"The President of the United States could've come down here, he could've been involved with the families of these 11 people" who died on the rig after an explosion, Carville said on ABC's Good Morning America. "He could be commandeering tankers and making BP bring tankers in and clean this up. They could be deploying people to the coast right now. He could be with the Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard...doing something about these regulations. These people are crying, they're begging for something down here, and it just looks like he's not involved in this."
His voice rising, Carville cried out, "Man, you got to get down here and take control of this! Put somebody in charge of this thing and get this moving! We're about to die down here!"
I fully understand that BP and Obama want the gusher stopped as much as any of us down here in south Louisiana. I don't know if the technology exists to plug the well, but I hope it does.
Where the Obama administration can help and should help is in mitigating the damage from the gusher. Neither BP nor the administration has done everything that was and is possible to protect the coast and marshes. Here we are crying that we are dying, and we don't get the emergency help that we need. If the feds won't help, then, at least, get out of the way of local people let us try our solutions. Suspend the rules and regulations. We are desperate. What you've done thus far is all too little and too late.
UPDATE: Be sure to watch the video at HP - at least the beginning about the administration's response to the oil gusher.
UPDATE 2: Here's the link to the live video feed of the gusher from BP's site.
I am sure you know this already, Mimi, but I believe the next thing is they're going to try to fire a mud mixture into the leak. I noticed in a story today that their "back-up plan" to this involves "the use of pieces of debris such as tyres, golf balls and rope to block the valve". It sounds desperate - very nearly literally clutching at straws. It would make you laugh if it wasn't so horribly awful. If firing the mud doesn't work it could make it worse.
ReplyDeleteCathy, yes I know. I'm not sure if BP can stop the leak. The gusher may continue until the pressure from the well runs down.
ReplyDeleteI want to see much more in the way of efforts to stop as much of the damage as possible. I'm not seeing it!