Who exactly is responsible?

I am really getting tired of all the attacks from both sides about the Gulf oil spill.  As with most discussions that go political this one has lost focus.  In the end we will probably learn nothing from the event.  If the recent mortgage crisis is any indicator we will punish the innocent and the hapless bystanders.  Congress will pass a flurry of useless laws and we will be no better off than we were before the 22 April explosion.  No doubt that sounds cynical, but the evidence of just such a reaction is in the current Financial Reform Bill that is wending its way through Congress now.  It does nothing to restrain or reform any of the problems that actually caused the mortgage melt-down.  No doubt the government “solution” will also include ridiculous and embarrassing Stalinesque show trials. 

However, this is how I handicap the current players in the Gulf Oil disaster:

President Barak Obama.  As much as I would like to heap all the blame on Obama, he is only responsible at this point of lying about the level of participation of his administration and looking helpless.  The truth is that there isn’t that much that the Government can do.  There are no experts in the government in deep water oil well repair and they certainly have no equipment to do what British Petroleum is currently doing.  Further – we are a Nation of laws and not of imperial decrees.  Energy and Climate Czar Carol Browner looked ridiculous when threatening to take over from BP.  The last person we want in charge of a huge and complex undertaking like this is an environmental wacko and socialist buffoon like Browner.  Rather than continue to flay BP for political points, the government should work cooperatively with them to solve the problem.  Everything doesn’t have a government solution. 

British Petroleum.  While it is popular these days to hate corporate entities of every stripe, BP might only be responsible for a tragic accident.  No doubt there will be accusations of cutting corners, missed or failed inspections, and a cozy relationship with regulators.  While that will be painted as particularly heinous in light of what is happening now, there may not really be any bad guy in this drama.  BP along with drilling contractor Transocean was drilling the deepest oil well in history to a depth of nearly seven (7) miles.  This is a technological marvel pushing the very limits of industrial capability.  It is quite possible that the folks in BP and Transocean who are working to cap this well are members of an exceptionally small group of people who are the only ones who can fix it.  Right now the very best friends that we have in this crisis all draw a paycheck from either BP or Transocean.  Rather than continue to issue stupid decrees, threats, and accusations, the government might see if there is actually a way that they might help.       

Water Melons (Green on the outside, Red on the inside).  These are the only people who have escaped criticism even though they own a substantial amount of the blame in this drama.  Environmental Nazis have stood in the way of every reasonable effort to solve our energy requirements.  There is a nearly endless list of possible drilling sites that would not require the driller to sink a hole seven miles deep into the Earth.  Drilling closer into shore or on land or in the Arctic is nowhere near as challenging as what oil companies are being forced to do to find oil.  The point is that oil isn’t particularly hard to find, what is hard to do is navigate all the ridiculous rules, regulations, and road blocks to get at it.  It would be safer to drill off the coast of Virginia than it would be to haul tankers of oil from across the oceans.  Generally speaking operating oil fields has not had any of the negative effects that the hysterical water melons typically predict.  Several hurricanes have swept through the hundreds of oil rigs in the Gulf without so much as a leak.  This problem while dramatic is not the industry norm.  Again – oil and gases under pressures generated seven miles under the surface of the ocean is much more dangerous and technically challenging than drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but the crunchies don’t want that to happen.  As a result eleven men died to prevent us from inconveniencing a few caribou. 

Bottom line – Get the government behind British Petroleum and stop bickering you pompous windbags.