.@bp_america Drill, baby, drill: Oil execs sexed regulators

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/27/drill-baby-drill-oil.html

Flashback to 2008 MMS sex-for-oil scandal

May 4, 2010

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You're going to be hearing about  the Minerals Management Service in the coming days, since their "mission is to manage the mineral resources of the Outer Continental Shelf in an environmentally sound and safe manner."

After eight years of Bush-Cheney, they became absurdly cozy with the industry, signed off on Big Oil's desire for voluntary, "trust me," self-regulation — and caved in to industry demands not to mandate the backup shut off switch for offshore rigs that Brazil and Norway require.

In fact, "cozy," turned out to be an extreme understatement for how close the MMS and Big Oil were as I discussed two years ago in a post on their sex-for-oil scandal subtitled, "Please no jokes about Drill, Baby, Drill or Bush Energy Policy!" and excerpted below.

Just when you think the two oil-men in the White House can't top themselves for corruption metaphors:

rest at http://climateprogress.org/2010/05/04/mms-scandal-minerals-management-service-sex-for-oil/

Estimates Suggest Spill Is Biggest in U.S. History

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

Federal officials said Thursday that far more oil than they originally estimated was probably pouring into the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis since the collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

The new estimate — 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day — is two to five times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day figure given by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on April 28, and establishes the oil spill as the largest in American history.

The range of 12,000 to 19,000 was described as the "overall best initial estimate" settled upon by the technical flow rate group, based on a variety of estimates coming from three smaller teams within the group measuring the flow-rate in different ways. Those estimates ranged from 11,000 barrels per day on the low end to as much as 25,000 barrels a day on the high end. In a much longer report provided to The New York Times on Friday, the researchers describe the difficulties they faced -- sometimes in wresting information from BP -- and suggest
that the flow rate may be even higher than any of their current estimates.

The government has been harshly criticized by scientists for underestimating the rate of the flow and for what appears to be its reluctance to force BP, the oil giant that owned the lease on the well, to more precisely measure the rate at which oil was gushing from the pipe into the gulf. The company's liability is in part determined by the extent of the spill.

President Obama, speaking at a White House news conference on Thursday, admitted that his administration, in dealing with BP officials, "should have pushed them sooner," to release images that would have helped in estimating the flow rate.

"There was a lag of several weeks that I think — that I think shouldn't have happened," Mr. Obama said.

rest at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28flow.html?hp

MMS Offshore Drilling Chief to Retire

Chief of MMS offshore drilling programs to abruptly retire amid fallout from Gulf oil spill.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON May 17, 2010 (AP)

Chris Oynes, shown in this file photo, who oversees offshore drilling programs at the Minerals Management Service, will retire at the end of the month

(Carlos Javier Sanchez/Bloomberg News /Getty Images)

The fallout from the Gulf oil spill has claimed its first casualty at the Interior Department.

Chris Oynes, who oversees offshore drilling programs at the Minerals Management Service, will retire at the end of the month, according to an e-mail sent by an agency official to staff and obtained by The Associated Press. Oynes was regional director in charge of Gulf of Mexico offshore oil programs for 13 years before he was promoted in 2007 to associate director in charge of all offshore activities.

rest at http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10669469

Obama Administration Official Resigns in Wake of BP Spill

May 27, 2010 1:01 PM

ABC News' Yunji de Nies Reports: S. Elizabeth Birnbaum is the latest Obama administration official to resign in the wake of the BP oil spill disaster.  In a short letter addressed to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the now former Director of the Mineral Management Service takes an apparent dig at Bush administration, writing, "I'm hopeful that the reforms that the Secretary and the Administration are undertaking will resolve the flaws in the current system that I inherited."

Birnbaum took the job in July of last year.  Since the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, her agency has been under fire for what critics call lax oversight over the energy leases they approve and managed. 

In a statement, Secretary Salazar praised Birnbaum's tenure, calling her "a strong and effective person and leader."  He said she "resigned today on her own terms and on her own volition."

At a news conference this afternoon, President Obama told reporters he was informed of Birnbaum's resignation earlier this morning and did not know the circumstances by which it came about.

"I can tell you what I've said to Ken Salazar, is that we have to make sure if we are going forward with domestic oil production that the federal agency charged with overseeing its safety and security is operating at the highest level," he said.

The President said more work still needs to be done to achieve that at MMS.

"Salazar came in and started cleaning house and culture had not fully changed at MMS, and absolutely I take responsibility for that," President Obama said.

rest at http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/obama-administration-official-resigns-in-wake-of-bp-spill.html