The realities of the Gulf oil disaster

As this is written it has been more than seventy days since the explosion that resulted in the sinking of the deep water oil platform that loosed a torrent of raw oil and gas from the mile deep floor of the Gulf off the shore of Louisiana. The resulting string of stupid blunders by BP and the companies running the oil rig combined with the bureaucratic ineptitude of our competing government agencies has created a nightmare of accusations and claims by all parties. In addition, long delays face most actions for a variety of ridiculous reasons, including jurisdictional disputes between government agencies, domestic and foreign companies and unions. Example, the sand berms to keep the oil from gaining access to extensive Louisiana marshes: After a rather long delay, the federal government finally granted permission and Louisiana started pumping sand to build the berms to keep the oil from reaching the marshes. Shortly after the pumping started, environmentalists convinced the government the pumping might endanger the Chandeleurs, the sand islands that offer some protection to the Louisiana coast over time. The government stopped the berm building until a study could be conducted to determine the environmental affect of moving the sand. Who knows how many months that study would take. Actually, it would be mostly an ongoing argument between conflicting views. In the meantime, the oil damage to the vast wetlands will probably cause a thousand times more environmental damage than the worst the sand pumping would do.

This is but a single example of the many skirmishes occurring over what to do and how to do it. It’s a classic case of too many chiefs and too few indians typical of the ridiculously complex, conflicting agencies of our obese government. Each agency and often each head of this or that trying to make themselves more important. All this with complete and total disregard for the costs paid by taxpayers. To add to the confusion, many if not most members of both private and public organizations have little understanding of their own rules. Another example, also from the oil spill, is the various interpretations of the Jones Act of the 1920s by various individuals.

Witness words from one private source: “The Jones Act only applies within three miles of shore. Therefore, foreign skimmers, along with American skimmers, are already at work beyond three miles. The Deepwater Horizon spill is occurring 50 miles from shore, and the vast majority of oil is beyond 3 miles”

Response from another source: “I believe you will find the Jones act applies to the territorial waters of the United States. In the 1920s, when the Jones act was written into law, those territorial waters extended 3 miles from shore. Since 1982 the United Nations law of the sea defines territorial waters as ‘a belt of coastal waters extending twelve nautical miles from mean shore line.’ These waters are considered sovereign territory of the state owning the land. In addition and in response to several nations (including the US) arbitrarily declaring the extension of their territorial waters 100 to 200 nautical miles from shore, the UN defined an Exclusive Economic Zone extending 200 nautical miles from the defined shoreline. In this zone, ‘a coastal nation has control of all economic resources including, fishing, mining, oil exploration, and responsibility for any pollution of or by these resources.’ The Jones act has been considered by many as covering this economic zone.”

This plethora of confusing authorities, both written and personal, that are negatively affecting the efforts to fix the oil spill is typical of both government and corporate bureaucracies. It’s everyone trying for a share of the credit when things go well, and everyone pointing fingers of blame at others when things go wrong. All of this is fueled by greedy lawyers eager to sue anyone with deep pockets on any side of any controversy, and a media more interested in sensationalism than facts. Frequently, viable solutions to the real problems are ignored or lost in the melee and uproar of conflicting accusations.

Add to this confusing mix a president who is a political hack with virtually no experience at running or managing anything other than a political campaign. He is a master of platitudes and euphemisms, an orator who is quite obviously without a clue as to how to manage or direct any real situation. His handling of the McChrystal situation was that of a schoolboy ego that couldn’t bear the tiniest slight. “McChrystal’s error was to blow off steam and allow his subordinates to grumble about their civilian overlords—which one assumes is pretty standard fare in military circles—in the presence of a journalist.” says Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in his blog.

It's about time members of groups, that constantly denigrate and condemn others out of class or economic envy, or those with whom they have a jurisdictional dispute, began to honor and respect the achievements and rewards of those others. I see it as important that we recognize the realities of our situation and the real reasons we are where we are. There has been enough of this destructive and debilitating blame game and all of its political distortions and emotional hate-filled activities. We have been engaged in terrible inner political warfare, while our enemies stand on the sidelines urging on the various sides, and gleefully watching our self destruction.

Many web sites and news reports disappear soon after being posted for many reasons including obvious inaccuracies, editorial revisions, and/or real changes that make them invalid. A single powerful caveat exists about Internet information. Many charlatans lurk well hidden behind attractive facades on the Internet. Even a cursory examination will reveal there are magic, energy out of nothing, and secret smoke and mirror articles readily available. Many of these are driven by hidden agendas. Every searcher must be certain that information comes from a reliable source, and truly is from that source. All information must be checked and confirmed from other reliable sources. Even those sources can be in error for many reasons.

The following section deals with political, jurisdictional, corporate, and communications problem in greater detail. This is the background of where we are, why we are there, and what we must do to go forward. It has little to do directly with energy and fuels, but everything to do with what we must overcome in order to counter this growing menace before it destroys us.

It is my personal conclusion that government and corporate bureaucracies along with political and media activists are among the most powerful forces against solutions to the serious problems facing humanity. Rather than use those problems as a focus for knowledgeable people to find creative solutions, these negative groups use these problems as bludgeons with which to punish and if possible, destroy those who do not support their agendas. The vast majority of ordinary citizens of the world are swayed this way and that by intense and usually hate-filled rhetoric of persuasive individuals in politics and the media. It is no wonder they get angry because of frustration at leaders who quite obviously are feathering their own nests at the expense of the common folk while blaming all the economic woes they have created on those, like the wealthy who have achieved more. Of course, they exempt themselves from the wealthy no matter how much power or wealth they possess.