06.10.2010: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! ... As I've said before: just another president who won't listen to anyone who disagrees with him. But what's the big deal? There are hundreds of people in Congress with the same "feature."
It was educational but not surprising to be sent this link to a Fox News report: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/10/experts-say-obama-misrepresented-views-justify-offshore-drilling-ban/#content.
Experts Say White House 'Misrepresented' Views to Justify Drilling Moratorium
The seven experts who advised President Obama on how to deal with offshore drilling safety after the Deepwater Horizon explosion are accusing his administration of misrepresenting their views to make it appear that they supported a six-month drilling moratorium -- something they actually oppose.
The experts, recommended by the National Academy of Engineering, say Interior Secretary Ken Salazar modified their report last month, after they signed it, to include two paragraphs calling for the moratorium on existing drilling and new permits.
Salazar's report to Obama said a panel of seven experts "peer reviewed" his recommendations, which included a six-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigs and an immediate halt to drilling operations.
"None of us actually reviewed the memorandum as it is in the report," oil expert Ken Arnold told Fox News. "What was in the report at the time it was reviewed was quite a bit different in its impact to what there is now. So we wanted to distance ourselves from that recommendation."
Salazar apologized to those experts Thursday. "The experts who are involved in crafting the report gave us their recommendation and their input and I very much appreciate those recommendations," he said. "It was not their decision on the moratorium. It was my decision and the president's decision to move forward."
In a letter the experts sent to Salazar, they said his primary recommendation "misrepresents" their position and that halting the drilling is actually a bad idea.
The oil rig explosion occurred while the well was being shut down – a move that is much more dangerous than continuing ongoing drilling, they said.
They also said that because the floating rigs are scarce and in high demand worldwide, they will not simply sit in the Gulf idle for six months. The rigs will go to the North Sea and West Africa, possibly preventing the U.S. from being able to resume drilling for years.
They also said the best and most advanced rigs will be the first to go, leaving the U.S. with the older and potentially less safe rigs operating in the nation's coastal waters.
But a few of the comments on the piece are even more telling about how this "open Administration" actually operates...
From "oilpointofview"
I work for an oil co. that had a deep water GOM well shut down because of the moratorium.
My job involves tracking each deep water rig and their progress so I know quite a bit about what is happening.
First I want to say no one wants this nightmare spill stopped and cleaned up more than the oil companies. It is a true disaster.
Each of the 33 rigs that were shut down are under contract with the Oil Co's. The cost is approximately $500,000 per day. With this shutdown we are still having to pay the same day rate. As the article states the rigs will soon leave for Brazil, W Africa, China etc. When they go the average contract is 2 to 5 years. It will be years before we can them back.
The same amount of oil is produced in the deep water gulf as we import from Saudi Arabia daily.
The moratorium is going to create a gap in production that will take years to recover from and you know who will pay. John "Q" public. We do not blame Obama for the spill and we are willing to do whatever need be to ensure this will never happen again. But the moratorium is going to add an economical disaster to the existing ecological one.
Another comment, from "Jimmy Davis"...
Salazar needs to be fired.
To alter a document of experts after they sign it to say they support your recommendation when they do not is nothing short of criminal.
Let's see how him and Obama try to spin this.
With all the heat on Salazar I can't imagine him surviving more than a month. How many people in Obama's administration have been fired or resigned under a cloud of suspicion since he has taken office?
I wonder how that compares to all other President's in the last 50 years. Apparently he isn't a good judge of character.
Isn't a leader's image often reflective of the people he surrounds himself with at least to a degree?
Allow me to predict today, 06.10.2010, that the moratorium will not prevent any future oil spills, but will cause another spike or general increase [ramp-up] in all petrochemical products for years to come, and that will include the price of gasoline for your car, for those who are unable to make that connection by themselves.
Let me also predict that the Federal Government, Congress, as well as the mass media, will inevitably blame consumers and oil producers for the increased prices.
First rev: 06.10.2010
