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Minerals Management Service

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    A new oil rush endangers the Gulf of Mexico and the planet

    The oil spill viewed from NASA’s Terra satellite on May 17.Photo: NASA’s Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team Cross-posted from TomDispatch. Yes, the oil spewing up from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in staggering quantities could prove one of the great ecological disasters of human history. Think of it, though, as just the […]

    Michael T. Klare Technology

  • 10 ways MMS makes FEMA look good

    1. You got a problem with paper towels?  One big reason the means of cleaning up oil spills have barely changed since the Exxon Valdez spill is that the Minerals Management Service’s budget for oil-spill research has been stuck at roughly $6 million a year since 1990. That’s one-tenth of a penny for every dollar […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • Shell moves forward with Arctic drilling without a backup plan

    We’ve all seen the horrifying footage of the oil leaking, leaking and still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. And we’ve watched as BP’s CEO Tony Hayward has made such ludicrous statements as the Gulf is a big place, there really isn’t that much oil if you compare it to all that water. What’s more, […]

    Emilie Karrick Surrusco Politics

  • Obama to establish presidential commission to investigate Gulf oil spill

    As hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil continue to gush from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico four weeks after the tragic BP disaster, AP reports that: President Barack Obama will establish the commission by executive order. It will be similar to panels created to investigate the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the […]

    Daniel J. Weiss Politics

  • MMS goes under the spotlight

    Last week, execs from BP, Transocean, and Halliburton took their Capitol Hill beatdown.  This week, federal regulators will be led into the ring.  With Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the front of the line, they’ll appear before three Senate committees tomorrow and then a House committee on Wednesday, at which members of Congress […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • Obama’s unconvincing ‘anger’ at BP and lax regulators

    Obama giving his “angry” speechPresident Obama has so far declined to give voice to the connection between the massive, stomach-churning fossil-fuel disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the massive, stomach-turning damage that fossil fuels wreak every day. He hasn’t used his bully pulpit to highlight the opportunities to use energy more intelligently and gather […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Politics

  • The federal MMS: a wholly owned subsidiary of the oil industry

    The Deepwater Horizons rig goes boom, killing 11 people and starting a massive and ongoing oil leak. If the Minerals Management Service had been a functional, independent oversight agency, this disaster would likely have never happened.  (Photo: U.S. Navy) Has the government surrendered its ability to rein in corporate excess? Yes, says the New York […]

    Tom Laskawy Technology

  • Political fallout from the Gulf oil spill: Hill hearings, climate-bill questions, MMS reorg

    Now it’s really starting to get ugly.  Not in the Gulf of Mexico — that’s already borderline hideous — but in Washington.  The top execs of the three partners in the toppled, leaking oil rig — BP, Transocean, and Halliburton — made their first public appearances before Congress today, and while they haven’t reached screaming-cats-in-a-bag […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • The Climate Post: Mighty winds a-blowin’

    First things first: A high-stakes political drama unfolded after the Senate Majority Leader announced the body would consider immigration reform ahead of anticipated climate legislation. The surprise political move caused a key Republican to bolt the tri-partisan effort to craft a federal climate program. The episode has greatly intensified doubts that the U.S. will pass […]

    Eric Roston Politics