Go ahead, take a big whiff. You can smell the criminal greed all the way from Drill Baby Dingbat’s front porch. The entire oil industry has proven over and over again that they are ill prepared to deal with the effects of their negligent incompetence, so what do they do? They are lobbying hard for permission to be even more negligent.
Oil companies hoping to find crude under Arctic waters north of Alaska are imploring the Obama administration to ensure new rules governing drilling in the region don’t force them to stash emergency equipment nearby or block them from using chemical dispersants to clean up any spills.
The pleas for flexibility were delivered by Shell Oil Co. and ConocoPhillips in private meetings earlier this month with the Office of Management and Budget, which is reviewing an Interior Department proposal that would set standards governing oil development in the remote Arctic frontier.
The actual proposal is under wraps during the government’s interagency review, but regulators have signaled their desire for companies operating in the region to have equipment on hand to combat a blown-out well, possibly including containment systems, cap-and-flow devices that provide a path for crude out of a damaged well in a destabilized formation and rigs that can drill a relief well.
But according to just-released documents from separate Sept. 10 and Sept. 18 meetings with OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, both Shell and ConocoPhillips want more freedom to respond to emergencies… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Alaska Dispatch News>
What they actually want is not more freedom to respond to emergencies. They want more freedom NOT to respond to emergencies. This becomes both more apparent and more horrific in light of the background information provided by Rachel Maddow.
Readers, who cannot watch clips from MSNBC, can see this on YouTube.
What do you think? When you smell Shell, does it stink?
14 Responses to “Smell Shell!”
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They want more freedom to destroy the Earth and make obscene profits while doing it. Then they will telll us it's because we want more oil.
Blaming the victims is the Republican way.
Lona (Care2), you are either going to love or hate "Citizens United: The Movie." Ed Asner plays a character much like your father – as Ed Asner can do so well, nobody better. I'll try to PM you some links. They are keeping it pretty hush hush right now but I ought to at least be able to link you to the script.
I wish the spirits of all those who dies on account of Republican policies would organize and work on convincing those still living that they are being used. Now there's a book or a movie or both!
I look forwafrd to that one!
The richest industry in the world wanting to go back into the Arctic with defective equipment – and defective planning, defective ethics and defective morals. These are the blood brothers of those who have caused all the other oil spills – notably the Kalamazoo River, and the Gulf of Mexico (and ten thousand others) – all apparently because they were cutting corners and saving money – the richest industry doing this. Now they want to have FEWER rules governing them? God help us all!
How about Rachel Maddow for President!
Lona – I'm so sorry to hear of your father's terrible illness – and how utterly typical of these horrible oil companies to conceal the appalling risks from their workers – grrr! They must be run by sociopaths and psychopaths to deliberately do that to people.
I'd vote for Rachel over any other current candidte.
I believe that we will not have to worry about the big stink of oil companies taking over if we keep the senate in 2014. But if we lose well that's not all we need to worry about ……….. 5 Republican Goals If They Win the Senate Nov. 4 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/republican-goals-win-senate-nov-25815604
Good point!
Name one large corporation of any kind that can pass the fresh air test. What people need to realize is that the population, the economy and the environment have arrived at an impasse and none can proceed without doing irreparable damage to the others. The only way out of this and still keep everything more or less intact is to ditch capitalism in favor of a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic system, a feat that's entirely possible and feasible given political will. But to answer the question: Damned right Shell stinks; it always has, and it always will.
I wish I could.
Shell and all the other oil companies stink. The Gulf Coast is still trying to recover from the BP spill, and now BP is suing companies they paid reparation for part of their money back! They make more money in a minute than most of us will make in a lifetime. If they can't afford safety precautions, then deny them the permits to drill. I wish they would forbid any drilling in the Arctic. All they will do is destroy it.
I fully agree!
What Shell is really saying is: "…a standby rig would cost $250 million annually, which would dramatically cut into our profit."
I have no faith in the oil and gas companies to do the right thing. They definitely need to be regulated but the regulations need to accommodate as many scenarios as possible. And any blow-out needs to have oversight from regulators, not to complicate matters but to ensure that stopping the blow-out is efficient and quick, and that clean up is done properly. I do not believe that Shell or any other company truly knows the magnitude of concerns in Arctic waters.
This from Wikipedia regarding Prudhoe Bay oil field operations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudhoe_Bay_Oil_Field
Does anybody truly believe that any oil/gas company can be trusted to have the best interests of the environment, people and animals in mind during their operations? Their only concern is MONEY! Profit!
Not at all. Add coal to the list.