Scientists asked to downplay Deepwater Horizon spill - latimes.com
‘In a scientific integrity complaint filed this week by the group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility contends the e-mail is evidence of White House pressure to low-ball the size of the BP spill, which ultimately totaled 5 million barrels.
‘The complaint, filed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, targets a NOAA senior scientist who PEER says prepared a July 2010 report summarizing the findings of one of the flow teams. PEER accuses the scientist, William Lehr, of selectively representing the team’s work to highlight low flow estimates at the expense of higher ones that were more accurate. Lehr, PEER alleges, wanted to “accommodate the desires of … the White House and the National Incident Command.”
‘NOAA declined to comment on the PEER complaint and a White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, McNutt said PEER had taken her e-mail out of context.
‘“I was expressing to the [group] my frustration with how to simply convey the results from multiple methods for measuring flow rate. This is clearly not a simple problem. The [group] worked as quickly as possible to develop accurate estimates of flows five thousand feet below the surface, mindful of the importance of this information to the response effort. We communicated complex scientific information. The public information for the May 27 flow rate announcement reported fast-breaking results from experts in multiple time zones across the nation as part of a real-time, nonstop response effort. We were constantly working with the press and the public to improve information, fill in details, provide clarification, and answer questions about difficult concepts. The record, the report and my comments on the May 27 press call clearly document this.”’
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Romney: Obama’s Tenure Is ‘Ground Hog Day Presidency’ - Washington Wire - WSJ
‘“He keeps saying these great things he’s going to do and yet we wake up and it’s the same picture every single morning,” Mr. Romney said. “It’s been a Ground Hog Day presidency.”
‘Mr. Romney, of course, was referencing the 1990s film where actor Bill Murray finds himself living the same day over and over.
‘He pointed out that Mr. Obama talked about leveraging the country’s energy resources but didn’t support the Keystone pipeline, and he Mr. Obama has done little to help solve the country’s unemployment problem. In Florida, which holds its GOP primary on Tuesday, unemployment stands at 9.9%, well above the 8.5% level nationwide.’
—By Sara Murray
US: 'Serious' questions on pipeline bill - NOCO5 – News, Weather, and Sports for Northern Colorado
‘A Republican bill that would strip President Barack Obama of his authority to decide on a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline raises serious legal questions, the State Department said Wednesday in objecting to the bill.
‘Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones told Congress that the bill “imposes narrow time constraints and creates automatic mandates that prevent an informed decision” on the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline.
‘The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lee Terry, a Nebraska Republican, would transfer authority over the 1,700-mile (2,700 kilometer) pipeline to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.’
—By MATTHEW DALY via AP
Fuel Fix » Time, Newsweek Bury Keystone
‘Energy has become a hot button election issue. President Obama’s State of the Union address and his decision to reject TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline crystallized the fact. The language of the GOP presidential candidates post-Keystone was suitably pithy. Gingrich intoned it “a stunningly stupid thing to do”; Romney cited the move as “shocking” and “revealing”. But just as the GOP candidate race is turning into a drawn out war of attrition, the mainstream media mood music has changed.
‘Over recent months the president’s approval ratings have been low. Not surprising given the administration’s lack of progress to impact the national debt and job creation. So the president took a calculated gamble over Keystone. Not wanting to alienate his significant environmentalist support base, he believes the decision will have little traction with key independent voters. As the political fall-out from Keystone continues apace in the more overt liberal and conservative media, high-profile elements of the alleged mainstream media may have chosen this moment to play a hand for the re-election of the president.
‘On the very week Gingrich surprised Romney with a clear victory in South Carolina – a mega national news development in the GOP presidential race – Time and Newsweek magazine both chose to run statesman-like cover stories on an entirely different candidate … President Obama.
‘Time’s “Obama’s World” front cover showed a thoughtful commander-in-chief leader in the Oval Office apparently weighing the great affairs of state. Inside the actual story was entitled “The Strategist”. You know the sort of thing, pretty much how every CEO would like to have his PR team depict him in the company annual report. Fareed Zakaria’s piece focuses exclusively on President Obama’s foreign policy record, arguably considered more successful than his combined domestic policies. Zakaria’s whole point is that Obama’s successful global policies have been overlooked as foreign policy has been largely omitted from the GOP debates. Only one problem with that, it wasn’t. Whatever debates Zakaria was watching, foreign policy came up continually in the Republican primaries. Remember Ron Paul’s 9/11 observations?
‘Newsweek went one better. They hired a self-proclaimed “conservative-minded independent”, Andrew Sullivan, to make the case that Obama’s critics are failing to see “How Obama’s Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics”, again implying a strategic mind on the case. You might be scratching your head at how anyone could put a positive spin on the running up of a $15 trillion national debt and an unemployment level doggedly sticking around 9 percent; especially, at a time when the newly reinvigorated national energy industry is desperate for drilling crews, drilling licenses, shale drilling development expansion and, oh yes, to build mega-pipeline projects. But Sullivan tried his best.’
— & Peter C. Glover
Foreign Oil Imports Drop As U.S. Drilling Ramps Up : NPR
‘Since President Obama took office, the U.S. has made considerable progress in overcoming a problem that has bedeviled presidents since Richard Nixon — dependence on foreign oil.
‘When U.S. oil dependence peaked at 60 percent in 2005, then-President George W. Bush said the country had a serious problem and was “addicted to oil.”
‘Oil imports were down to 49 percent in 2010, and the Energy Information Agency predicted Tuesday that imports would drop to 36 percent by 2035.
‘“Reliance on imported petroleum we expect to decline dramatically over the next 20 years,” says Howard Gruenspecht, acting administrator of the Energy Information Agency.’
Keystone XL Pipeline - Lies Go Beyond American Indians Now - Native News Network
‘The other side is mad. They are demonizing President Obama for rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline. There they were on the Sunday talk shows demonizing him for his decision of last Wednesday.
‘Wednesday, as I watched the CNN coverage of the announcement from the State Department, there was the other side ready to go on the attack as soon as the network switched to them. They were all lined up wearing their Congressional best business suits, visibly angry. One could hear it in their voices. They want the country back! Led by House Speaker John Boehner, who declared:
“This is not the end of the fight.”
‘Then yesterday, there was Newt Gingrich, fresh from his upending victory in South Carolina, demonizing President Obama for rejecting the pipeline. He claimed President Obama does not care about putting Americans to work and creating an alliance between China and Canada.
‘Of course, American Indians generally view what comes out of politicians mouths with a different filter system because we have been lied to for centuries.
‘For that reason, American Indians usually take a wait and see attitude when dealing with non-Indians, and especially politicians and political action committees, a.k.a. PACs, when it comes to policy matters. This time we should not take a wait and see attitude. We know we are being lied to by the other side.’
—by Levi Rickert
Canadian tar sands: Is our neighbor to the north becoming a jingoistic petro-state? - Slate Magazine
‘It’s well known that America’s dependence on foreign oil forces us to partner with some pretty unsavory regimes. Take, for instance, the country that provides by far the largest share of our petroleum imports. Its regime, in thrall to big oil interests, has grown increasingly bellicose, labeling environmental activists “radicals” and “terrorists” and is considering a crackdown on nonprofits that oppose its policies. It blames political dissent on the influence of “foreigners,” while steamrolling domestic opposition to oil projects bankrolled entirely by overseas investors. Meanwhile, its skyrocketing oil exports have sent the value of its currency soaring, enriching energy industry barons but crippling other sectors of its economy.
‘Yes, Canada is becoming a jingoistic petro-state.
‘OK, so our friendly northern neighbor isn’t exactly Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. But neither is it the verdant progressive utopia once viewed as a haven by American liberals fed up with George W. Bush. These days Canada has a Dubya of its own. And judging by a flurry of negative press from around the world—the latest: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other African leaders are taking out newspaper ads accusing Canada of contributing to famine and drought on the continent—it seems anti-Canadianism could be the new anti-Americanism.’
—By Will Oremus
Heating Oil Costs Surge, and Many in Northeast Can’t Switch - NYTimes.com
‘…cost gap looms as a crisis for the poor, experts warn, since the federal government has cut financing for energy assistance programs.
‘“We’re concerned about a public health problem if there isn’t additional money found,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association. “We’ve really never been in a situation before where we’re going into the winter with very high prices” for heating oil, he said, adding that the highest prices tended to come near the middle or end of the season.
‘The use of heating oil, which rose after World War II as a replacement for coal, has been on a long decline. As the use of virtually every other fuel has increased, the number of households that use heating oil has dropped from about 20 percent in 1975 to roughly 7 percent today, spurred by new home construction and population shifts to the West and South, closer to natural gas fields and pipelines. Government incentives for installing insulation also cut consumption of heating oil.
‘For decades, the prices of oil and gas moved virtually in tandem, but in recent years, vast increases in American gas supplies have made gas decisively cheaper.’
—By DIANE CARDWELL and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
As Obama Delays Controversial Keystone Oil Pipeline, Vast Network Of Pipelines Already In Place | Fox News
“While the Obama administration says it needs more time to assess the potential risks surrounding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a vast underground network of more than 2 million miles of energy pipeline already traverses the United States.
“Several energy experts who represent the oil and gas industry say the controversial Keystone XL, a 1,700-mile pipeline that would run from Canada to Texas, poses less of a risk to the environment than the estimated 50,000 miles of crude oil pipelines already crisscrossing the U.S.”
Costa Concordia: Marine Paradise Threatened By Cruise Ship
‘A half-million gallons (2,400 tons) of heavy fuel oil is in danger of leaking out and polluting some of the Mediterranean’s most unspoiled sea, where dolphins chase playfully after sailboats and fishermen’s catches are so prized that wholesalers come from across Italy to scoop up cod, lobster, scampi, swordfish and other delicacies.
‘“Even the Caribbean has nothing on us,” said Francesco Arpino, a scuba instructor in the chic port of Porto Ercole, noting how the sleek granite sea bottom helps keep visibility crystal clear even 135 feet (40 meters) down.
‘Divers in these transparent waters marvel at an underwater world of sea horses and red coral, while on the surface sperm whales cut through the sea.
‘But worry is clouding this paradise, which includes a stretch of Tuscan coastline that has been the holiday haunt of soccer and screen stars, politicians and European royals.
‘Rough seas hindering divers’ search for bodies in the Concordia’s submerged section have also delayed the start of a pumping operation expected to last weeks to remove the fuel from the ship. Floating barriers aimed at containing any spillage now surround the vessel.’
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