drill baby drill – Greg Laden's Blog

I am the Angry Left. But if I was in Congress I’d still be polite.

Greg Laden — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:05:55 +0000

We know that the right wing revels in stupidity; Willful stupidity and well practiced stupidity are thought to be the way elitist anti-populous tax-the-middle-class Republicans capture support from the masses. Seems to work rather well. But increasingly this trope of (ig)noble ignorance is being supplemented by large doses of mean spirited in your face angry verbal assault. Imagine a member of congress saying to an expert witness at a committee hearing “As long as I’m sitting here and you’re sitting there, I can call you whatever I want.”

Seriously. The last time I heard that kind of talk in real life was in a bar, late at night, everyone was drunk, and the words were slurred.

I would like you to look at two freshly produced essays reflecting on one recent incident:

Don Shelby has written this piece for Minnpost:

A video of Rep. Don Young every American should see

On Nov. 18 the celebrated historian, Dr. Douglas Brinkley, testified before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee. The committee was taking testimony on another congressional effort to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil exploration and drilling….After Brinkley delivered his testimony, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, walked into the hearing late. Please watch this short clip of what happened:

Click here to be shocked and amazed. Don, former WCCO (CBS) News Anchor, is a friend of the victim, and provides excellent analysis of this fiasco.

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Meanwhile, Shawn Otto (of ScienceDebate fame and author of an important new book on science denialism) also wrote about this astonishingly immature and inappropriate behavior by a member of the United States Congress:

Congressman to Witness: ‘You Just Be Quiet!’

A heated exchange between two congressmen and a historian they didn’t want to hear from shows what happens to democracy when knowledge is no longer the arbiter of what is true, but is simply another “way of knowing.”

This shameful display happened when Republican congressman Don Young from the state of Alaska shouted down a noted historian invited to testify before the House Natural Resources Committee…

Click here to be flabbergasted.

Why do Republicans hate America and the Earth?

Greg Laden — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:47:13 +0000

This is a bit long but you will benefit from watching all of it. It gets extra hot at 31:30.

I love the look on that woman’s face at 31:38 and again at 31:47. LOL.

This particular member of congress, Don Young from Alaska, needs to get unelected. Frank J. Vondersaar seems to be the guy running against him, and this seems to be his web site. You can donate money to help Frank’s campaign here.

I was originally made aware of this testimony from a blog post at Get Energy Smart blog, HERE. Please go check that out.

Another Gulf Oil Rig Has Exploded

Greg Laden — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:03:20 +0000

An offshore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.

A commercial helicopter company reported the blast around 9:30 a.m. CDT Thursday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel said. Seven helicopters, two airplanes and four boats were en route to the site, about 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast.

The Coast Guard said initial reports indicated all 13 crew members from the rig were in the water. One was injured, but there were no deaths.

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The Dispersal of Oil in Water

Greg Laden — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:36:02 +0000

Which is not the “going away” of oil.

More info here.

hat tip: Diandra Leslie-Pelecky

BP out of Alaska?

Greg Laden — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:55:07 +0000

The Alaskan Oil Pipeline closed down yesterday for a routine maintenance, as one notable oil spill related to that line is still being dealt with, and a more recent smaller spill is being managed, we hope.

And amid this news, there are rumblings that BP, which owns 46% of the company that runs the pipeline, may be selling out and moving on.

Is BP Cutting Corners in Alaska?

Greg Laden — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:14:16 +0000

The word on the street: Yes.

Susan Shaw: The oil spill’s toxic trade-off

Greg Laden — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:52:07 +0000

Break down the oil slick, keep it off the shores: that’s grounds for pumping toxic dispersant into the Gulf, say clean-up overseers. Susan Shaw shows evidence it’s sparing some beaches only at devastating cost to the health of the deep sea.

What matters is not that Tony Hayward is leaving BP.

Greg Laden — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:46:22 +0000

What matters is if he gets an obscene exit deal which essentially rewards him for overseeing the destruction of the Gulf of Fucking Mexico, or if he is tossed out on his ear and disgraced. I don’t expect BP to do the right thing, but they will apparently do something soon.

Is the BP Oil Well Gonna Blow?

Greg Laden — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:49:10 +0000

It looks like the possible worst case scenario is more than a theoretical possibility. The news on this is vague and unclear, but it seems as though pressure reductions under the newly placed well cap have been detected, indicating that oil and gas in the deep sea wll are going somewhere. The fear would be that this indicates that the bore running from the deep deposit to the surface is leaking into surrounding sediments. If that really happens, it could be detected by gas coming from the surface near (but not directly from) the bore. Eventually, if this leak is for real, oil could start leaking out of various places as well.

If such leaks form and are significant, and continue, it could become impossible to actually stop leakage of this well, and it would be difficult to control the oil that does leak out.

There are two relief wells being dug, and once they are completed they will relieve pressure and that could reduce random uncontrolled leaking. Also, eventually, the well will run out of oil. None of these scenarios are good with respect to, say, the health of the planet and all.

Keep your fingers crossed. It won’t help, but it will keep your fingers occupied while we wait for the other shoe to drop.

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The Leak has Temporarily Stopped, Stock Market Grins Stupidly

Greg Laden — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:10:38 +0000

Apparently, BP’s well cap on Deepwater Horizon is holding, as the closure of the well cap plays a role in testing the device itself. The cap will stay closed for only a short time, then oil will be allowed to flow to surface ships again while relief wells are drilled into the deposit. One of the relief wells is currently a very short distance (several meters) from the shaft of the main boring.

The relief wells can probably be doing their job by mid August. So, over the next month, oil will continue to be “processed” on the surface (which I assume means that much of it will be burned, but I’m not certain of this). The possibility of the well cap failing and a new deep sea leak starting up will remain a strong possibility between now and then.

Despite the fact that the effects of one of the worst environmental disasters ever are still mainly in the future, BP stock’s rose on news of the successful test closure of the kill valve on this cap. If we ever needed proof that the invisible hand of the free market is an imbecile, this would be an excellent example.

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