BP Not Liable for Spill Cleanup

[Tinker]

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/0 ... sts-29071/

[monster_gardener]

[skyhook77sfg]

panamanian trust to liechtenstein registrar via cayman agent of hong kong ubs subsidiary

[crashtech]

"The corporate state wins again."

[Demon of Undoing]

I'm starting to feel like we ought not be surprised at this sort of thing any more.

Ah, what the hell. Just borrow another bundle from the Chinese. We should borrow all we can, because the rates are low , you know.

[Torchwood]

[AzariLoveIran]

[rednblacklumberjack]

Has anyone kept track of this issue closely? The last I heard was that non BP-personnel were persona-non-grata for a large piece of the Gulf coastline. But I don't know of any blogs or journalists who've made this their project.

I'm curious about what the border between BP's area and the US looks like? What do local residents think of the ongoing operation? Have students tried to subvert BP's control by getting photos or video of the affected area?

[Tinker]

[Azrael]

[Azrael]

[the glowing carp]

...and the Tea party/Republicans wants even less EPA regulations for Industry, no doubt if they get their way BP wouldn't get fined while the spill was occuring and there would not have been the 20 billion dollar fund for lost income for residents of the Gulf.

[crashtech]

It angers me that companies like BP want it both ways. On one hand, they oppose any regulations on the quality of their blowout preventers, and on the other they want to be held harmless when they fail.

In light of this judgement, the US taxpayer should demand that only blowout preventers of the highest quality standard be employed in areas where they might end up monetarily responsible for their failure.

Yes, I am calling for more regulation, but BP by their evasion of responsibility is asking for it.

By the way, carp, I am nominally a conservative/libertarian.

[Tinker]

[Azrael]

But conservatives complain that lawsuits (aka making companies responsible for damage they cause) costs jobs and raise costs, and their "solution" is tort reform (aka letting companies off the hook). I'm afraid that middle ground has been losing ground in legislatures over the last twenty years, especially in the medical field.

[crashtech]

The oil industry and the medical profession are not comparable at all.

[noddy]

[crashtech]

I realize this article is a couple months old, but it might shed some light on a subject that might be more complicated than I realized with my initial reaction.

I looked for a money quote in the article, but it's so dense with interesting assertions, none could be clipped out without slanting the gist of the article. I urge all interested to read it, it's short enough, and interesting.

What I got from it is that the fundamental assertions about what constitutes an effective BOP must be re-examined. I think it's past time for a clean sheet design that addresses the lessons learned from not only the Deepwater Horizon, but Ixtoc I as well, another massive Gulf spill that was exacerbated by the BOP's inability to perform its intended function.

[Azrael]

[crashtech]

It's a waste of time for me to try and explain why they are so different. The only reason you want to find them comparable in the first place is to score your political point about conservatives, which may gratify a few, but does not further the discussion.

How about I just say that anyone who wants to think they are the same is free to do so, but I disagree. Can we move on now?

[Azrael]

[crashtech]

Fuck off, troll.

[Tinker]

[crashtech]

First, because I've seen the way Azrael treats other posters. I'm just beating him to the punch while avoiding an ultimately pointless digression.

Second, I don't think it's a valuable comparison to make, unless you enjoy dividing people by differences in ideology instead of uniting us where we can agree.

I think Azrael and I could find at least some agreement on the specific issue of BP's responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon spill. But it always has to be about scoring points. I fucking hate that.

[Azrael]