When Under Oath
The story changes. Everyone remember the great news announced by Carol Browner and Dr Jane Lubchenco of NOAA that almost all of the oil in the Gulf was gone?
Well, McClatchy reports that under oath at a Congressional hearing that view has altered: Scientists say Gulf oil to linger, Obama’s estimates rosy
The government’s report, produced by senior officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey, claimed that at least half of the oil that spilled from BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig was gone from the environment and much of the remainder is degrading rapidly underwater.
Several independent scientists have slammed the report, noting that it counted as part of the spill some 800,000 barrels that were siphoned immediately to surface ships, giving an incorrect impression of how much oil was discharged into the Gulf. Earlier this week, researchers from the University of Georgia reported that 70 to 79 percent of the spilled oil remained in the water, and that far less oil had evaporated than the government claimed.
Bill Lehr, a senior scientist with NOAA, acknowledged at Thursday’s hearing that only 10 percent of the spill had been skimmed or burned off by recovery efforts. Anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of the discharged oil remains in the Gulf in some form, much of it broken up by chemicals, he said.
When Lehr said it would take another two months to release the data and algorithms that were used in the report, Rep. Edward Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who chaired the hearing, said that was unacceptable.
“This report … is giving many people a false sense of confidence regarding the state of the Gulf,” Markey said.
For some reason, under oath Dr. Lehr isn’t quite as “Don’t worry, be happy” as his boss, Dr. Lubchenco, but he is still trying to prevent people from seeing the data for themselves. This secrecy by the administration and BP is a major reason no one trusts them.
I have a “news flash” for the Obama administration – just because the media that covers you is dumber than dirt, doesn’t mean that everyone is that ignorant.
8 comments
I think you are right. The Administration obviously thinks all American’s are stupid. Maybe they think they’d have to be stupid to elect them? 😆 *shrug*
OT: Speaking of which… Elections. I’ve been predicting a hung parliament the past week, or at least a very small majority for whoever win’s.
With just over 70% of votes counted, ALP is 5 seats in front, but there is a swing of 5.3% against them (as expected), the Coalition (Liberal & National parties) expected to get that swing, but it’s mostly gone to the Greens, who, for the first time ever in a Federal Election, have won a seat, along with 4 independents. The Coalition have a swing to them of 1.5%, Greens have a swing to them of 3.9%. The Greens won a major seat, not some town somewhere nobody ever heard of! The won Melbourne! 😀 That’s a major kick in the goolies for the ALP! But I doubt they will change anything, Politicians never learn. 🙂 People here *ARE* concerned about Climate Change! If the 2nd largest electorate votes Greens… hellooooo… is anybody listening??! Sheesh!
If the parliament is hung (ie. neither major party has a clear majority, which requires 76 seats), then the Governor General must decided what happens next. There are three ways it can go (assuming neither party has a clear majority, which means neither can Govern and guarantee supply):
1. Labor get’s the Greens and Independent votes, which will give them a slim majority,
2. Coalition get’s the Greens & Independent votes, and has a slim majority,
3. The Green and Independent votes are split and there is no clear majority.
If the neither party can show a clear majority and therefore cannot guarantee supply, the Governor will have to call another election. Currently, the results are:
Labor: 69
Coalition: 69
Greens: 1
Independents: 4
There are a lot of Absentee & postal votes, and they will be counted during the next week. So, we may not know for a week what happens. *shrug*
Basically, it’s what I’ve been saying. Nobody trusts either Julia Gillard (ALP) or Tony Abbott (Lib), and nothing much will get done the next 4 years, assuming one of them is actually elected. 😉
BTW, Howard’s old seat of Bennalong (that Maxine McKew won last election) has gone back to the Liberal party, which was not unexpected. 🙂
Australia Votes – 2010 Federal Election
One other newsworthy item… the Aussie election has knocked Justin Bieber off the #1 Twit’s spot! LMAO 😉 😛
Wyatt Roy is youngest Politician elected (he’s 20!) 😀
So… Wake me when it’s over! 😉 😛
Thought I’d post an update before I hit the sack. 🙂
With 77% counted, the results so far are:
ALP: 70
Coalition: 72
Greens: 1
Independents: 4
So, it looks like a hung parliament. What happens next, depends on who can woo the Indies & Greens and convince the Governor General that they can actually Govern Aus. 🙂 This will be the first hung Government since WW2.
The Coalition didn’t win this election, Labour lost it. Big time. Considering that only a few short years ago the coalition was all but destroyed… Yeah. *shrug*
I figure that oil is going to hang around for years. What a disaster!
Thanks so much for covering this most important of all ecological issues right now.
It has disappeared from the public’s view thanks to all the “happy talk” by “our” side.
Right.
Our side? Whose side are they on really?
And Carol Browner (not to mention Jane Lubchenco). What a disappointment.
I want them gone. Liars All.
And they soon will be.
Replace by real Republicans.
Real thugs.
S
Earlier this week, researchers from the University of Georgia reported that 70 to 79 percent of the spilled oil remained in the water, and that far less oil had evaporated than the government claimed.
Bill Lehr, a senior scientist with NOAA, acknowledged at Thursday’s hearing that only 10 percent of the spill had been skimmed or burned off by recovery efforts. Anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of the discharged oil remains in the Gulf in some form, much of it broken up by chemicals, he said.
_____________________
Yep, Kryten, the people of Australia have gone to the polls and firmly decided not to decide [70-72, last time I checked]. Ain’t democracy wonderful 😉
I didn’t like this crap when the Republicans did it, and I like it even less when it comes from a supposedly “Democratic” administration. This country is not supposed to be run for the benefit of multinational corporations.
It always has, OWL, so pretending it was just going to magically disappear was an incredibly stupid thing for the administration to say.
Suzan, this is taking place literally in my front yard. I live a block away from the bayou, so this isn’t an academic exercise. My neighbors have lost their jobs or had their hours slashed because of this spill. If you look at the web cam during a sunny day you can see the beach is empty. Tourism is second only to the military in my county, and we have lost the season.
We aren’t going to let this go.
OT: Here’s a pretty good summary today about the elections, and what happens next. 🙂
Politics abhors a vacuum
I voted Green’s. 😉
The problem with politics is that the scum floats to the top. If you aren’t a real leader with the ability to get things done, you make deals. You keep or break those promises depending on the need of the moment, because there is no firm, personal commitment involved. As a result party labels become meaningless, and it becomes a game, not a process.
You obviously weren’t alone in selecting Green. Gillard screwed up. She should have waited until she had a win before calling the election.
The petrochemical industry destroyed the wetlands, and everyone knows it. Attempting to compare the Mississippi River outflow that contains fertilizers that are measured in parts per million in the water with crude oil is really pathetic. If the oil companies hadn’t mucked about with the Delta, it would have filtered out the fertilizers before they reached the Gulf.
Attempting to compare thousands of farmers over a dozen states along thousands of miles of rivers and creeks with the actions of a handful of multinational corporations who created a single source of massive pollution is apologism run amok.
When outsiders talked to slaves, the slaves rarely complained. When you have no other source of income you don’t antagonize your boss. Now that the “vehicles of opportunity” program is over, the captains involved are speaking out about what actually went on, but most people refused to do it when it would endanger their ability to put food on their family’s table.
Believe whatever you want, Mr Duff, but I live down here, and know the people involved, so I know what happened and what scum BP really is. Once BP personnel are in court under oath, you can’t expect to hear an entirely different story that the fairy tales put out by PR departments.