Obama signals no end to deep-sea oil drilling

[subsuelo]

Source: WSWS

The US will resume issuing new permits for deep-sea oil drilling after a six-month moratorium expires, President Obama signaled at a White House press event Tuesday.

A new federal commission tasked with investigating the Deepwater Horizon spill, which has dumped tens of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, will seek to create “safe” conditions for the continuance of oil exploration and production on the outer continental shelf, Obama declared.

“Only then can we be assured that deepwater drilling can take place safely,” Obama said. “Only then we can we accept further development of these resources.... Only then can we be confident that we’ve done what’s necessary to prevent history from repeating itself.”

With these three sentences Obama concluded the brief media event. He did not take questions.

Read more: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/spil-j02.shtml

[tekisui]

1. Wrong answer, President.

Safe, when drilling at these depths is an illusion. As we have all witnessed. He is missing a golden opportunity to be a leader in the 21st century.

[ixion]

2. The Gulf of Mexico is now a vast sludge pool, so it doesn't really matter... I think

that this is a good indication of Obama serving his true masters, though.

[amborin]

9. i think that's what the oil corps hope folks think; but even w/ this horrific disaster, the

GOM, with care, can eventually restore itself; but not if the assualts continue

[Newest Reality]

3. Who has who in their pocket?

It is hard to not see how corporations make government nothing more than a subsidiary.

Certainly, oil is the most vital blood of modern life and much will be sacrificed and discarded in order to keep it flowing. We are not addicted to oil, we depend on it for almost everything that we ingest, purchase and do. Only a massive return to a very simple and basic lifestyle will abate the tyranny of fossil fuels that seems to insist that those that control the oil, (and other resources) will increase and leverage their control of everything else.

Yet, on the surface, we see the major players pretend that things are much different than they actually are.

[tavalon]

4. There is no safe way to do deepwater drilling

No need for a study. There is no acceptable risk value. The deepwater drilling must end. We need to face that oil is finite and we now have to radically change our relationship with it.

[subsuelo]

5. Is this not a late-breaking news item?

I know it's not that big a deal, all things considered. Still, I have to voice objection to this being moved from LBN.

Maybe the source is the problem? :shrug:

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. And in other news

my respect for Obama - and more specifically his action/inaction as President - sinks even lower.

His is the administration of lost opportunities.

[Catherina]

7. Terrible. Everytime I think I can't get more disappointed,

this administration surprises me.

Barack, I regret ever sending you a single cent.

[Ganja Ninja]

29. The way things are going I'm wondering if there will be anybody worth

voting for in 2012. Obama is crossing himself off my list of acceptable candidates.

[nashville_brook]

8. i wonder how the approval ratings are going right about now.

[blindpig]

10. The business of America is business.

Thank you Mr Coolidge.

[mopinko]

11. not a reliable news source

consistently twist everything obama says in order to bash him.

[subsuelo]

15. so is it true or not? n/t

[Bluebear]

22. :crickets:

[Bluebear]

20. .

[Bluebear]

21. The same quotes are all over the news. Not much to "twist" here.

[inna]

27. is it DU's official position or are you stating your personal opinion?

[Subdivisions]

12. Can't stop offshore drilling, sorry.

It's either drill offshore or civilization collapses from oil starvation. Or, there's a third choice. We reduce our oil consumption by 3/4. Which one do you want?

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Monty, I'll take door #3.

[subsuelo]

17. BP would love for us to actually believe that n/t

[emulatorloo]

13. What is "WSWS"? I saw news coverage of Obama's statements, sounds like spin to me

[subsuelo]

19. by "news coverage" I assume you mean some corporate run program?

[DirkGently]

14. Clueless

I keep expecting more from him. But increasingly, I feel like we're being played, and that the plan here all along was to keep doing the same things to protect the same interests, while simply giving lip service to doing the right thing. It speaks of such a deep cynicism in government -- that only fools (or the "f*cking retarded") would ever try to actually DO anything better -- that strikes me as almost worse than the full, bodyhug embrace of evil we brought in Obama to stop. WHEN, exactly, are we going to actually get that we cannot run a society, or a country, or a planet, on the basis of what makes the most money for a few people, for a little while?

I'm past anger, past diappointment -- I am becoming numb.

Which I guess maybe is the whole idea. Resistance is futile. Right?

[tango-tee]

25. I've reached the point

where I simply want The Orator, The Speechifier, The Great Hope-and-Change-inator, to be gone. He'll be a rich man travelling the speech circuit. All talk and no action.

I cried tears of happiness when he was elected. Then came the FISA vote... and everything else. I keep asking myself if I was simply stupid, didn't pay attention. Where did I go wrong in my assessment and support of this man? What a huge disappointment. No, it's worse. I feel lied to.

And I agree with you, I am at the point of numbness as well. Nothing that would normally disgust me even surprises me any longer.

[BuelahWitch]

18. What party is he with again? It's hard to discern...

:shrug:

[amborin]

23. kick

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. Oh goody. More crap from the World Nut Daily of the left.

[inna]

26. dumb comment

[Tarheel_Dem]

31. And who knows from dumb better than you?

[jeanpalmer]

28. What if the commision concludes

deepwater drilling can't be done safely? Or that the risk of a catastrophe is too great? I guess they can't reach that conclusion.

[ProSense]

30. This is a complete distortion of what the President said

OP:

A new federal commission tasked with investigating the Deepwater Horizon spill, which has dumped tens of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, will seek to create “safe” conditions for the continuance of oil exploration and production on the outer continental shelf, Obama declared.

Utter bullshit

From the President's remarks Tuesday:

<...>

Now, this brings me to an issue that’s on everybody’s minds right now -- namely, what kind of energy future can ensure our long-term prosperity. The catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf right now may prove to be a result of human error, or of corporations taking dangerous shortcuts to compromise safety, or a combination of both. And I’ve launched a National Commission so that the American people will have answers on exactly what happened. But we have to acknowledge that there are inherent risks to drilling four miles beneath the surface of the Earth, and these are risks -- (applause) -- these are risks that are bound to increase the harder oil extraction becomes. We also have to acknowledge that an America run solely on fossil fuels should not be the vision we have for our children and our grandchildren. (Applause.)

We consume more than 20 percent of the world’s oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. So without a major change in our energy policy, our dependence on oil means that we will continue to send billions of dollars of our hard-earned wealth to other countries every month -- including countries in dangerous and unstable regions. In other words, our continued dependence on fossil fuels will jeopardize our national security. It will smother our planet. And it will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk.

Now, I understand that we can’t end our dependence on fossil fuels overnight. That’s why I supported a careful plan of offshore oil production as one part of our overall energy strategy. But we can pursue such production only if it’s safe, and only if it’s used as a short-term solution while we transition to a clean energy economy.

And the time has come to aggressively accelerate that transition. The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future. (Applause.) Now, that means continuing our unprecedented effort to make everything from our homes and businesses to our cars and trucks more energy-efficient. It means tapping into our natural gas reserves, and moving ahead with our plan to expand our nation’s fleet of nuclear power plants. It means rolling back billions of dollars of tax breaks to oil companies so we can prioritize investments in clean energy research and development.

<...>

[subsuelo]

32. You're quoting from a different press event.

This is the one referenced by the WSWS article:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-after-meeting-with-bp-oil-spill-commission-co-chairs

[muffin1]

33. He doesn't care.

Whichever one fits the meme that Obama ROCKS...