Mr. President: Place the oil leak under the authority of FEMA.

[Dr Morbius]

BP won't listen to the EPA. Possibly this is because the agency was so weakened earlier this century, and possibly this is because BP is disinclined to listen to anyone. FEMA, however, is a tremendously powerful agency. Given that the department by design is all about managing emergencies, they have extraordinary authority... and locals or businesses who interfere with FEMA tend to regret it quickly.

The oil gusher under the Gulf of Mexico is an emergency, and should be seen as such. There is no imminent danger of people dying in this emergency, as would be the case in say the aftermath of a hurricane or other natural disaster. But this is a disaster; the nation's food supply will be affected for over a decade even if they eliminate the leak in the next hour. Which they won't; the most optimistic view holds that the oil won't stop until August, and that means generations.

Generations! There are men down in Louisiana and Mississippi who have been fishermen their whole lives, and their fathers and grandfathers were also. They and their children can no longer be because of this ecological crisis.

Mr. President, accept that this has gone beyond an annoyance and must be now accepted as a crisis. An emergency. Place this emergency under the authority of FEMA, and start organizing people - you're good at getting people organized, everyone says so - to clean up this mess. Start with volunteers, but go beyond that. 10% of the nation is officially unemployed; we all know the real unemployment figure is far higher. The cleanup is work, a LOT of work, and there are a lot of workers available. Hmm. Mr. President, you can handle this much math. Get an emergency bill passed which puts a quarter-million people to work cleaning up the oil. Meanwhile, under the auspices of FEMA you can appoint anyone you like to light a fire under the collective ass of British Petroleum.

To pay for this, raise the taxes on oil companies by 1% or so. They will howl and protest; tell them to blame BP; one of their own. And inform them you have every intention of billing BP for every penny; that will sound good to your base. It provides an economic boost to a region which is going to badly need it. It gets more people engaged, always a good thing. And it starts to address a problem which we all know needs to be addressed.

Every crisis is an opportunity. Do you wonder why many Americans feel like you haven't done enough? The above is just one suggestion on how you can do more.

[geckosfeet]

1. I would expect that the spill would be under the authority of FEMA. It's fairly

obvious any one eyed sailor that BP, Transocean and Halliburton are icompetent and/or criminally negligent - probably both. They could give a rats ass about the economic and environmental well being of the gulf.

on edit - Putting FEMA in charge would also establish a presence and get the management machinery oiled (sorry) and ready for hurricane season.

[johnaries]

24. It's not. It's under the authority of the Coast Guard and the EPA.

Obama has declared the situation of "national significance" which allows the government to expand the resources that can be brought to to deal with the issue.

http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/qanda.html#declaration

[stray cat]

2. FEMA is really good at fixing oil gushing one mile under the ocean?

[Dr Morbius]

3. No, but they are pretty good at motivating and organizing.

And, as I wrote above, have extraordinary authority. If EPA tells BP to stop using toxic dispersant, BP gets their lawyers to figure out the consequences of ignoring the EPA. If FEMA tells BP to stop using toxic dispersant, BP is legally obligated to comply. Failure to obey authority in federal emergencies is felonious. The EPA can apply fines, which can then be disputed in court. FEMA can throw people in jail.

[sandnsea]

5. lol, if they stop using the dispersant

and there's a worse oil disaster on the beaches and the fishing is destroyed even further, then BP passes the responsibility to FEMA and the financial costs too.

[niceypoo]

22. FEMA would have the public interest at heart

Unlike BP who could care less about the environment or the common good. Let the oil companies plug the hole but let the Government oversee all the efforts, not BP executives.

[laylah]

4. k&r nt

[HCE1947]

6. Good, but that does not go far enough

Obama has to turn to the department that has the most advanced technology in the world. That is the defense department.

He should issue an executive order to remove BP from the spill because it is a national security danger. Then take the top scientists and environmentalists and place them in charge of this, while charging everything to BP.

I agree that the EPA is not strong enough, but he has to take action. Declare it a military emergency and order the full complement of the Pentagon into the Gulf.

Standing by and watching BP's incompetence is no long tenable. Do something now!

[mkultra]

7. lol, Christ im glad you armchair presidents arent in office

[Dr Morbius]

8. Two points.

First, this is a nation which not only encourages but absolutely requires citizen involvement in government. So the very phrase "armchair Presidents" is antithetical to America; it suggests we ought to leave such important things to those "better than ourselves." That is unacceptable.

Second, what's being done is clearly not working. Were I in fact President (granted, not possible, but speaking theoretically) I'd be practically begging for suggestions. If someone has a better idea, like the poster above suggesting turning the problem over to the military, I'd like to hear them. This is a message board discussing the issues of the day; your tone suggests I have committed an immoral act. Elucidate, please, or leave us to our discussions.

[mkultra]

11. three points

First, "Armchair" anything refers to people who make uninformed or ludicrous suggestions due to a combination of poor vision and overinflated ego.

Second, Whats being done is not working because it is new problem. It will eventually be solved as the president is eliciting ideas and suggestions, not from message boards, but from scientists and experts from BP, the private sector, and the military. The recent update that the scientists had tested hair as a possible boom replacement is proof of that very concept.

Third, I can participate in any discussion on this board with or without your leave.

[phleshdef]

12. If you are going to engage in criticicm, prepare to be criticized back.

Yes, this is a message board for discussing issues and part of that discussion will include having for own criticisms picked apart. Its not "unacceptable". You have no choice to accept it. It is what it is.

[Dr Morbius]

14. I was referring to the phrase "armchair Presidents."

Apparently I don't have the fucking qualifications to comment.

That I do called unacceptable. But now I understand how things work here. Only those who are deemed "qualified" may criticize. I pray I never fall under this classification.

[dionysus]

17. you may comment as much as you wish, but if your comment is sily, be prepared for that to be pointed

[LLStarks]

9. This would fall under FEMA's juridiction, but it would open Obama up to a "Brownie moment". nt

[Aramchek]

10. FEMA doesn't have the equipment to deal with this.

[HooptieWagon]

19. Or the knowledge. n/t

[Cleita]

13. I think this is a job for the Department of the Interior since they

probably have a variety of biological scientists who can best assess the situation, any agencies that deal in engineering like the Army Corp of Engineers and the Department of Energy, since this is up their alley. I believe you are right though that FEMA should also be in there coordinating things. Face it we need to throw all resources in there to come up with a solution and quite honestly to keep BP honest and from trying to cover up their incompetence in this tragedy.

[Arkana]

31. Interior's already involved, I believe.

As is DHS to some degree.

[Old Troop]

15. Actually the law is pretty clear. Hazardous materials incidents in

navigable waters are the responsibility of the Coast Guard. Hazardous material incidents elsewhere are the responsibility of the EPA. FEMA requires a Presidential declaration of disaster or emergency in cases other than these.

[HughMoran]

16. Let's call Brownie back

That'll get things going :rofl:

[MadMaddie]

18. There's a problem with your suggestion

FEMA is no longer an independent organization that reports directly to the president. FEMA is a shadow of what it could have been.

When the previous administration created DHS they basically stripped FEMA of any independence that it had. The budget was hammered and the role of FEMA was changed to focus on terrorism moreso than natural disasters.

This is slowly changing under the current administration but at this point it is not reporting directly to the president. This is among the many things that have to be adjusted.

I am studying this and I have been appalled at what the previous administration had done to FEMA.

[Dr Morbius]

20. Thank you. I knew the previous admin had gutted FEMA. I thought it was back, though.

Thank you VERY much, though, for the substantive response.

[MadMaddie]

28. My pleasure!

:hi:

[Divine Discontent]

21. Happy to be REC 5! as it calls out the need for the entire US gov't, as Obama stated, to be

used in this crisis. There are plenty of dept's of the gov't that can be used to handle this. FEMA is going to be used if it comes ashore heavily, or a hurricane blows it ashore into freshwater, etc., but your point is understood - Gov't take over where BP is failing for over a month.

[treestar]

23. So then you trash FEMA for not doing it right?

Is that going to make things different?

[Dr Morbius]

25. Did I trash the EPA? Did I trash the administration?

I offered this thread because I don't believe the EPA has the authority to make BP listen to the government - not to "trash" the EPA, or the administration. I have no intention of trashing FEMA.

I really didn't think I was slamming the President in this thread. I was surprised to discover myself an opponent of the administration; I never had viewed myself as such, but any observation or recommendation of a change in policy is apparently a defacto attack on the President. This was never my intention; I plan to vote for the guy for reelection.

Oh, well. I was a liberal ten years ago; I was a liberal one year ago; and yesterday I became a right-wing troll. Forgive me if it takes me a while to adjust to my new role!

[quaker bill]

26. I am guessing

that you have never worked with FEMA. I have not worked with them on an oil spill, but I have worked with them doing hurricane response. While I am a big believer in government based solutions, when it comes to FEMA, we are in fact far better off with BP in charge. They do have some very nice mobile command centers, sat phones and all that, but if they actually did something with it, I did not notice.

Actually, they were fairly useful in signing off paperwork, without review or comment, for my plans and environmental assessments, to get some federal funds to reimburse the actual responders. I did get a couple of "attaboys" from them.

[mkultra]

27. the Coast Guard is in charge of the current situation

[MadMaddie]

29. Great idea but FEMA was weakend by being pushed into DHS.

There's a great book by Charles Perrow "The Next Catastrophe, Reducinig our Vulnerabilities to Natural, INdustrial and Terrorist Disasters", in the book Mr. Perrow talks about how FEMA has always been the organization that was abused and kicked around. Under Clinton FEMA worked as it should have but under Junior FEMA was a mirror of it's former self. Junior removed FEMA from an organization that reported directly to the president as a cabinet positions.

. After 9/11 FEMA was cobbled up into DHS and it's mission was changed to focus more on terrorism versus catastrophic diasters. Also, during this stripping of FEMA many skilled Emergency professionals left because the organization became dysfunctional under Brownie.

President Obama has now placed a professional in charge of FEMA but he hasn't removed FEMA from DHS and moved it back to a cabinet position. Maybe it is possible for it to work where it is I don't know.

Anyhoo...just a little historical context...

[slackmaster]

30. Stopping the leak and cleaning up the mess are very different problems

Obviously getting the latter completely done depends on the former getting done first; but stopping the leak itself is a highly specialized technical problem that can only and will be solved by technical experts. Engineers and mechanics who have expertise in petroleum engineering.

Putting FEMA in charge of the cleanup may be a good idea. Putting it in charge of stopping the leak would make no sense.

[boppers]

32. FEMA? Katrina ring any bells?

That mess *still* isn't cleaned up.