8 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

"Show your #LOVE for the gulf: RESTORE Act online week of action starts Monday.

Starting Monday Feb. 13 and continuing throughout the week, the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign will be sending some Valentine’s Day love to the gulf!
We’ll be tweeting and Facebooking specific members of Congress, urging them to send BP oil
spill fines back to the gulf by passing the RESTORE Act.

It has been almost two years since the devastating BP gulf oil spill of 2010, and Congress has yet to act to ensure that the fines from this disaster go back to the areas that were damaged.
In the coming months, BP is expected to pay up to $21 billion in penalties from the oil spill.
But without any action from Congress, this money could go toward unrelated federal spending.
That’s why we’re supporting the RESTORE Act.
If Congress doesn’t act soon, this money may not be used for repairing the environmentally and economically devastated region.
That’s why the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign is taking it to the web!"
(On-line action link below)

http://www.mississip...aign=SocialFlow

[mariaandrea]

You have got to be kidding. How could that money NOT go back to the Gulf?!! That's outrageous! And, according to the site they're just asking for 80% of the fines to go back to the Gulf, and even that hasn't been assured yet? I had no idea. That is outrageous and unacceptable. I'll be following that campaign. That's like my house burning down and the insurance company giving the money to rebuild to my neighbor and not to me. How does that make any sense whatsoever?! I had no idea.

[E3 wise]

I think this just goes to show how crazy this all is.  To think that the money from the BP disaster could go to other statees than those affected is basically organized robbery.  Count us in we will be signing the petetion and passing on the information to our environmental partners here in the gulf coast.  Thank you so much for bringing this to everyones attention.

Great post Shortpoet-GTD

[Shortpoet-GTD]

E3 wise, on 13 February 2012 - 07:36 PM, said:

I think this just goes to show how crazy this all is.  To think that the money from the BP disaster could go to other states than those affected is basically organized robbery.  Count us in we will be signing the petition and passing on the information to our environmental partners here in the gulf coast.  Thank you so much for bringing this to everyone's attention.

Great post Shortpoet-GTD

Thanks. I try and find information, so people can be aware.

News reporters and anchors like Edward R. Morrow, Woodward/Bernstein and Walter Cronkite used to be trusted,
(with good reason) when news organizations were investigative, honest and didn't care if they angered the money changers.

They had the b*lls to speak truth to power. Corporations took over and truth in reporting has gone
by the wayside.  

Msm doesn't report much truth anymore. There are a few exceptions occasionally.
(Shepherd Smith during Katrina, Richard Engel reporting on the middle East, Josh Fox on gas fracking.
I would include Spike Lee, but he's a filmmaker. He has done some great documentaries (investigative reporting)
on a number of issues.)
Reporting is all one line sound bytes now. "Here's a 30 second clip" blah blah.

We have to search the information out on the net, and even then, we're taking our chances on it being accurate
or in depth.
The oil drum site still has the b*lls to report the truth, and a handful of others but is that enough?

Is it just more bytes, or can we find real substance?
And how many of us search the net for these kinds of stories? 3%?  Maybe 20%?

Big oil gets away with murder (literally) and no one says a word. $$$ rules.

Rachel Maddow did some intensive reporting on the oil spill and how it was effecting the marshes, and
wet lands at the time, but nothing since.
bp is running bullsh*t adds now on how wonderful everything is along the coast. I would venture to say,
that most people believe it. Greenwashing, whitewashing-call it what you will; it's lies, pure and simple.

We hardly ever see follow up stories on big headlines.

Bang, the circus comes to town, floods the airwaves with blather and multiple talking heads for 24 hours,
and then they pack up and leave to the next bang-circus.

It'll be the same thing after the Keystone pipeline is built. It'll leak and poison our water, bang-here
comes the circus. 6 months later? Not a peep.

[jasserEnv]

It is indeed sad that people have to fight for the punitive damages to be used to actually clean up the environmental damage that was caused in the first place. This is a flaming indictment against governments and how badly they serve the mandate of the population. What is the point of fines if they are not to right wrongs? Charging a company a fine and then not using it for a rightful purpose only enables the companies that break the rules to rightly argue that the fines don't serve anyone. This is bad for the government and protection of the public good.

I hope that some good comes of this public awareness campaign.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

jasserEnv, on 14 February 2012 - 01:33 PM, said:

This is a flaming indictment against governments and how badly they serve the mandate of the population.
I hope that some good comes of this public awareness campaign.

I agree to a point regarding the government.
But we don't say it's a flaming indictment against a cop when he/she doesn't catch a killer.
bp was the wrong doer here, and they are the responsible party.
Yes, the epa and others can fine them, oversee the distribution of monies but why is bp shirking
their responsibilities?

[jasserEnv]

In my mind, businesses will always try to get out of their responsibilities because it costs them to be responsible. This is the nature of business and greed. So, all we really have is the clout of our governments to ensure that such fines are fought for and collected. Where I see the failures is in our governments is not using their clout appropriately to obtain the funds and to then using the funds for the purpose that they were intended.

To your analogy regarding catching a killer, I believe it more apt to discuss appropriate punishment for a known killer, not catching a killer. We know that BP did the damage so it is a matter of holding them responsible for their mistakes. I would be similarly disappointed if a government gave a light sentence to a killer when the exact nature of their crime was well understood. That is why I see them as failing because it is a failure to perform duties to the extent they should be.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

jasserEnv, on 15 February 2012 - 08:51 AM, said:

In my mind, businesses will always try to get out of their responsibilities because it costs them to be responsible. This is the nature of business and greed. So, all we really have is the clout of our governments to ensure that such fines are fought for and collected. Where I see the failures is in our governments is not using their clout appropriately to obtain the funds and to then using the funds for the purpose that they were intended.

To your analogy regarding catching a killer, I believe it more apt to discuss appropriate punishment for a known killer, not catching a killer. We know that BP did the damage so it is a matter of holding them responsible for their mistakes. I would be similarly disappointed if a government gave a light sentence to a killer when the exact nature of their crime was well understood. That is why I see them as failing because it is a failure to perform duties to the extent they should be.

Good counterpoint.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Related to the gulf restoration-
bp is finally being dragged into court.

"A federal court in New Orleans is preparing for one of the largest and most complex environmental lawsuits
ever to come to court.
The uncontrolled well spewed some 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.
Martin Davies, director of the Maritime Law Center at Tulane University, says the first phase of the trial will focus
on the activities of the oil company (BP); the rig owner (Transocean); and contractors,
including cementer (Halliburton) and the maker of the failed blow-out preventer (Cameron)."
http://www.npr.org/2..._medium=twitter