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Economy
Obama: BP oil disaster 'echoes 9/11'
2010-06-15
US President Barack Obama puts the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico on par with the September 11 terrorist incident, saying the oil leak "echoes 9/11."

Taking part in an interview with POLITICO, Obama said both tragic incidents exposed our vulnerabilities.

"In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11," Obama added in an Oval Office interview, reported USA TODAY on Monday.

"I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come."

Obama told POLITICO that he'll make a "bold" push for a new energy law to cut US dependence on fossil fuel and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Now is the time for us to start making that transition and investing in a new way of doing business when it comes to energy," Obama boasted.

He also claimed that learning from the vast environmental disaster was among his "biggest leadership challenges." Obama, however, did not offer meaningful details on his new energy policy or what he has learned from the disaster.

BP has come under pressure to adopt measures to compensate victims for the loss its oil operation has inflicted on the people and environment of the disaster area.

Obama is on his way to the region for a fourth time to assess the disaster and make himself ready for his first Oval Office speech Tuesday night on the crisis.
Posted by:Fred

#21  It seems likely to me that the tar balls are from another source. The brown oil, which seems to be partially emulsified through the use of dispersants, comes from the BP well.

Reminds me of the event a few years back when a tanker of molasses overturned on the highway. Everything was cordoned off until the guys in the moon suits could get their act together.
Posted by: KBK   2010-06-15 14:23  

#20  Logistics is hard.

Of course if this had all been taken care of 4 weeks ago it could all be there by now. If it was done 6 weeks ago...8 weeks ago...but you know don't let the real world get in the way.

9/11 was a group of covert ops years in the training. The Horizon was out in the open moving slower than a hurricane. He could figure out in less than 3 weeks how to bailout big business and Wall Street, but this is complicated.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2010-06-15 12:48  

#19  Is this stuff really toxic? I don't think so. Hypersensitivity is not helping at all.

If we don't have the necessary cleanup gear, then what is FEMA or the MMA all about?

Laws can be suspended if they do not fit the situation properly.
Posted by: gorb   2010-06-15 12:42  

#18  JohnQC, help was offered by the Dutch, oil-skimming, sand-banks, seems denied on a whim, laws can be changed, or not.
Posted by: Rhodesiafever   2010-06-15 12:30  

#17  He is so trying to make this his historic moment, his legacy, his leadership moment...it is all about him.

I read in our local paper this morning that the clean up effort along the Gulf coast is slow because:

1. OSHA requires all this protective garb and equipment for workers on the beach to clean up the tar balls.
2. We don't make anything anymore and most of the cleanup stuff comes from China or somewhere else--it is not readily available here. It is slow arriving.
Posted by: JohnQC   2010-06-15 11:41  

#16  allafrica.com/stories/201003080432.html
Golf: Put Bazza's name down for the next year's tourney, travel economy only, extremely light, profiled or not, now that would be a disaster.
...(As an aside, the golf-course in '74 was 9 holes, the 'greens' were sand soaked in Diesel, to be smoothed over after putting for the next wallahs. Oh, and don't forget the semi- auto shot.gun and high velocity rifle if the animals think it's feeding time.
Posted by: Rhodesiafever   2010-06-15 11:41  

#15  I thought it was his Katrina....
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2010-06-15 09:55  

#14  He's been doing his best to fuc& things up by not suspending the Jones Act or whatever that is and to not do anything to keep the oil off our shores.

He's not getting as much out of it as he wanted, but he's going to try to milk this man-caused cow for what he can: A misguided energy policy.
Posted by: gorb   2010-06-15 09:28  

#13  well let me see....

9/11 was a deliberate act of war

Deepwater Horizon was an ACCIDENT

yeah... so similar
Posted by: anon1   2010-06-15 09:13  

#12  In much the same way as the video I took of our cat rolling around on the floor 'echoes' Citizen Kane. Both are, of course, moving pictures.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats   2010-06-15 08:52  

#11  Crisis isn't big enough to take advantage of yet, Boss.

Well, blow it up then, Rahm. The press will help. Come up with something colorful!
Posted by: Bobby   2010-06-15 06:02  

#10  A leaking southern border and a economically dying California would have been much more appropriate analogies. I reckon he never thought of those. Mr. Soetoro will be quick to claim credit when BP stops the leak. We can all count on that. The real 'crisis' is all of that vacation time piling up and Michelle having to cope with so many white people in that stuffy old White House. Thankfully, there's still golf.
Posted by: Besoeker   2010-06-15 03:53  

#9  HOTAIR > CONSERVATIVE GRAPEVINE > {Doug Ross] THE MAGNITUDE + IMPACT OF THIS DISASTER WILL ECLIPSE ANYTHING WE'LL HAVE KNOWN IN OUR LIFETIME".

Gaaawd, I hope remembered the long title correctly.

MORE POINTS for MADONNA, NOSTRADAMUS, + GUAM TAOTAMONAS...

ION, MY AFGHAN WAR COHORT OSAMA'S FAV MTV BABE WHITNEY HUSTON needs to lose some serious weight.

FILM AT 11.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-06-15 03:26  

#8  Lest we fergit, GUARDIAN.UK [old] > US MILITARY WARNS OIL OUTPUT MAY DIP CAUSING MASSIVE SHORTAGES BY 2015.

D *** NG IT, MORIARITY, ITS ONLY FIVE MORE YEARS, LETS KEEP THAT OIL A'GUSHIN', A"WASTIN', + A'SPREADIN' OUT OF DAT DAR GULF OF MAHICO JUST BECAUSE WE CAN!
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-06-15 02:47  

#7  better freeze the assets of Britain and build another mosque /sarc
Posted by: Hupatch Foot Stink   2010-06-15 02:45  

#6  He knows the US declared war on, and defeated, several foreign enemies after 9/11. And at home, Congress drove the economy into the ground.

He'd like to take this opportunity to declare war on the energy industry. And he counts on Congress to drive stakes deep into all of our freedoms.

He may be incompetent, but he knows what he wants to destroy.
Posted by: Shereter Poodle9774   2010-06-15 01:22  

#5  A deliberate act of war that kills 3,000 people. An engineering and management ****-up that kills 11. Yeah, I can see how he could get those confused.
Posted by: Nero   2010-06-15 01:09  

#4  Well, I'm sure this affected him more than 9/11.
Posted by: ed   2010-06-15 01:03  

#3  who comes up with this stuff.
Posted by: bman   2010-06-15 00:30  

#2  Hopefully, Barry (being Barry) will compare midterm elections to Holocaust.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2010-06-15 00:28  

#1  More Bull Shit by Barry.
Posted by: Dave UK   2010-06-15 00:21  

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