You are in the current Gulf Watchers BP Catastrophe - AUV #460. ROV #459 is here.
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Gulf Watchers Diary Schedule
Monday - evening drive time
Wednesday - morning
Friday - morning
Friday Block Party - evening
Sunday - morning
Part one of the digest of diaries is here and part two is here.
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dé·jà vu noun \ˌdā-ˌzhä-ˈvü, -ˈvue\ 1. a: the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time. b : a feeling that one has seen or heard something before or 2: something overly or unpleasantly familiar.
zom·bie noun \ˈzäm-bē\ 1: a person or thing held to resemble the so-called walking dead.
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The Minerals Management Service is a zombie! The department that got us to the "fox guarding the henhouse" moment that helped make the BP gusher possible is apparently now one of the undead...
In a move that sounds suspiciously like something we've seen before, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich on Wednesday revealed their plan to split the department into two entities - one half managing the development of offshore resources, and the other to oversee and enforce safety and environmental regulations.
This worked so well the first time, why not try it again? The reorganized BOEMRE will also have a permanent advisory group, the Offshore Energy Safety Advisory Committee, comprised of experts from government, industry, academia and non-governmental institutions to advise on offshore drilling safety, spill response, and containment. The former director of the Sandia National Laboratory, Tom Hunter, will head the committee. Hunter was part of the team that worked on the containment and capping of the Macondo well.
However, the splitting of the BOEMRE and the addition of the advisory group does not satisfy the recommendation of the National Oil Spill Commission's final report, which called for an independent safety agency within the Department of the Interior. A separate agency was considered by the Commission to be necessary "to protect against cross-pressures from within the department."
Salazar and Bromwich said that while that idea might have merit, it would require congressional action, and that, for the time being, the splitting of BOEMRE into two new agencies was already a formidable task they hope to complete by the end of the federal fiscal year in the fall. They said they didn't want to bite off more than they could chew and either undermine the reform process or further slow industry operations.
Since the lifting of the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling last fall, there has not been a single new permit for any deepwater activity that was precluded under the moratorium, and permitting for shallow-water drilling has been far off its past pace.
Bromwich said last week that he would be "stunned" if there is not some permitting by midyear, and on Wednesday he declined to speculate further.
"I wouldn't want to hazard a more specific guess than that," he said.
While the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environment America lauded the division of BOEMRE into two agencies as a forward step, they faulted Interior for not going further to address safety and environmental concerns.
But critics of the Obama administration's response to the Gulf disaster - Reps. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, and Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia (all Rs you notice) called the reorganization "reshuffling deck chairs as our industry continues to sink." No concerns that the MMS zombie would not go far enough on the environmental protection front, just that all those damn regulations keep their corporate overlords from returning to making obscene amounts of cash as quickly as possible, as Rep. Landry, good little lackey that he is, parroted the same old creaky song...
"Sooner or later," Landry said, "the administration is going to need to answer the question: Do you actually want our drillers to go back to work or do you just want to regulate drilling out of existence through a litany of new agencies staffed with inexperienced bureaucrats?"
Would you like a little whine with that cheese, Jeff? Maybe come up with some new talking points?
The oil spill commission has called for using industry fees to improve the caliber of federal regulators by raising their pay commensurate with what they could earn if they worked in the industry they are seeking to regulate. That too would require congressional action.
Salazar dismissed criticism of his department's overhaul efforts, which he said are consistent with the commission's recommendations.
"Now is not the time to retreat or leave the commission's report to simply gather dust," he said.
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Concerns over increasingly frustrated claimants prompted additional security at meetings with claims czar Kenneth Feinbergin Alabama Tuesday and Wednesday. More that a thousand people attending a meeting in Orange Beach had to empty their pockets and go through metal detectors. The same procedure was followed in Bayou La Batre the previous day. Security has not been a problem, officials said, but the exchanges have often become heated.
"It's become very frustrating, an emotional drain on people," Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said.
Kennon said he didn't want to take any chances after the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that critically injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killed six people and wounded 12 others. He said there haven't been any specific threats.
"But there's no way I wanted to look back and have regrets," Kennon said.
Feinberg has faced repeated criticism that he is not compensating people enough for their losses, paying too slowly, or denying claims altogether. He is in charge of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which is doling out $20 billion of BP's money to business owners and others impacted by the spill. Feinberg has said he is doing the best he can given the more than 470,000 claims for compensation. He has repeatedly promised fairness and more transparency in the process.
Feinberg said he has no plans to add his own security.
"I don't think any of it is necessary," he said after the meeting. "I don't worry about it at all."
Feinberg said he understands the rising tempers and frustrations but doesn't feel threatened.
"People are legitimately frustrated and concerned by their financial situation," he said
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CNN's Anderson Cooper has taken offense at a bit of minutia from the Oil Spill Commission's report- the part that says he "disinvited" a parish president and an oil field worker when he found they might not be "angry" enough. Cooper called the finding "Just wrong. Just false."
Cooper pointed out the commission made its charge against him without attribution, saying he "reportedly" reneged on his invitation for the parish official and oil worker to appear on his news show.
"The idea that journalists were manufacturing the anger and frustration and fear among residents and state and local officials is preposterous," Cooper said. "I can't speak for all journalists, but the idea that there were not plenty of legitimate reasons for people in the gulf to be upset about the response to the spill is just ludicrous."
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And ExxonMobil lets us know that it may be too late already, so just keep on drilling! The world's largest oil company expects global carbon emissions to rise by nearly 25% in the next 20 years, in effect dismissing hopes that runaway climate change can be arrested and massive loss of life prevented. Demand for power will increase by nearly 40% in the next 20 years, lifting emissions by around 0.9% a year at least until 2030. Beyond 2030, it says, any progress on cuts will require "more aggressive gains in energy efficiency as well as the use of less carbon-intensive fuels. New technologies will by then be essential.".
"It is a significant rise [in emissions], but it is substantially slower because of [expected] improved efficiency and a shift towards lower carbon fuels," says the report, previewed today at the World Future Energy conference in Abu Dhabi.
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The projections by Exxon scientists are gloomier than anything publicly expressed by governments and scientists, who maintain that global emissions can be reduced significantly and catastrophic climate change be averted if action is taken for them to reach their "peak" in the next 10 years.
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But Exxon, which until 10 years ago was skeptical that climate change could be even caused by man-made emissions, said emissions will continue to rise significantly with very little reduction in fossil fuel use.
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"In 2030, fossil fuels remain the predominant energy source, accounting for nearly 80% of demand. Oil still leads, but natural gas moves into second place on very strong growth of 1.8% a year on average, particularly because of its position as a favored fuel for power generation.
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"Other energy types – particularly nuclear, wind, solar and biofuels – will grow sharply, albeit from a smaller base. Nuclear and renewable fuels will see strong growth, particularly in the power-generation sector. By 2030, about 40% of the world's electricity will be generated by nuclear and renewable fuels."
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PLEASE visit Pam LaPier's diary to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!
Previous Gulf Watcher diaries:
The last Mothership has links to reference material.
Previous motherships and ROV's from this extensive live blog effort may be found here.
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