A slice of history about BP

BP (British Petroleum) is a descendant of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. For those who aren't aware, in the early 1950's Iran had a democratically elected relatively pro-Western government.

The Iranian parliament had asked for a better deal from the AIOC in the late 1940s and early 1950s (they wanted a 50/50 cut of the profits, which was what ARAMCO offered Saudi Arabia). The AIOC absolutely refused. In response, the Iranian parliament nationalized the AIOC holdings in 1951.

In order to restore Western Big Oil to its Iranian holdings, CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953, putting the shah back on the throne as a megalomaniacal capitalist dictator and puppet of Washington. The enraged Iranian public overthrew the shah in 1978-79, establishing the Islamic Republic that has been a thorn in Washington’s side ever since. So, BP’s earlier arrogance helped produce our current crisis with Iran, just as it’s current incompetence has produced the massive Delaware-sized oil slick now devouring Louisiana.

What the heck is BP putting in the Gulf?

What new problems will be created. This is truly frightening.

With the remains of the Deepwater Horizon rig still spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico every day, BP and federal response teams are scrambling for solutions. BP has bought up more than a third of the world's supply of dispersants, or chemical substances used to break up and sink oil to prevent it from hitting land. The problem is, no actually knows what chemicals are in many of these dispersants, or the impacts they may have on marine ecosystems.
Reports Propublica:

On Thursday BP began using the chemical compounds to dissolve the crude oil, both on the surface and deep below, deploying an estimated 100,000 gallons. Dispersing the oil is considered one of the best ways to protect birds and keep the slick from making landfall. But the dispersants contain harmful toxins of their own and can concentrate leftover oil toxins in the water, where they can kill fish and migrate great distances.

The exact makeup of the dispersants is kept secret under competitive trade laws, but a worker safety sheet for one product, called Corexit, says it includes 2-butoxyethanol, a compound associated with headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems at high doses.

Next on the menu at your local seafood restaurant: Sauteed Mutant fish with in a 'glow in the dark' seaweed broth

Stephen Colbert has the solution to the oil spill

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RIght on cue from "You're doing a heck of a job Brownie"

Michael Brown, the disgraced former head of FEMA whose only previous experience was in running horse shows has spoken, accusing Obama of delaying the response to the oil spill.

"This is exactly what they want, because now he can pander to the environmentalists and say, 'I'm gonna shut it down because it's too dangerous,'" Brown told Fox's Neil Cavuto. "This president has never supported Big Oil, he's never supported offshore drilling, and now he has an excuse to shut it back down."

Brownie, how about getting a real job?

A fun classic love song for a Tuesday morning from the great John Prine and Iris DeMent.

More evil afoot, apparently

Everyone's favorite whipping boy, Massey Energy CEO, Don Blankenship feels he is the victim of evil forces.

"I think about how evil people can be and how misplaced their priorities can be and unfortunate it is that people that can reach the level of senator or president or representative or head of the union - how wrong they can be," Blankenship said. "But I've seen a lot of it over my time."

Yes! Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and President Barack Obama's call for proper accountability is just straight up demonic.

Blankenship hasn't quite reached the level of paranoia about evil that Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray did after a collapse in his Crandall Canyon mine killed six miners (a second collapse went on to claim the lives of three rescue workers). Murray told reporters that he was the victim of an "evil mountain" that was "alive." Give Blankenship a bit more time and I am sure he will find even more evil where appropriate as long as it makes him look like the victim.

The latest conspracy theory from the right

Obama is obviously some resident evil genius who can make things happen all over the place. The latest crazy theory on the right is that somehow he conspired to make the oil spill far worse than it is so that he can stop any future oil drilling even though he was in favor of it a few weeks ago.

Get that. I'm not sure I do but that is the theory that is starting to bubble up from all the usual places.

Greenspan wanted housing bubble dissent kept secret

As top Federal Reserve officials debated whether there was a housing bubble and what to do about it, then-Chairman Alan Greenspan argued that the dissent should be kept secret so that the Fed wouldn't lose control of the debate to people less well-informed than themselves.

"We run the risk, by laying out the pros and cons of a particular argument, of inducing people to join in on the debate, and in this regard it is possible to lose control of a process that only we fully understand," Greenspan said, according to the transcripts of a March 2004 meeting.

The resident Fed genius didn't want people to know that there was discussion about the potential for a "housing bubble". Way to go.

Full story here.

Normal blogging to resume later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for your understanding.

Happy Birthday Pete Seeger

Why am I not surprised

Corporate interests always trump safety.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the well lacked a remote-control shut-off switch that is required by Brazil and Norway, two other major oil-producing nations. The switch, a back-up measure to shut off oil flow, would allow a crew to remotely shut off the well even if a rig was damaged or sunken. BP said it couldn't explain why its primary shut-off measures did not work.

U.S. regulators considered requiring the mechanism several years ago. They decided against the measure when drilling companies protested, saying the cost was too high, the device was only questionably effective, and that primary shut-off measures were enough to control an oil spill. A 2001 industry report argued against the shut-off device:

"Significant doubts remain in regard to the ability of this type of system to provide a reliable emergency back-up control system during an actual well flowing incident."

However, a spokeswoman for Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority said the switches have "been seen as the most successful and effective option" in North Sea usage. Several oil producers, including Royal Dutch Shell, sometimes use the switch even when it is not required by country regulations.

Experts have said that the remote-control switch may have been able to shut off the Deepwater Horizon well, and critics of have said the lack of the remote control is a sign U.S. authorities have been too lax with the industry. A spokesman for Democratic Florida Senator Bill Nelson argued:

"What we see, going back two decades, is an oil industry that has had way too much sway with federal regulations. We are seeing our worst nightmare coming true."

Finally, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that BP argued against stricter safety regulations for the oil industry in letters to the Minerals Management Service last year. BP joined with several other oil producers to say that current voluntary safety rules are sufficient. BP's Vice President for Gulf of Mexico Production wrote:

"We believe the industry's current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs..have been and continue to be very successful."

Since the offshore oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico, federal regulators at the Minerals Management Service (MMS) have been coming under increasing scrutiny for whether they were negligent in overseeing the rigs owned by BP and others. At a press conference this morning, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) compared it to the SEC’s failure to enforce regulations leading up to the financial crisis. Ironically, MMS was all set to hold its annual “2010 Annual Industry SAFE Awards Luncheon” on May 3. Perhaps recognizing that now is not the time to applaud the oil industry for safety on the job, MMS postponed the event.