Freeze BP’s Assets Now!
By Greg Hunter’s
The runaway gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is an unmitigated national emergency. The mile deep, broken well is vomiting oil at a rate of at least 56,000 barrels a day according to Steven Wereley, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. That is 10 times higher than BP’s 5,000 barrel a day estimate.
If you believe Stephen Wereley’s minimum estimate, and I do, then during the last 37 days since the well exploded, more than 87 million gallons of oil have been spewed in the gulf. (Click here for the full story) That is nearly 8 times greater than the Exxon Valdez disaster that spilled 10.8 million gallons on the coast of Alaska 21 years ago. Remember, this is a minimum estimate; it could be much, much higher. As I write this, the well is still spewing oil.
The spill does not just affect the states that border the Gulf, but the entire country. The Gulf is a major asset and a national treasure. In the end, it will be America stuck with a large part of the clean-up bill. The people in Alaska are still dealing with the after effects of the Valdez. Exxon fought paying claims for nearly 20 years until company lawyers got damages reduced to a mere $500 million from an original award of $2.5.billion. This can not happen again on an even larger scale. That’s why I say freeze BP’s assets now, at least in the U.S.!
There has been some tough talk from the Obama Administration about BP. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said this week, “We will keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done. . . This is a BP mess, it is a horrible mess and it is a massive environmental mess.” First of all, we need boots on the ground and boats in the water, not tough talk about “boots on their neck!” This should have been a full court press five weeks ago when this tragedy first started. I mean all hands on deck for this one– National Guard, Army, Marines and the U.S. Navy. Step up and do whatever it takes to protect the coastline. Salazar is dead wrong to call this “a BP mess.” It is a BP liability, but this mess belongs to America!
Salazar also said, “If we find that they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we’ll push them out of the way appropriately and we’ll move forward to make sure that everything is being done to protect the people of the Gulf Coast. . . .” That is the statement of an imbecile bureaucrat that should have moved immediately to work hand in hand with BP to get the spill under control. Instead, Salazar is waiting for BP to fail! How stupid! I am sorry for the blunt commentary, but I cannot assess this man’s leadership any other way. Salazar is the one who should be pushed aside because he is letting the disaster grow without doing all that can be done to minimize the damage.
The Governor of the State of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has been an outspoken critic of the administration’s response to the spill. I know some will say that’s just partisan politics but, in this instance, Governor Jindal has a legitimate complaint. 70 miles of his state’s coastline is already covered in oil. By the time this is finished, I predict every state in the Gulf will have oil on its beaches. Remember, this is already at least an 8 times bigger spill than the Valdez calamity. This is not some far away, sparsely populated state but several states that are many times more populated than the Alaskan coast.
I am sure BP will pay some heavy fines. According to a Reuters story on Monday: The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, said the government would “absolutely” levy fines on BP over the spill. “There are certainly going to be opportunities for fines and penalties,” she told reporters. (Click here for the complete story) Fines! So What! That will only cover a fraction of the cleanup cost and damages that will stretch years into the future.
I do not expect BP to do the right thing by America because the company is also quietly doing business with Iran! This is a country that is a known state sponsor of terrorism and a perceived enemy of the United States. (Click here for more on that story) So, forgive me if I do not trust BP to operate in the best interest of America while dealing with this oil gusher. That is why I say, “freeze BP’s assets now,” to make sure it pays for the mess and damages it created.
Please Support Our Direct Sponsors Below
Who Support The Truth Tellers
About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
Let’s vote!! Ummmmmmmmm……….FREEZE EM!!! Since nothing else seems to work, I like the idea of using big oil executives to plug the hole….just shoot the board of directors and the assistant’s assisstant to the assisstant and maybe that would stop it!!
BLT,
Me too! Thank you.
Greg
I agree with you that BP has done, and will do little to avert any further damage. I’ve heard figures from different reports that the oil is spewing out at a rate between 50,000 and 100,000 barrels a day. Given a moderate average of say, 70,000 barrels a day, it still calculates to about 100 Million gallons leaked into the gulf since the accident, and with another few hundred thousand gallons of dispersant, I somehow feel the gulf is destined to be a massive superfund site, with no banks or corporations taking responsibility. It’s a horrible travesty that should have never happened.
BP won’t pay out enough to cover even a percentage of the damage costs. Louisianna alone makes $2 billion a year from the fishing industry, and there isn’t enough money in the world to restore the only coral reef in N America in the Fla Keys.
Thank you Oldschool.
Greg
Hey Greg,
I have a love-hate relationship with energy companies. I like heating and cooling my house and I like driving my car. I like boating.
I need energy products. I am the reason for the oil spill in the Gulf.
I was a Master Mariner who worked in the oil business. You have no idea how difficult ocean (or sea, or gulf) work is and you don’t know how dangerous crude oil wells and gas wells can be.
Your article is good–I am not being critical.
That oil is gushing into water that is at 151 atmospheres of pressure (151 x 14= PSI+-). What pressure is the oil at?
Here is a good article:
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/oped-second-slower-look-well-hell/
markm
MarkM,
Good points.
Gregt
This is a disaster at every angle Greg, but paints a clear picture of a system (govt) that has lost it’s premise to Money. BP is counted on to “investigate” itself, Obama doesn’t want to accept the responsibility of the mess AND coddle a foreign corporation simultaeneously and the well won’t be capped unless BP can keep access to the well, their only genuine concern.
Meanwhile, taxpayer funded Sheriff act as security to block investigative reporting and who knows what else. We pay for BP to obstruct disclosure of BP’s mess(?).
I voted for change…. not incremental nuances of the same corporate ideology. It’s time to confront the paradigm of money before it eclipses humanities ability to do so… and that is on the near horizon.
Mike,
I hope I see this cleaned up in my lifetime. Thank you.
Greg
Hey Greg and Mike,
The Gulf of Mexico has numerous “leaking springs” of oil. The beaches off Redondo, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, et allia are visited by tar balls regularly. The press reports these incidents as pollution. They are not–it is Mother Nature leaking oil from the sea floor. Nautical charts for the Southern California basin indicate some of these oil springs.
Sure, the volume is on a completely different scale. My point is that Earth has been dealing with its own natural product for many years.
Prince William Sound is not an ecological disaster. It has recovered, unless you speak with a biologist who has an agenda. The oil spills that I was involved with were cleaned up. We tried, but mother nature did most of the work. The fish are back, the birds are back, and the barnacles are back.
Is the Macado incident a mess? Yes. It is a huge mess and BP owes damages to all of the people whose economic lives are altered because of this incident.
Neo-Marxists will use this incident to call for a gubmint takeover of “big oil.” The worst thing that can happen to the environment is to allow bureaurocrats to run a business. Corporations are not the problem. It is a simpleton’s cop-out.
Corporations are groups of investors whose goal is to create a product that can be sold for a profit (Mike, profit is what gubmint needs as that is what governemnt taxes). When Mike buys products, he is voting for the corporation that produced the products and he is enriching gubmint. Gubmint makes more money off gasoline sales than BP does.
Mike needs to point the finger of blame at himself for Macado. He buys gasoline and heats/cools his house–I am sure of it.
I was involved with the IC system. This is the command system that is being used to work this problem. A government official has veto power over BP. I am sure of it.
markm
Mark,
Your point is well takken but this cannot be compared to “leaking springs.” I am not anti oil but this is a world class disaster and it demands a world class response. Thank you for all your comments.
Greg
Hey Greg,
Your point is well taken.
Here is what I wrote in the comment that regards your reply:
“Is the Macado incident a mess? Yes. It is a huge mess and BP owes damages to all of the people whose economic lives are altered because of this incident.”
Yea, you wrote my thoughts better than I did–we must agree to agree!
My main point is that mother nature will help us clean this mess up. It will take years though.
markm
MarkM,
Cool. We agree. Thank you for all the comments and support!!
Greg
The pure danger lies in the personal immunity that corporate structure allows… no one is personally liable. The Corporations are ammoral in nature and the only goal of Money is more. In that paradigm, eventually the “investment” in the company becomes the paramount concern of Money because it generates another revenue stream independent from the product. Anonymous investors with no liability now call the shots.
The human and environmental collateral damage is, from a corporate mindset, superfluous to the ony goal, more. This example (spill) plays out in every aspect of our lives, just less conspicuously.
The only weapon against Money is our Money. Spend your cash in a way that circulates within your living community and supports individual owners as often as possible. These vendors are linked to their clients and products in a way most boards of directors don’t even consider.
Alternative energy technology exists. If there was a mandate to convert to any of several, Big Oil will be the first to dominate that field as well…. but they won’t on their own until the dirty resource is completely exhausted. Good for Money, bad for virtually everything else.
Isn’t it embarrassing from a technological standpoint that computers make quantum design leaps every 3 years and 100 years later, we are still dependent on the internal combustion engine? And really, isn’t Oil at the root of all current “terrorism” with the PR facade being some fanatical crusade we should all fear. Money is deceptive in it’s consummate and perpetual game of distraction.
The current climate of partisanship that suffocates any real debate or solutions is the deception of Money. Keep the sheep arguing over nothing while they steal the farm.
Mike,
I agree and another thought. I wonder if BP would have done such a bad job with this if it were in the North Sea. This would have never happened there. Thank you.
Greg
Hey Mike and Greg,
What a bunch of religuous zealotry that was.
Where are Enron executives now? What was that guys name? Fastow?
How about Madoff? I think he is in jail. Madoff owned a corporate entity. Yea corporations shield investors if gross negligence or criminal negligence is not involved.
Hey Mike, have you heard of physics before? It is much easier to manipulate an electron than it is to manipulate basic laws of nature.
What is that formula called? M x F = V (I hope that is correct– it has been a long time). Another issue that computer geeks have not solved is battery physics. We will never use batteries to energize cars. The physics won’t let us. Even if we use carbon fiber to build cars with.
Thankfully, an evil corporation named “Boeing” is creating carbon fiber construction techniques that will be used in cars someday. Where was governement for the 787? Oh yea, governments have been helping Boeing’s competitor with illegal subsidies.
Carbon fiber could be used to create lighter cars that use less energy to propel…are we back to M x F=V? (I hope I have that formula correct…)
Oh yea, Boeing is EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Utopia would exist if evil corporations had never been created!!!!!!!!!!
Your religion is based on a false belief structure. Corporations exist because YOU BUY THEIR PRODUCTS–YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!
markm
Mark, the Valdez spill still effects the environment adversely in PWS and Exxon’s focus was on reducing it’s “fine” more than returning an ecosystem to it’s natural state. It is very much a disaster.
One reason we have this economic crisis is that there is often more Money to be made through peripheral streams than through the actual product a corporation makes. Look how important the credit division is to a car company, at some point the car is just a conduit to the Loan. Speculation replaces sales as a stock value often has no correlation to it’s actual value. Extrapolate then that HUGE financial institutions hire the most intelligent minds to manipulate their positions in a market rife with conflict and built in compromise and what other reality could we expect. Would you sit down at a poker table knowing everyone else was colluding?
This spill is just a symptom that might be “healed” while the disease (corporatism) is left untreated…meaning these disasters will recur. It is not coincidental if Money has any position that it can make more money from and won’t be held accountable. That’s it’s only inclination, more.
Yeah, I drive my car and fly around the world to surf. I am guilty of not having an alternative to a dirty, inefficient and technologically obsolete resource that Money is too damned invested in. Does transportation really have no future without oil?
As for residual oil on our beaches, yes it is natural and was long before man populated Manhattan Beach. To offer that as an argument in proportion to this spill is simply ill informed. Sometimes early rain washes sentiments into a river making it “dirty”. Does that excuse the chemical company dumping toxins into the same river and obstructing the investigation into that crime while using taxpayer employees (sheriff) as corporate security?
And before you reply that I’m a socialist ( a thoroughly marginalized term ), I do not fit in any societal box that Money has defined. I want humanity to have a fighting chance against something larger that is growing huge and of man’s own making. Once a “free market” grows to sufficient size and fails, Money expects has socialized it’s risk while they have privatized the gains. That reads like conflicted capitalism.
Is it possibe to be pro business without being anti everything else? The house of mirrors that have become our business landscapes need to be deconstructed or those element will incidentally deconstruct society. Call it what you want, but it’s humanity’s Frankenstien monster and angry villagers with pitchforks aren’t going to be enough this time.
That’s what makes the last supreme court decision so insidious.
Hey Mike,
Thanks for your response. I try to divorce myself of beliefs and try to study history and data. I concede: The free market system is a HORRIBLE SYSTEM!
Too bad no other system has come close to increasing the standard of living for as many people as has, the free market.
The free market without corporations is a religous belief. Nothing more and nothing less. Governments can’t do it–history proves this. The term “conflicted capitalism” is nothing more than keynesian socialist dogma (capitalism is a Marxist term).
I enjoyed reading your post and your reply; however, we should agree to disagree as I will never agree with the leftist viewpoint that you SEEM to be pushing.
There are no garauntees in life; corporations do F-up–get used to it. Governments F-up much more.
Cash, grass, or ass–nobobdy rides for free!
markm
Let’s See:
BP also deals with Iran !
BP major Obama political Contributor ! Although Not as big as Wall St.
BP Dosen’t Want to Cap the Well, Save the Oil Flow to Sell !
BP New Drilling will save the Oil for them in Two Months ! Then Cap the old Well ! They don’t Care about the beaches, Just the Money !
Wall Street Steals our Money and Retirement ! and Still get a Bonus !
Members of Congress only want Money (Contributions) and Votes !
Congress Want’s Lifetime Jobs and no Obama Health Care!Got there own!
Fed Controls and Prints Monopoly Money !
The President was Born Where ?
The Southern Border is Wide Open !
Amensty Creates Democrats, Democrats want Amensty and Open Borders !
Constituion Grants Rights @ privileges Only !
Rights are Free
Privileges are Taxed and Limited !
Rights are being changed to Privileges where Possible,Removed if not!
The US no longer “MAKES THINGS” only Buys things made Elsewhere !
The US only Services their Sales(Customer Service)answered in INDIA !
Do we have Problems, You Bet your Ass we Do !
You say He was Born Where ? Prove it !
AND THIS IS ONLY A PARTIAL LIST !
BILLINMO
Billinmo,
Thank you for your passion! I grew up in Mo.
Greg
Great ideas Mr. Hunter. I agree completely with your assesment of the situation. Salazar was the big cheese here in CO. for several years and his stupidity is obvious with the nonsense things he did here in the state. Keep up the great work!
Jeff,
Thank you. I would not want to shut BP down, just get enough of their assets to pay for the damages and clean up.
Greg
Get me phone numbers. I called Jindals office,as well as Barbors office and Riley’s aka chicken farmer and told them they need to go ahead and seize all BP’s assets now. This was two. I live on the coast.
Give me phone numbers I will call anybody. I’ll call Barry if I can get the number.
We want immediate actions today:
Freeze all BP assets before the pollution bandit escapes.
Historic environmental pollution has shown paths of : Bankruptcy, buy offs, and or other escape routes planned when pollution occurs which leaves taxpayers responsible to pay the bill for environmental pollution crimes. The signs are here, this leak cannot be stopped, this is a high pressure well, stockholders are edgy with losses, there are risks with more drilling which could blowout everything in this area and then? We have BP self reporting everything to the government. There is a pattern .. of cover up, after cover up; nothing works; the truth could be approaching and may come out; there could be an escape route being planned at this very minute by BP?
Obama should take measures to protect America against this and other environmental pollution crimes:
Freeze BP assets; BP stockholders will not be paid until all damages have been paid to citizens and the environment will have a separate fund setup from BP assets to address ongoing environmental pollution for many, many years ahead. What is the cash on hand at BP? Where are the dividend levels? Are there two sets of books at BP? No choice: FREEZE whatever is in the bank. The government should make sure there is money in the bank to pay for the claims filed against it. We cannot trust a looter and polluter.
Obama should create a law known as “Freezing Drilling Polluters in their Tracks”.
Don’t let polluters escape! Polluters need to held responsible for what they have done, starting with this huge man made disaster, in the Gulf.
Our priceless environment, destroyed and protected by the government for corporate friends who have looted and legally polluted the environment under the Bush administration.
Now Obama has a major environmental disaster with a “Bush’s exempted monster in the Gulf”. “Freeze the BP Monster in their Tracks.” Don’t let them escape with the loot, keep it in the bank.
2.
We want the government to get on the BP rig in the Gulf, immediately. Get the real facts in the field by getting on the rig 24/7 around the clock with a government drilling engineer.
BP will no longer self report what they are supposedly doing. It is hard to trust an industry when assurances mean nothing.
Hundreds of government experts are currently sitting in Houston, Texas in an room with BP officials; reviewing BP self reported facts; hundreds of government paid experts are trying to pull facts together based on BP self reports facts with a history of safety negligence, cutting costs corners, all for the sake of “Stockholder Profits and their reported information is factual?”
Time is of the essence, the plan today should be to get “Onboard at BP”. Why should we trust the environment to the industry which self reports what they are doing; they formulates almost believable stories; they know how to say what we want to hear to comfort us with but do not guarantee us whatever they do is 100 percent safe? BP is known for fact changing , plans flawed; changing pages to suit their situation and throwing the public off their polluting tracks; perhaps all of this could be leading to an escape route? Every day after the accident BP had, BP had a new plan and each time it failed but there is always an excellent reason for the failure after the attempt? Oil drilling is inherently risky to the environment but elected officials are finally starting to believe what onshore citizens have been telling them about the toxic chemicals used in drilling fluids which escape into drinking water supplies near natural gas drilling!
Get on the BP rig! If you don’t get on the rig, stop wasting tax payers dollars on government experts trying to assess information given to them by self reporters from BP at the “Pollution Round Table Review” in Houston.
President Obama: Do not give us more independent environmental protection agencies which have already been proven to be a waste of taxpayers money. Future agencies should be monitored daily perhaps with a lie detector test to ensure they are being kept in check since they will be exposed to big money which talks, with the drilling industry looters and polluters. We wouldn’t need to monitor renewable energies such as solar, why didn’t we move in a renewable direction years ago? All about money and corporate friends?
3.
We want the government to list the toxic chemicals used in the drilling fluids by BP drillers in the Gulf. We want laws which will ensure onshore and offshore toxic drilling chemicals used in any drilling fluid will be listed as toxic substances in the SDWA and the Clean Water Act.
We want laws to ensure environmental agencies will test water supplies near natural gas drilling for toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals are invisible, odorless and tasteless.
Currently environmental agencies do not test for toxic drilling fluids because in 2005 the Bush administration removed toxic chemicals from any water testing because Bush drilling friends or buddies wanted the administration to protect them to move forward with drilling which used toxic chemicals. If water testing showed toxic drilling chemicals in water supplies, that would mean drilling was harmful to humans, wildlife and aquatic life. The fracturing chemical exemptions law is better known to citizens as a liability exemption relief law, legally pollute citizens, they will never know what they drank in their water and that has been the record for years.
It is “Time for a Change” (s) The environment has been sold to the devil in exchange for “Wealth”.
We don’t want fossil fuels, “toxic drilling chemicals which poison our water” or future environmental disasters.
Yep. Sounds like a 35% import duty on goods from Nevis-Icorporated goods should just about even up the books.