Mike,
Your Quote:
I would place the blame on those from the last administration that signed the deal knowing full well that Haliburton was involved. Even though George W. Bush is no longer President, he is still succeeding in ruining the whole world.
Unfortunately the Obama administration also blames everything on the prior administration. The federal government under the current President's watch took a long time to respond, Louisiana's governor had been asking for many days for help and finally some started being sent, yet not nearly enough. It is the federal governments responsibility to act swiftly in this kind of disaster. There could have been a lot done at first that would have helped to contain the oil. While I don't believe that it was President Obama's fault for the accident, of course not, but the lack of swift action was not helpful to the disaster. George Bush hasn't been the President for a year and a half now, but every time something happens there are always fingers pointing back at him, saying it's all his fault. That's just ridiculous. I didn't know any one man was that powerful!!!
There's plenty of blame to go around, but just like the story you shared about the two fire chiefs arguing over who's responsibility the fire was to put out, there was a huge lapse of good judgement and lack of responsibility taken by the current administration.
Unfortunately...all men (women), including you, me & yes, Bush & Cheney, are human, & we sometimes make mistakes. We sometimes have a lapse in judgement. We sometimes just choose the wrong thing, & yes, it causes harm. Hopefully, we will learn from it.
Let's remember that we all benefit from oil. Try to live without it! So no, it's not just the politicians and the companies that benefit from oil. We need to figure out how to do things differently and safer.
Why do we (the US) need to spend billions and billions per year buying crude oil from foreign suppliers? Fact is, we need oil until other energy sources are used more & developed more...but then you start talking about not wanting to use our own resources because of the environmentalists and the politicians not allowing development for clean energy, etc, etc, and so forth. It's a double edged sword, isn't it. We're damned if we do, & damned if we don't. But we're really damned if the people go without oil, because then people like you and I would be saying "we need our oil, give us oil, we want it, we can't do without it."
No easy answers, my gosh can you imagine being the ones responsible to make the decisions???
Being human is hazardous. I don't think George Bush has the corner on being human, nor do I think does Obama. But the Lord's grace is still extended to us, in spite of us.
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Roger,
Thanks for the forum on this important topic. Mike said what he wanted to say & I'm glad that he did. He's a good guy...but I happen to disagree with his statements, so I wanted to respond.
The truth is that this is a huge travesty to see such a thing happen. The frustration that we all have over this can be seen so clearly. It's appalling, frustrating, sad, awful, gross, etc. It just makes me cry to see the wildlife covered with the slime, and impact that it is already having on the gulf coast states and the people that live there. This is going to be an environmental issue for a very long time to come. Louisiana is my neighbor to the east since I live in Texas. I have friends that live there, & I've visited there before.
Texas fishermen, as well as fishermen in a few states that haven't seen the oil coming into their waters or on shore, will be affected though. These fishermen are already having to pay higher processing charges for their shrimp according to several news sources. The economic impact will much broader than what you can see with the eye. We will all be affected by it ultimately.
By NICOLE NORFLEET, Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. – U.S. shrimpers who comb seas unaffected by the oil-slickened Gulf are raising prices as demand for their catch rises, bringing a potential — but bittersweet — respite from some tough years.
"We are getting calls from buyers who haven't bought from us in awhile and who are offering more money," said Rutledge Leland, owner of Carolina Seafood in McClellanville, S.C.
Fishermen in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Texas, whose waters have not been affected by oil, say prices for their shrimp have gone up as processing plants that normally buy Gulf seafood turn to other docks for their supply.
Leland, who is also the mayor of the small fishing town, said the price for frozen shrimp has increased about 30 percent in the last couple of months, a jump he said was aided by the April 20 Gulf spill that has closed about a third of federal waters in the Gulf to fishing boats for fear of contaminated seafood.
The federal government has declared fishery disasters for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, which could bring emergency payments for commercial fishermen.
While 90 percent of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported from overseas, most domestic shrimp is caught in the Gulf.
Fishermen who work outside the closed waters say they're not pleased to profit from the misfortune spreading from the Gulf. "We rather see us win because we have the best product than by default because somebody went out of business," said Sean McKeon, president of the N.C. Fisheries Association, which represents fishermen and their families
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Just a short piece of this article is posted to highlight the fact that many more are affected by this than what you initially think of.