we HAVE to step back for a bit and figure out how we –and our waters– can be safe. We have to be sane and rational about this.
This moratorium is not what anyone *wanted* to do; it’s what we *have* to do.
We *have* to keep our people, our businesses, our lands and waters, our *nation* protected from harm. We can’t do that if we go off pell-mell into something we already *know* can –and has!– destroyed so much.
We *can’t* play Russian Roulette and *hope* everything will be OK.
Your patience and understanding while things are checked and double checked for our national safety is greatly appreciated; be of steadfast courage and strong heart — we’ll all come through this experience a safer, stronger, better nation.”
Instead of Begich et.al providing ADULT *leadership* through this crisis, instead of their explaining the ‘who, what, where, when, and why’ of the moratorium, instead of reassuring their constituents that it *will* be OK, they’ve gone pandering after the down-the-road vote. Like a little kid, they can’t –or won’t– see the big picture.
I’m so terribly tired of these small-thinking, slap-you-on-the-back, I’m-so- wonderful, ‘leaders’. beth.
Weaning ourselves from the oil industry can come by design or by default ( when there is no more oil to be economically extracted… )
We have time NOW to re-design/re-invent ourselves but seem to lack the will to do so. It is easier to do-as-we-have-done than put our heads together and change the way we do things.
These are Federal leases which will support a few Alaskans jobwise but the bulk of the money generated is not going to help Alaska directly.
It is important to remember that these are the same arguments for big industry which have made a mockery of any idea of commonly held resources… the few jobs at stake do NOT add up to enough to willy nilly do “whatever” .
Our own attitudes about the value of jobs just to have jobs has been part of the problem here.
Thanks, Burgher in AK, for the information. I agree with you. Directional drilling has been around for awhile now, and I am not aware of any major mishaps related to it. It is a means to go down and under sensitive areas to get to the oil without disturbing wetlands, streams, etc. that can/should be protected, and as such, should be encouraged in some instances.
Keep spilling. The Earth will be okay. Humans, perhaps not so much. Hey we’re just a virus on this planet anyway and the sooner we are compromised and our population depleted, the better off the Earth will be.
Our small history as humankind has affected the Earth greatly, but the Earth also will affect us greatly through climate change resulting in drought and other natural phenomena that will “cull our herd”.
It will all be okay in the end, but not many of us will be around to witness it.
i remember George Carlin riffing on this subject years ago. i agreed with him then. i agree with you today
Correct me if I am wrong but this was Begich speaking? It is a little unclear to me. It is implied but not stated. Still, I am not in the least surprised.
The political spectrum is supposed to be a two way street. In a representative democracy the elected are not accountable to necessarily act according to the will of the majority. It would be impractical to do so requiring an accurate plebescite on every issue. Rather the representative is elected to make the best judgement on a given issue in favor of the public interest. On that criterion Sen. Begich has failed because he obviously does not understand what is at stake.
Isn’t it just a little remarkable that when the economy froze up because the big banks were making bets like drunken sailors in a Manila casino, not a single republican and virtually no one in congress at all squawked about the fact that businesses all over the country promptly fired about 6 million people from their jobs to “cut costs”. Yet imposing a moratorium on an activity that obviously can have such global catastrophic consequences because it put a few thousand people out of work temporarily is “overreaching”?
Going back to the representative democracy thing, in the proper context, a campaign would hopefully demonstrate to the electorate the ideologies and thought processes of the candidates such that they could choose the one with the greatest skills. But that leaves open, what if the greatest skill required is actually lying in public?
We should all think about the way our system of government is currently organized. How many of you have spent the last 6 months in Washington, D.C.? What is a lobbyist? Do you know? Could any of you do the job? What would be the impact if lobbying was made illegal tomorrow?
Money, especially large amounts of it, corrupts people.
It certainly corrupted the MMS but then most of those who benefited were hand picked to do so by the Busch/Cheney mafia. So they were corrupt even before they took on their lucrative government jobs.
Recall as well please that it was pointed out at the beginning of the present administration that many appointees from the previous regiem were applying for, and being granted permenant status
so that it would be very difficult to fire them.
Systemic corruption.
The intention of the small government contingent is really no government, rule by the plutocrats alone. Let the CEOs call the shots. This is a blantent feature of the current so called debate over the administrations actions in terms of the GoM catastrophe. It would not be difficult to argue that this event is orders of magnitude worse than the attacks of Sept. 11 2001. The critical points are at this time, #1 the wild well has not yet been killed. #2 the evidence is that perhaps 50% but perhaps much less than that is being captured, the rest is still spewing into the gulf. #3 the ecological consequences of this event are off scale high. No one at this point has any idea how vast the impact will be, but it is a sure bet it will exceed anything ever experienced before. #4 oil patch workers are more deserving of keeping their jobs than the people who fish, or depend on tourism? #5 pensioners invested in BP are taking a big hit because their stock price is falling, golly, you gambled and lost, why is this my problem? #6 the moratorium will drive exploration to other countries. The oil is where the oil is, you can drill to your heart’s content in Iceland if you want and you won’t find any oil. Or you can come to Brazil, where I am, where they will require you to spend an extra couple of million dollars on a BOP that works, and they will also take a bigger percentage of your profits, after all, it is their oil, not yours. #7 I have seen a lot of discussions about our general complicity in this event, and it is obviously true that it is is our demand for oil that empowers the likes of BP to become so gigantic, and to then act irresponsibly in order to get even bigger.
The system is flawed. The question is can we individuals do anything about it?
I think the answer is yes but I am not very good at coming up with ideas for how, I leave that to others.
Can we correct it? I don’t know. Nor do I have ideas of how to do so, but if we do not, then we will deserve the government we elect.
Alaska is a red state.
BoyWonder knows this.
He won the Senate seat by less than 3,000 votes.
Do you think I’m shillin for him?
Nope. Not one bit. Just some quick info comes to mind.
Spot on words by the way.
I hate crude and all it involves.
My teenage memories are laced with rude AK pipeline boom families.
Yes, it was Begich. I tweaked it a bit and hopefully made that more clear. Thanks! Great comment.
Yes, it’s too soon, and it will ALWAYS be too soon, IMO. We had better hope that it’s not too late to transition to clean, renewable energy, sans oil, sans coal, sans hydrofracking for natural gas. We must invest in wind turbines, tidal turbines, geothermal, and solar; build better batteries for storage, rebuild our mass transit infrastructure (anyone remember when American railroads were the best in the world?) build a smart electrical grid, build high-mileage vehicles (Allen Caggiano’s fuel implosion vaporization system, known as FIVS, got 113-145 mpg without tailpipe emissions, and our government KNOWS this because he patented it!), and stop wasting so much — of everything. We need to move out of agribusiness, which runs on petrochemicals, and transition to traditional, solar farming. We need a more local food supply. Do your part, in ways small and large. Buy a water filter and a stainless steel bottle. Bring your own reusable bags when you shop. Carry a Chico bag or something similar clipped to your belt loop or in your purse, in case you want to make an unplanned purchase. Insulate your home (if you live in a private home). Carpool. Be creative about making do with less.
I read a really creative blog post the other day, inspired by the carpool. Seven families got together and formed a “dinner pool.” Instead of everyone cooking for her individual family every night, these women cook for all the families combined, one night a week. They save money, energy, and time. They and their families get to know the neighbors better, and they all love the result.
What’s your solution?
I am so disappointed in Begich. I thought he was our hopey changey thing. If he only had the farsight to know that doing the right thing is best. Sure, maybe he would lose his job, but at least he could sleep at night. And he could go down in the history of AK. I don’t think he and his wife are hurting for money – so what is his motivation? I would not cave as he has – but what do I know? I’m not a politician.
If Alaska manages to dump Lisa…then Begich will sit up and take note in the shift of the electorate… if Lisa stays, well…. that sends a different message to him…
I am terribly disappointed in Senator Begich though not wildly surprised.
We have NOT elected anyone to Congress nor to positions of power within the state who have any kind of real plan for the-day-the-oil-runs-out here so I am not surprised when they, including our lone Dem representative, show the same kind of obscurantic myopia when it comes to federal oil leases as well as state leases.
Talking about shots across-the-bow of this administration is tomfoolery.
A MODEST proposal to stand down and look at all things about drilling off our coasts carefully, while trying to deal with disaster of unknown proportions and consequences, is prudent.
Having the only half way sensible representative we have shoot off his mouth like the ignorant clowns in the comments at the ADN ( slightly better language- same stupidity ) just feeds the push by big oil to-get-back-on-the-horse-which-threw-you gobbeldygook which is surfacing everywhere.
The rush to return to business as usual is building steam daily.
It is merely fortunes to be made at stake in that rush…
Doing business the way people we don’t trust want to do it…
Gotta go do some calming down before I write a letter to this Senator O Mine…
The Alaska politics curse strikes again! I’m not surprised, the signs have always been there. He’s not willing to go blue – or be brave – or be different. He is his father’s son, but not the heroic politician his father was. Had Rep. Nick Begich not been lost in 1972 to an airplane crash, we would have had a lot less Don Young in our state history.
However, I hold a tiny bit of hope for Sen. Begich. He was born and raised in a political atmosphere, to a smart family. He’s not new to this game. I only hope he knows what he’s doing. He’s been sitting on the fence since he was elected – I have not been able to completely figure out where he is coming from.
On the other hand, he could well just be taking advantage of the family’s hard earned reputation, and has no loftier goals for our state. I met him in Seattle, in a store, and shook hands with him while telling him how happy I was that he won the election. He had kind of a glazed look in his eye – a little weird for an Alaskan – especially one being complimented from another long time Alaskan. He was a far cry from Gov Hammond – who practically crushed your hand and boomed his enthusiasm over meeting you! Not just the first time, but every time he saw you after that.
C’mon Senator Begich – who are you listening to and what is going on in that head?
The tone of this press release was almost as bad as the content. After looking up the rest of it, I was even more disappointed. Reads like an oil company PR person wrote it. Or maybe they found it in Murkowski’s To Do list pile. Whatever, you could almost put it on an MMS cake and choke on it.
Senator Begich, I am absolutely dissatisfied with your comment on LA judge’s decision.
Senator Begich, re: your comment on LA judge’s decision. What part of “conflict of interest” do you NOT understand?
Begich is a Senator from Alaska. He is not exactly a “Blue Dog”, he is an “Oil Dog”. As a non-Alaskan, I originally had limited hope that he might decide to spend his six-year term acting like a Democrat (or a US Senator, as opposed to Senator from Alaska) even though that would not be optimal re-election strategy. This was a weak hope, not an expectation, and several events have pretty well convinced me that Senator Begich has placed “remaining Senator Begich” at the top of his priority list.
I’ll spare you my normal rant about how stupid it is that Senators Begich and Murkowski are 2% of the US Senate, but represent roughly the same number of people as live in Stockton and Modesto. It’s the Constitution, baby. The sad, or frustrating, part to me is that Begich is probably just about as good as you all can do in Alaska, and so I’m tempted to accept his pandering for votes as reasonable political behavior.
On the other hand, the “shot across the bow of the Administration” image is considerably over the top. If he maintains that narrative for very long, I presume that he will be changing his party affiliation to Republican. You guys may want to watch out for that. For a Senator, that normally happens a year or so before the election, e.g., late 2013 or early 2014.
We have Yon Dung ( bleah ) representing the people of Alaska, at the same level of representation as your California communities mentioned receive in the House.
We have Begich and Murkowski representing the State of Alaska , which far exceeds California’s land mass, at the same level as the State of California receives in the Senate.
The 2 houses of Congress were designed to limit and adjust for population and state interests.We focus far too many important battles in the Senate.
It is the House where much more attention should be for things we want to see changed.
Our own attitudes have contributed to the problem here…
Whether it’s because it’s easier to keep track of 100 souls than the many hundreds in the House or we have gotten lazy, we have allowed the House of the People to become secondary…rather than an equal partner,
or a partner which can over-ride the House of the States when they get out of touch with the people…
I’ve removed my usual posting name since what I am posting here is not the usual stuff.
My husband designed the bendy straw in question, so I do know a bit about this. He is no third-rate engineer. He was & is extremely experienced, and was hand-picked for that position based on the technical needs of the project. I know a lot of drilling engineers, and Mr. Me is absolutely best in field in many areas. I am not saying that because I’m his #1 fan (though of course I am), but rather because of his intelligence, ethics & the respect he has earned in his field — much of it before he & I met & became co-workers.
The problem with BP (and many other oil companies) is that what is technically possible, what can be done safely, becomes dangerous/unstable/etc. when cost-cutting comes into play. Why do companies choose to save money that is a drop in the bucket and compromise safety, lives, everything else? Because we’ve let them get away with it for so long, I guess.
I could go on at length about this subject, but Mr. Me still has a job to do (no longer the bendy straw project), and the internet is big & wide & open & scary.
Mark Begich is an idiot. I’m very disappointed to say the least. The moratorium needs to be in place, plans need to be reviewed, progress needs to be made incrementally. There is a pretty horrifying piece in Rolling Stone (the issue with Jay Z on the front) that outlines exactly how insufficient the moratorium is, among other things. It is something that will keep the Dem base happy, until they find out the details. I’m not a Dem, and I support the moratorium, but it is not worth much anyway. It doesn’t look to me like it could or would prevent another Horizon spill — given that BP is still operating out there it could happen tomorrow. The RS article has plenty of other chilling info about the MMS, BP, and Obama’s approach to these issues. If you have to beg, borrow or steal — I cannot say strongly enough how much you need to read that article.
I’m glad to hear your “voice” – for what you have said and because you and yours have been much on my mind.
You are right, right right here.
We’re here. Thanks for thinking of us — you send positive vibes my way, and I’ll send some your way.
Mr. is no longer working directly for BP. He is plenty busy in his new job & there is much to be thankful for.
Mr. & I talk a lot about the Horizon issue, the moratorium, etc — we are able to view it as rationally & reasonably as is possible, I guess.
Mr. says he told someone at a work function, someone working in the U.S. from overseas, from a country that’s been devastated by pollution & corruption, and moaning about the moratorium, to basically, STFU. Of course since he’s a nice guy he said it in a way that made clear that they were uninformed & expressing a knee-jerk pro-oil response completely at odds with what the majority of Americans are feeling.
Last night I read a headline at huffpo that said that Obama is backing down on the moratorium, and it made me want to kick Obama in the nuts. That is NOT why/how he was elected. The people who want the moratorium lifted voted for the old fart and the dingbat.
Sending LOTS of positive vibes from here. We are poorer in spirit since you left.
!
or maybe it’s your gumption we miss ( “it made me want to kick Obama in the nuts” )
I have hope Mr Me is more likely , in his nice way, to make knee-jerk pro oil types think some .
Not sure what it will take for Senator Begich to get off the Alaska party line and stand up for what’s right…
Maybe we need to gumption him…?!
Take best of care.
Check out this great site (Follow the Oil Money): http://oilmoney.priceofoil.org/federalRaceGraph.php?type=search
It lets you look up what campaign contributions energy/oil companies have made
to various congressional and presidential races. If you do the “Zip and Name” search and enter
99501, you can easily see how much Lisa has benefited from her Oil company pals.
Verrrry educational, thanks.
Glad you found it interesting! I especially liked the chart that sized each company in proportion to how much they donated.
I was reading elsewhere yesterday — and I’m sorry now I didn’t save a link to it — that the Valdez spill was actually much larger than what the public was led to believe.
Anyone?
In fairness to Begich, I believe he was responsible for getting some changes to language in legislation that makes it easier for some Alaska hydro projects to go forward. He seems fully aware of our need to shift from oil dependence, but also aware that we aren’t there yet.