http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spill-gov-bobby-jindals-wishes-crude/story?id=10946379
BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard
59 Days Into Oil Crisis, Gulf Coast Governors Say Feds Are Failing Them
By DAVID MUIR and BRADLEY BLACKBURN
June 17, 2010
Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor's wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore.
Louisiana Governor Jindal frustrated over decision-making red tape.
"It's the most frustrating thing," the Republican governor said today in Buras, La. "Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges."
Coast Guard Orders Barges to Stop
So why stop now?
"The Coast Guard came and shut them down," Jindal said. "You got men on the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard, 'Cease and desist. Stop sucking up that oil.'"
A Coast Guard representative told ABC News today that it shares the same goal as the governor.
"We are all in this together. The enemy is the oil," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer.
But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.
The governor said he didn't have the authority to overrule the Coast Guard's decision, though he said he tried to reach the White House to raise his concerns.
"They promised us they were going to get it done as quickly as possible," he said. But "every time you talk to someone different at the Coast Guard, you get a different answer."
Friday, June 18, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
you get a different answer because no one knows what to do next without permission from the white house. That does seem to be the problem, or maybe they need to do a an enviromental study first. Is there anybody truly in charge of what is happening in the gulf that can make a decision without phoneing the white house?
ReplyDeleteThis is funny, right? This entire website is devoted to reveal the extent to
ReplyDeletewhich the Democratic Party is trampling on civil liberties, and centralizing
government. Yet in order to hold this view, you have to forget the lasting
negative effects of the previous administration. You can look at the patriot
act, for instance. For more economic destructions that occurred during the last
administration, you can research the eclipse of WTO treaties in the United States,
and the NAFTA superhighway.
I don't believe that those who run this website consider these things, because this
is a google ad hut, where they direct you to pointless jargon in order to sell clickable ads.
What a shame.
Note: Part of what is absurd about the Coast Guard's actions is that (a) all ships are supposed to be routinely in compliance, reviewed annually. WHY suddenly pick out these barges and jump on them? Why would there be any question about these barges as opposed to all the other hundreds of thousands of boats and ships and barges in the USA?
ReplyDelete(b) Undre the circumstances, the Coast Guard could have verified life vests and fire extinguishers in 15 minutes. Heck, they could have come on board, while the ships were still working, without interruption, and just done a walk through of the ship, without ever stopping the clean up work.