Obama refuses Dutch help for the Gulf Crisis

http://www.eagleworldnews.com/2010/06/1 ... il-crisis/

In Louisiana and other states on the Gulf of Mexico there is frustration over what many residents see as a slow response by the U.S. government to protecting coastal areas. Some critics of the Obama administration cite offers by the Netherlands in April to supply sophisticated skimmers and dredging devices, and the administration’s failure to accept the offer. The issue is as murky as the oil slick now threatening regional beaches.

A Houston-based company is now cleaning oil off surface water in the Gulf of Mexico using sweeping arms that attach to a boat and help gather large amounts of oil. These sophisticated devices were provided by a Dutch company with years of experience in such operations, but instead of using the Dutch ships and crews immediately, when The Netherlands offered help in April, the operation was delayed until U.S. crews could be trained.

The Obama administration declined the Dutch offer partly because of the Jones Act, which restricts foreign ships from certain activities in U.S. waters. During the Hurricane Katrina crisis five years ago, the Bush administration waived the Jones Act in order to facilitate some foreign assistance, but such a waiver was not given in this case.

The Dutch also offered assistance with building sand berms (barriers) along the coast of Louisiana to protect sensitive marshlands, but that offer was also rejected, even though Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal had been requesting such protective barriers.

This help was offered just 3 days after the expolsion. We are still saying no to them. Since then we have been offered help by 15 nations. And so far we are only accepting 3. Any President in his right mind who cared at all about this nation would have accepted every bit of help from every ally nation that offered. It is as though he really doesn't care.

And they could have helped to start on the berms to protect the marshlands in LA and could have started weeks ago. Why do we have a President that is so indecisive and needs to create committes to make a decision? It cost that area so much and will for decades to come.

But critics say delays in accepting foreign assistance may have caused unnecessary damage to some coastal areas. They also fault BP for not having its own emergency plan and for not reaching out to foreign companies with special expertise early on.

Floris Van Hovell says Dutch dredging ships could complete the sand berms in Louisiana twice as fast as the local companies contracted for the work, if allowed to do so.

And what is the reason? Unions!!

U.S. policy has favored the use of American companies and employees in dealing with the oil spill, even though that may have caused delays in protecting sensitive shoreline

Who gives a crap who does it!!!!! Damn it Obama get your head out of the Unions arse!! You just desrtoyed industries down then with your indecisiveness and refusal to waive this stupid Jones Act and accept all the help we could take, just so your precious unions could keep the jobs. You selfish, self centered, arrogant jacka**!!!

And the other thing that really stands out here is the hypocrisy of the environmentalists. Had this happened under Bush and he refused help to protect the Unions and it destroyed millions of animals and the marshlands, they would be screaming for his head for this. They are totally giving Obama a pass and just blaming BP. It shows me that they are full of crap and care more about politics than they do the environment. I will never take them serious.

Personally, I think Obama wanted to let this turn into a national disastor. That is why he took weeks to respond and keeps ingnoring help. That way he has an agenda to push through his cap and trade which will further hurt the US. And what do you know? He is using this as a platform to push it through already. I think Obama is worse than a terorist!

Union jobs before pelicans & sea turtles!

But I think Obama's lack of actions aren't so evil as you, more a deer in the headlights and a man with no executive experience. I wonder if Obama had chosen as his VP someone with more experience like Cheney or a former Governor who had made decisions like this before instead of another Senator with no experience.

SS109 wrote: Union jobs before pelicans & sea turtles!

But I think Obama's lack of actions aren't so evil as you,

Typo? Or you think I am evil?

WASHINGTON — National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced the development of specific guidance to ensure accelerated processing of requests for Jones Act waivers should they be received as a part of the BP oil spill response.

Currently, 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the largest response to an oil spill in U.S. history. No Jones Act waivers have been granted because none of these vessels have required such a waiver to conduct their operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, in order to prepare for any potential need, Admiral Allen has provided guidance to the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Maritime Administration to ensure any Jones Act waiver requests receive urgent attention and processing.

“While we have not seen any need to waive the Jones Act as part of this historic response, we continue to prepare for all possible scenarios,” said Admiral Allen. “Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay.”

To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization and the European Union’s Monitoring and Information Centre. In some cases, offers of international assistance have been turned down because the offer didn’t fit the needs of the response.

Full Article

From the Deepwater Horizon Response website.

The Viking wrote: Personally, I think Obama wanted to let this turn into a national disastor. ..... I think Obama is worse than a terorist!

C'mon Viking, calm down. No one is going to take you seriously if you say things like that. Don't let your passion overtake calm thinking. I do appreciate the info, and it sounds like they did not utilize all the help that was offered. I think Obama's lack of executive experience is clearly showing. And it is also another example of a surprised American public saying "our government has failed us" (in the cleanup response). Get used to hearing that even more in the future on a variety of issues.