Blowout Preventers Identified as Weak Link for More Than a Decade

Today's NYTimes  (click my title) describes numerous reports identifying the procedures to contain deep sea oil blowouts as inadequate.   Regulatory changes were suggested, but of course BP and the rest of the industry opposed increased regulation.   In fact the regulating agency decreased  inspection frequency of these devices fro once every 7 days to every 14 days so as not to interfere with productivity.

To make matters worse than even our usual puny regulatory mechanisms, in this case the same agency (Mineral Management Services) collects government royalties on oil wells as well as regulating safety aspects.   No conlict there, huh?

The current preventers are:
1.  too slow to react
2.Not powerful enough to shear through the improved metals used in newer wells
3.  Need another layer of redundancy

So how often do we need to shake our heads after a loss of lives tells us we were not prepared?   Big Fork?  Katrina?  the financial crash.

Our inaction is a true tribute to the effectiveness of the anti-government and anti-regulatory ideology (Yes listen up Tea Partyers) so successfully propagated by our corporate leaders.   We need to really spread the word and explain:   People Before Profits!