Gulf oil spill

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Scientists: Flood the Mississippi to Save Coast

This 'gentle flushing' could protect wetlands from oil

(Newser) - In order to prevent the Gulf oil spill reaching Louisiana's wetlands, scientists propose a unique idea: flood the Mississippi River. This Popular Mechanics article explains how the Mississippi water flow acts as a natural counter-force against the current-driven oil plume's course toward land.

Hayward: 'I Was Not Involved'
 Hayward: 'I Was Not Involved' 
Jun 17, 2010 12:49 PM CDT

Hayward: 'I Was Not Involved'

BP CEO stonewalls Congress

(Newser) - Tony Hayward disavowed pretty much all knowledge of or responsibility for the decisions that lead to the Deepwater Horizon explosion today, in the face of a grilling from lawmakers. “I was simply not involved in the decision-making process,” he told Henry Waxman at one point, and he refused...

BP Well Almost Blew Up Months Earlier

Good thing they learned from their mistakes

(Newser) - BP knew its Macondo well was in trouble long before it exploded—because it was dealing with cracks in its seal way back in February. The company spent 10 days trying to seal up the holes, experiencing repeated difficulties that suggest it was using the wrong kind of cement. Cracks...

Obama Gulf Speech 'Too Professorial'

10th-grade level speech too high for target audience, language guru says

(Newser) - President Obama's Oval Office address on the Gulf disaster was a misfire because it went over the heads of much of its target audience, according to language guru Paul Payack. Obama's sentences were too long and complex, making him sound aloof, out of touch, and professorial, said Payack, whose company...

BP's 'Small People' Remark Angers Victims

BP exec's attempt to seem more sympathetic backfires

(Newser) - Gulf Coast residents were fuming over comments by the BP chairman that his company does indeed care about "the small people," the AP reports. Ben Smith of Politico notes that the phrase already has spawned a mocking T-shirt. Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters that "I hear comments sometimes...

'Bottom Kill' Relief Wells No Sure Thing

BP estimates well will close by August, but huge challenges remain

(Newser) - The only technique BP has left in the fight to close the gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is the "bottom kill"—in which engineers pump mud into the well using parallel relief wells. Bottom kill is difficult and dangerous, but it has a track record...

On Spill, We Need 'Barack and Tony Show'

The president and BP's CEO should be allies, at least for now

(Newser) - Great, President Obama finally met face to face today with BP's Tony Hayward. Only about 6 weeks too late, complains Steven Pearlstein. These guys should have realized from day one that "they were in this mess together," he writes in the Washington Post . Obama has been publicly hostile...

BP Won't Pay Dividend, Apologizes for Spill

Obama confirms $20B fund for victims of the spill

(Newser) - BP is suspending its dividend through the rest of the year in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. "This tragic accident ... should have never happened," said board chair Carl-Henric Svanberg, who used a news conference to "apologize to the American people." He also noted that...

Obama Acting Like a 'Dictator' on BP
 Obama Acting Like 
 a 'Dictator' on BP 
Ben Stein
Jun 16, 2010 12:56 PM CDT

Obama Acting Like a 'Dictator' on BP

Victims' fund may be popular, but it violates the Constitution

(Newser) - Everyone is egging on the president to get tough on BP, but Obama simply has no legal or legislative authority to force the company to set up a multi-billion dollar fund for victims, writes Ben Stein. BP no doubt "acted irresponsibly," but Obama is going well beyond the...

BP Agrees to Create $20B Fund for Spill Victims

Top company execs meet at White House with Obama

(Newser) - BP has agreed to finance a $20 billion fund to pay the claims of people whose jobs and way of life have been damaged by the Gulf oil spill, senior administration officials say. The independent fund will be led by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw payments to families of victims...

Measured Speech Short on Energy Specifics
 Obama Oil Speech Bombs 
quick takes
Jun 16, 2010 7:57 AM CDT

Obama Oil Speech Bombs

Too vague to put teeth into battle for alternative energy

(Newser) - President Obama's Oval Office address last night drew tepid-to-furious reviews, especially on the push for clean energy:
  • Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, MSNBC: The two onetime Obama fans ripped into the president almost immediately for "what they perceived as a lack of leadership and direction, and, especially in Matthews’ case,
...

Investors Bet Big On BP Default
 Wall St. Bets Big on BP Default 
odds shoot up to 39%
Jun 16, 2010 7:28 AM CDT

Wall St. Bets Big on BP Default

Credit-default swaps predict 39% chance of failure

(Newser) - Wall Street oddsmakers think BP has a 39% chance of defaulting on its credit in the next five years, based on the skyrocketing price of the company’s credit default swaps. A month ago, investors had priced in just a 7% risk of default. “There’s still so much...

Lawmaker to BP Exec: As a Samurai, You'd Kill Yourself

Cao gives lesson in 'Asian culture'

(Newser) - Florida congressman Cliff Stearns asked BP chairman Lamar McKay to resign during McKay's congressional testimony today. And he was the nice one. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, a Vietnamese-American who represents New Orleans, delivered a pointed history lesson, notes CBS . "Mr. Stearns asked Mr. McKay to resign," he...

Obama: 'We Will Make BP Pay'
 Obama: 'We Will Make BP Pay' 
Jun 15, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

Obama: 'We Will Make BP Pay'

He accuses company of 'recklessness'

(Newser) - President Obama accused BP of "recklessness" in the first Oval Office address of his presidency tonight and swore not to rest until the company has paid for the damage it has caused to lives, businesses, and shorelines. He announced that he had asked former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to...

Oil Spill Estimate Surges (Again)

Ceiling is now 60K barrels a day, up from 40K

(Newser) - Another talking point for the president tonight: Government scientists have once again raised the estimate of how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. The well is spewing between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day, or somewhere between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels....

Obama Should Channel Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter
Obama Should Channel Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter
opinion
Jun 15, 2010 2:43 PM CDT

Obama Should Channel Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter

President can learn from his forebears for his speech tonight

(Newser) - Expectations are running high for President Obama's Oval Office speech tonight. James Fallows of the Atlantic proposes three presidential examples with which to evaluate it:
  • Himself: Obama has proven he knows how to use a big speech to "shift political momentum" and introduce long-term thinking about a policy problem.
...

BP Emails: 'Who Cares? It's Done'

Engineers discussed, dismissed safety risks

(Newser) - BP engineers were well aware of all the risks they were taking with the Deepwater Horizon well, but essentially chose to ignore them because they were under pressure to finish the job quickly, emails obtained by Congress reveal. “We have flipped design parameters around to the point I got...

Lightning Strike Halts BP's Oil Capture

Company hopes to resume today after ship fire

(Newser) - A bolt of lightning struck the ship capturing oil from the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico today, igniting a fire that has halted containment efforts. The fire was quickly extinguished, and BP said it hopes to resume containing oil from the well sometime this afternoon. No one was...

Oil Giants All Have Same Lame Spill Plan: Dems
 Oil Giants All 
 Have Same Lame 
 Spill Plan: Dems 
Grilling Big Oil
Jun 15, 2010 1:20 PM CDT

Oil Giants All Have Same Lame Spill Plan: Dems

Companies argue spill was a fluke

(Newser) - Lord help us if there’s another deepwater spill, because the big oil companies all have a pretty much identical response plan to BP, congressional Democrats complained today, grilling executives from Chevron, Exxon, Shell, BP, and Conoco Phillips. All the companies hired the same third party to draft their plans,...

'Chaotic' Gulf Cleanup Efforts Slammed

Unclear chain of command, poor response plans have made a mess of cleanup

(Newser) - The mess in the Gulf of Mexico is much worse than it would have if there had been one good response plan in place instead of five shoddy ones, officials of all stripes tell the New York Times . The cleanup effort, experts say, has been bedeviled by a lack of...

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