Doug Brinkley: Administration is Going to Come Out With a Large Gulf Recovery Act

[babylonsister]

Doug Brinkley: Administration is Going to Come Out With a Large Gulf Recovery Act
By Heather Thursday Jun 10, 2010 1:00pm
VIDEO AT LINK~


Well this is one of the more encouraging things I've heard in a while about what's going to be done about this disaster in the Gulf. When I hear they're doing more to contain and capture the oil that's already out there I'll believe the administration is finally handling this in a manner that's actually going to do some good.

Douglas Brinkley talked to Anderson Cooper about what the Obama administration is going to do to attempt to restore the Gulf coast after years and years of neglect. Even "Be the daddy" James Carville sounded impressed. I'm holding my applause until after I see some action and not talk because it's already absolutely inexcusable that they've allowed all the dispersants to be poured into the water and not done more to contain and collect the oil so far while these BP executives are allowed to go on the air and continue denying that the huge oil plumes in the Gulf even exist.

Holding BP accountable later (which I'll believe when I see it) doesn't mean much to the people whose lives have been devastated and the dead animals in the Gulf where the environment has already been destroyed.

COOPER: Doug, what do you make of -- of the way the Obama White House is -- and federal response by the Coast Guard is -- is going?

BRINKLEY: Well, I mean, there are three things, I mean, I think, big baskets, going on.

One is close that well, get the -- capture as much oil as you can, keep the pressure on BP on the relief wells. Second is immediate cleanup. And I think more can be done by the Obama administration. And I -- and but I think the big third piece is coming, when President Obama comes to Florida and Alabama and Mississippi, and that is holding BP responsible for the Natural Resource Damage Act, for the Oil Spill Response Act. And, by that, I mean BP is going to end up paying somewhere from $10 billion to $15 billion, maybe even $20 billion, because they're going -- one of the only ways to save the Louisiana wetlands is going to be -- you know, the Mississippi River has been channelized for navigation.

Well, now the Mississippi River has to be redirected. It's going to have to be flooded and sediment pumped into these marshlands to save it. I think the Obama administration...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: So, no, wait. No, wait. Doug, is this just a hope on your part?

BRINKLEY: No.

COOPER: Or -- I mean, I know you have been talking to sources. Do you believe this is actually going to happen?

BRINKLEY: Yes. Yes.

And it's one of the reasons why the president is not talking to Tony Hayward. And they are going to come out with a large Gulf recovery act, because the oil and gas industry has been dredging. We have disappearing barrier islands. For 40 years down there, it's abused the wetlands.

This is a turning point. There is an appetite on Capitol Hill for Gulf recovery act. The Mississippi River is going to have to be redirected into the marshlands. And BP and Transocean and other, you know, operations, Cameron, other companies are going to have to pay up to $10 billion and $15 billion for breaking national acts.

(CROSSTALK)

BRINKLEY: In addition, for offshore drilling in the Gulf, Anderson, there will be a conservation excise tax that, yes, there will be offshore drilling, but Louisianians will start getting some of the revenue to stay in state.

CARVILLE: If -- if the president does that, I will be the biggest supporter in the world. He will be beloved in Louisiana.

If he -- if he has a restoration act and the kind of things that Doug Brinkley is talking about, who Doug, by the way, lived here. His wife is from here. He knows exactly what he is talking about. If there is that kind of action from the White House and this president, he will go down, in my opinion, as one of the great presidents in history.

more...

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/doug-brinkley-administration-going-come-ou

[Lerkfish]

1. um, good... but redirecting the Mississippi River?

does he have any idea how massive an undertaking that would be? It'd be easier to clean up the gulf than that.

[babylonsister]

2. I don't know if there are any other viable options, don't know

enough about it. I do know Brinkley doesn't chat out his ass and is a native of LA, so I give what he has to say some weight.

[emulatorloo]

4. Yep, Brinkley is pretty solid. This sounds like great news (Gulf Recovery)

[Lerkfish]

6. well, I grew up on the Mississippi, and I can tell you that redirecting it would be some feat

especially down in the gulf, where it spreads out over a very large territory of marshes and islands. In St. Louis, where I grew up, the Muddy Mississippi is so broad you can barely see the other side in places, and extremely deep and powerful. Its probably second only to the Amazon in the Americas for sheer power.

[Cha]

19. Good to know..

Thanks, babylonsister.

[Mimosa]

3. Environmentalist studies have recommended redirecting Mississippi for at least 2 decades

Even back in the mid 1980s there was a great show on PBS which showed how the Army Corps of Engineers had caused problems including loss of the wetlands and the Gulf 'dead zone' by not letting the river direct itself west.

The way to redirect it is to direct it's controlled flow into the Red River. I used to keep up with the studies back then. They're hard to find on net. But here's a 2006 article:

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Redirecting_Mississippi_River_Proposed_As_Way_To_Save_Louisiana_Coast.html

[babylonsister]

10. Sounds like someone might be finally listening. Thanks for

the link!

[westerebus]

5. Let me guess.

Obama chased the money changers from the temple.

Obama cured the sick.

Obama will part the waters.

If, big IF, he can manage to part the waters, he would be one for three.

After all, the White House wouldn't want a crisis to go to waste would they?

[babylonsister]

7. Get lost. You now have a problem with a possible solution?

Go join a thread that revels in his supposed downfall, as you seem to be doing.

[westerebus]

20. Care to provide the details?

One guy on the MSM says the White House has a plan.

Like the plan to reform the banks? The banks are pretty happy with the plan they got.

The insurance companies and big pharma are happy with the plan they got.

How's the Gitmo closing plan going?

The Af-Pak war plan is good for what exactly?

So they have a plan?

They might want to start with an energy policy. Can they do that next week?

I seem to recall something about a green jobs plan.

They have a plan?

I am absolutely sure they have a plan.

And that's what worries me.

[IndianaGreen]

8. We are still waiting for the big announcement

I saw Doug Brinkley when he made that remark on Anderson Cooper's 360 (Carville was the other guest). No further information was provided, and there has been no corroboration of what Brinkley said.

[babylonsister]

11. This conversation just took place; I serously doubt Brinkley

is lying. He said he went to the source. So standby; what will you say when they do announce it? I can only guess.

[IndianaGreen]

15. I merely stated what I saw on TV.

Don't play the Torquemada role now.

[jenmito]

12. "Administration is Going to Come Out With a Large Gulf Recovery Act"

He's going down there next week. Patience...

[jenmito]

9. K&RRRRRRR! I wish I saw Carville saying this:

CARVILLE: If -- if the president does that, I will be the biggest supporter in the world. He will be beloved in Louisiana.

If he -- if he has a restoration act and the kind of things that Doug Brinkley is talking about, who Doug, by the way, lived here. His wife is from here. He knows exactly what he is talking about. If there is that kind of action from the White House and this president, he will go down, in my opinion, as one of the great presidents in history.

--------
And I'm sure his wife will feel the same way, right? I won't hold my breath...

[Mimosa]

13. I saw it.

James and Mary have 2 daughters. They sold their VA property after Katrina and moved to New Orleans. James is second to nobody in his love of his native Louisiana.

Of course both James and Mary care about the environment for its sake and the sakes of their children. If Mary wasn't where you'd wished her to be years ago, don't you think living in the besieged heart of Louisiana would move her closer?

BTW, as a Louisianan I long saw that Democrats as well as Republicans sold out the environment to big oil. It was happening in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s... and up until today. Oil extraction meant good jobs for decades. Back in the 1950s and 1960s when the wetlands were gridded, nobody thought of the consequences.

I'm curious about what Brinkley knows when nobody else has mentioned this.

[Pirate Smile]

14. Article on this - on what Brinkley said. I really hope something like this happens.

Huge federal Gulf recovery act planned, expert says

Wednesday night on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," presidential historian Douglas Brinkley dropped a bit of a bombshell: White House sources tell him the administration plans to propose a "major public works act" (similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority project) to rebuild the battered Louisiana wetlands.

"They're going to come out with a large Gulf recovery act," Brinkley told Cooper and the other guest in the segment, James Carville. "This is a turning point. There's an appetite on Capitol Hill for a Gulf recovery act. The Mississippi River is going to have to be redirected into the marshlands."

When Cooper asked Brinkley if he thinks "this is actually going to happen," Brinkley responded, "Yes. Yes." He suggested that the project would be funded by the oil and gas industry. Those companies, he said, "are going to have to pay up to $10 billion and $15 billion" for profiting off of the state's resources for years while wreaking havoc on the local environment.

"In addition, for offshore drilling in the Gulf, Anderson, there will be a conservation excise tax that — yes, there will be offshore drilling, but Louisianians will start getting some of the revenue to stay in state," Brinkley said.

Reacting to the disclosure, Carville — who's been a vocal critic of the administration's handling of the disaster— chimed in that if the president followed through on such a thing, he'd be Obama's "biggest supporter in the world." Carville added that such a restoration project would ensure that Obama "will be beloved in Louisiana," adding that "if there is that kind of action from the White House and this president, he will go down, in my opinion, as one of the great presidents in history."

The White House did not respond to numerous efforts to seek comment. A spokesman for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the governor hopes the administration will follow through on such a plan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl2526

[IndianaGreen]

16. This is what I saw last night on TV, nothing more, nothing less

[Cha]

21. Thanks Pirate Smile~

[jillan]

17. That makes me hopeful.

[Cha]

18. That's what I love about the

Obama Admin.. Shit happens but they're always trying to make it better instead of worse.

[Jennicut]

22. Some scientists have been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers on this

Would More Water in the Mississippi Keep Oil From the Wetlands?

by Erik Stokstad on June 10, 2010 3:53 PM | Permanent Link | 0 Comments


One of the unsung heroes in the fight to save Louisiana's wetlands from the oil spill is the Mississippi River. The flow of fresh water into the Gulf of Mexico has keep the slick offshore, scientists believe. Now some are proposing to divert more water into the Mississippi to help keep the oil at bay.

The immediate worry is that the flow of the Mississippi River tends to drop seasonally, starting in June. G. Paul Kemp, a coastal scientist with the National Audubon Society, says that oil will reach more of the wetlands sooner if the water flow into the delta decreases. "The river is our best tool against the oil," Kemp told ScienceInsider.

The new proposal, supported by Kemp and others, is to shift the flow of water between the Mississippi and a river in Louisiana it feeds called the Atchafalaya. A massive concrete structure about 500 kilometers upstream from the mouth of the river diverts 70% of the flow down the Mississippi and sends 30% into the Atchafalaya.

Robert Twilley of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, another supporter of the idea, has organized a team of coastal science and engineering experts to evaluate major response efforts to the spill. The team is looking at the proposal and plans to have an analysis completed next week. He says several hydrodynamic models have been run to evaluate the idea. "We've been in conversation with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state about how to manage the river as a protection system," Twilley says.

Politically, the idea may be difficult to accomplish, he admits. The diversion structure is controlled by Congress, and earlier proposals to send more water down the Mississippi met with resistance. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/06/would-more-water-in-the-mississi.html

[Cha]

23. Thanks for the additional info, Jennicut.

Keeping this kicked.

[Politics_Guy25]

24. This is one of the best ideas I've ever heard

This has the potential of being one of the signature events of his entire 8 year term if he does this. Think about the jobs that it will create as well! I had a meltdown when I saw his numbers down to 44% in Gallup today but I can picture it now, primetime presidential address next Tuesday from the gulf with this plan, and his approval goes up 10 over night.

I was really down about this happening...Thinking why it did it have to happen on President Obama's watch but I've been thinking as well about how great crises make great presidents. I'm sure Roosevelt would have preferred to do something other than fight a war with Satan himself (and Hitler was the devil incarnate-let there be no doubt about that) but fighting that war is what made him the 20th century's greatest president along with passing social security of course and the New Deal.

I no longer look at this is as a drag and I hope the W.H. doesn't either. This is their opportunity for greatness. If you look at the truly great presidents, none of them had things easy on the foreign or domestic front.

Of course, all of that pales in comparison to the horrific suffering of wildwife and the economic catastrophe for Gulf Coast residents.

[AtomicKitten]

25. K&R