I'm All Over The Map

Gulf Coast Beauty Contest 2011

So, I watched the President’s address on the BP blowout the other night … at least until the bullshit level exceeded the inseam of the hip waders I wore for the occasion, and our Commander in Chief announced the formation of a commission to “advise” how to prevent future disasters.

Oh.come.on.

I’m not the brightest light bulb in the fixture and I *know* the fix.  It’s a simple three step solution.

• Redunancy
• Regulation
• Compliance

Redundancy – We all know that there was only a single failsafe device, which had unauthorized modifications, in place at the time of the blowout.

As everyone with half a lobe knows, you.always.have.a.backup.  PERIOD.  End of statement.  But somehow, BP and its peers (with cunning application of drugs, sex and god knows what else), had regulations amended to sidestep this, and other, elementary precautions, while drilling at depths where pressures routinely exceed one TON per square inch.

I’m not alone in saying that where there is a greater than average degree of hazard, or risk of failure, multiple redundancy, using different methods, should be the order of the day.  In fact, it’s already a recommendation of the companies that manufacture blow out preventers.  I would also say that if environmental conditions warrant the creation or modification of technology to address the situation, deployment should not be allowed until that tech is thoroughly tested.  We don’t need a commission to confirm this Mr. President.

Regulation – It’s needed, in its absence people and corporations behave badly.  The problem at this point is finding anyone in Washington willing to enforce existing regulations, let alone implement new ones.

Let’s focus on existing regulations.  They’re in place, they would work, but they’re just being largely ignored by both politicians and industry.  131 other countries, some of them considered “third world” by many Americans, have stiffer regulations in place, and even so, have been galvanized to review them in light of what is going on in the gulf.

Do we really need a commission to “study” and “propose” more regulations, when it’s obvious that we plenty already Mr. President?

Which brings us to…

Compliance – Fact: People behave better when they know they are being watched.  The same applies to corporations.

So, what is the single, most glaring failure of MMS and all other branches of the Federal Government charged with inspecting and monitoring the activities of companies on our behalf?

They don’t.

From the original permitting of Deepwater Horizon, to the actual disaster itself, MMS not only failed to inspect regularly (achieving 88 out of 104 scheduled inspections), but failed to adhere to their own standards.  Please note, MMS was supposed to be holding scheduled inspections (as do most Federal agencies charged with overseeing industry).  But let’s face it, scheduled inspections do little to foster compliance with regulations, they only give the inspected time to tidy up the house before going back to business as usual.

Therefore, going forward, random inspections should be the preferred modus operandi, and the inspecting agencies should be given the authority to pull the plug on any operation until remediation is made to address any compliance failures.  These are our resources we’re talking about, our safety that’s at stake, and our planet that’s at risk.  Isn’t it time to start acting like that matters Mr. President?

Instead, what do we see four days ago?

BP says “We are establishing a $20B dollar fund and foregoing dividends this year.”, and you saying, “I urge the commission to complete its work as quickly as possible”, including that six month moratorium on more deepwater drilling.

Connecting the dots it looks a lot like BP is paying for the privilege of returning to business as usual.  Please Mr. President, tell me that’s not the case.  Especially in light of this:

“BP is the last oil company on Earth that Salazar and MMS should have allowed to regulate itself. The firm is implicated in each of the worst oil disasters in American history, dating back to the Exxon Valdez in 1989.” RS 1107

For 21 years BP has been playing fast and loose with safety and the environment, what makes you think that’s about to change?