The Diane Rehm Show

I would love to know more about the viability of the solutions put forth by Matter of Trust - collecting hair and creating booms. I know that they are said to sink, but I've also heard of several inventions that will help them float - it seems like a cost-effective method of collecting oil, and one that is at least worth a try.

Can someone speak about the secret talks that Dick Cheney had with the oil companies and the legilation that was drafted from it. Also the culture of Pro-big oil lack of oversight from the Bush administration that has lingered in the Obama administration.

Thank you

Ed

I recently heard that only BP uses electronic blowout preventers; all other companies use hydraulic preventers. Electronic preventers are known to be unreliable. Any comments on that?

I find it interesting that all these "experts" talk about what should be done to resolve the issue. The one guest mentioned that BP should be held accountable and should not be allowed to "make it up as they go along".

If I am not mistaken everyone is making this up as they go along because it has never been done before. As one was mentioned there are a handfull of companys who do this type of work and they are already working on it.

It is very easy to sit at a desk and tell other people how to do their job. If they are so sure that they can solve the problem why arent these "experts" on site resolving the issue rather than giving their opinons on talk shows.

Bill

When I lived on the Florida Gulf Coast, property developers, the tourist industry and coastal residents resisted shallow water off-shore drilling for aesthetic reasons, and for the potential impact on their property values. Consequently, it seems that oil drilling went farther and deeper into the Gulf.

As a nation, we must face the consequences of our oil consumption, and not be hypocritical about the exploration of oil as it inconveniences our daily sensibilities. If we don't see it, it doesn't seem to bother us unless we have to deal with the abomination of the current environmental calamity.

I am very curious about international law. How far out into the Gulf does the U.S. have authority to issue oil licenses? Is it because the pipelines lead into U.S. territory? I have heard that countries such as China are also drilling in the Gulf. Who has given them license? What laws would they be bound by during their drilling operations?

I love how everyone talks about "we have to see how much BP will be required to pay." If anyone wants the real answer to that question, see Exxon Valdez and how much they have paid after fighting their responsibility in court for years. The people and environment around Prince William Sound are still devastated. This current spill does not even compare to the Valdez spill, and BP has started pointing fingers from day 1. Why does anyone think they will pay anything close to their share?

Why is CONSERVATION of oil never talked about? People do not seem to be changing their habits these days as much as we could.

If you have seen the documentary The Corporation, you will be familiar with the economics term externalities - which are the external costs of any enterprise which are borne on everyone else but the enterprise itself. In order for BP to be more profitable, and let's face it, in order for us to all have cheaper oil, we have allowed for this catastrophe to happen. Who is going to pay for it? Let's not kid ourselves, we all will, and it is something we should have been paying for all along by sanctioning more rigid and safer practices. What is the trade off? Cheaper oil vs. the environment, the livelihood of those in the Gulf region, and so on. Was it worth it? Now we get to know.

What can private citizens do? Boycott BP. No one who considers him/herself to be a patriotic American should be buying gas in a BP gas station. Given the involvement of Halliburton (aka Dick Cheney Inc), something about this doesn't feel right, and it wouldn't surprise me if BP might suddenly "discover" a way to plug this hole if faced with a nationwide boycott.

See my comment about installing/welding/clamping a repair coupling with a large turn-off valve at the other end that could be manually and SLOWLY turned down to ebb the oil flow.

Even if this was happening on land, the pipe could not be crushed.

Liken this to a broken fire hydrant, not with water gushing out at 100 psi but oil and gas at 10 times or more the pressure.

Put this scene a mile underwater and the complications are exponential.

Ric

Keene NH

Boycotting BP would be a symbolic gesture. We may find some culpability on their part if we learn they cut corners, but this our national collective problem. We allowed this to happen. Drilling for oil can probably be done more safely (and at a higher cost) as we move towards weaning ourselves off of it. But the problem is, it is too cheap. When gas was expensive, only then did people curtail some of their driving, now that it is "cheaper" more people are on the roads. And people by and large are unwilling to give that up. People complain about not having alternatives, but if you want to save 10% on your fuel costs? It is simple, drive 10% less. That would be the most effective thing for people to do. That, and support some reasonable and forward-thinking energy policy that would encourage mass transit, alternate fuels, and conservation. If people would consider the task of planning their travel, you'd be surprised how much one could save.

I'm planning on going to the Alabama gulf coast in late June. My husband & I will rent a small house or condo, eat at local restaurants, take local tours, etc. and try to help the local economy in a small way. I don't know what condition the beach will be like later this month. We have fears it may not be very nice, but don't know for sure. I'm sure we will find fun things to do. If they want or need volunteers at that time, then we will volunteer our time. I encourage anyone to take a "vacation" to the gulf coast & help in any way they can as a paying tourist.

It has been reported the only sure stop for this type of leak is performed by two relief wells. But they take months to drill. How would it impact off-shore oil exploration if the regulation required simultaneous drilling of the two relief wells along with the primary well? The relief wells could then be stopped a few days short of intersecting the primary and completed only if there was a failure of the blowout preventer. The flow would then be stoppable in a short time instead of the multi months it takes to start from scratch. The two extra wells would then be just another cost in the total for safer off-shore drilling.
Designing and testing blowout preventers for worst case situations should be considered also; requiring them to effectively shot off the flow with drills, couplings or concrete in the device so time was bought until the relief wells and sealing were complete. Then spills would at least be manageable.