Posted on 06/19/2010 11:20:27 AM PDT by Qbert
WASHINGTON -- Some 28 foreign countries and international organizations have offered help in responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the bulk of those overtures remain "under consideration," according to a tally posted on the U.S. State Department's website.
On May 10, for example, the United Arab Emirates offered to send oil skimmers, dispersant and containment boom, along with human and technical support, the website says. As of Friday, no decision had been made on any of those propositions, the site indicates.
Also pending for more than a month are offers of containment boom and skimmers from the European Maritime Safety Agency; containment and fire boom from Germany; and bird rehabilitation equipment from France.
Some of the offers - almost all of which require reimbursement - are much more recent.
And response officials have accepted a few, including boom from Canada and skimming systems from Norway. A French offer of dispersant was rejected on the grounds that the chemicals were not approved for use in the United States.
Reached early Friday evening, a State Department spokeswoman referred questions to the Coast Guard, which passed them to the Unified Command Center for the spill response in New Orleans. There, spokesman John Curry did not specifically know why some offers had been left hanging.
"The bottom line is that we have a lot of boom and we have a lot of dispersant that we are already using," Curry said.
But with crucial equipment having run short at times, the Obama administration faces questions about whether it has done enough to mobilize all available supplies. Obtaining more resources "must be a top priority," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, wrote in a Thursday letter to Obama that asked the White House to make public the total domestic inventory of skimmers, boom and other resources available for use in the Gulf.
Sessions also joined other Republicans in seeking a speedy waiver of the Jones Act - which requires cargo transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-built, flagged and crewed ships - if that requirement is stopping the government from making use of "potentially useful foreign vessels." Several countries have offered ships, according to the State Department roundup.
On Thursday, however, an administration official confirmed only one actual request for a Jones Act waiver, but said it was for foreign-built barges when American-flagged equivalents were available.
Earlier this week, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said that any waiver requests would get fast-track handling. On Friday, three GOP senators, including George LeMieux of Florida and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, introduced legislation to temporarily waive the act, according to a news release.
[Found before a crumbling statue of one-term Emperor-by-Trick Barack Hussein Obama
in a glass-filled oil-rimmed desert, now comprising what was once known as the ‘America’]
"We first heard of an undocumented man named Obama ,
Who denied all the confusion with a Kenyan and Osama.
But at every turn, he worked to have our country defeated,
With every enemy and disaster, he conspired to have us deleted,
Sneered he, 'Death panels are too slow, so NALCO will poison ya'."
If we stop the spill, then how can we exploit it for political gains?
The non-response of the Obama administration to this environmental mess is mind-boggling!
This decision, to accept outside help, will never be made. Unless ‘everything’ becomes untenable for the President. That said, he will put it off until such time as the most damage that can be done has been done. And he’s made a few more Slush Funds, excuse me, Escrow Funds from others businesses.
Where’s a listing by date of the many offerings separated between foreign and domestic and then the date of implementation
Date offered/ Date implemented/ Country of Origin/ item
Did you expect the White House, Secretary of State or the Cost Guard to keep a record.
They do not really want an audit trail that can be followed.
My state of “flabbergasted” is growing exponentially.
Obama has stated that he has been briefed on this since the first day. He has also stated that BP has kept him in the loop.
Those 2 statements necessarily imply that Obama has known since the Deepwater Horizon sank how bad the situation is.
WHY DID HE NOT MOBILIZE EVERY AVAILABLE SKIMMER IN THE WORLD TO KEEP THE OIL FROM GETTING TO THE FISHING GROUNDS AND THE COASTS?
His decision to turn down skimmer help is criminal. Completely indefensible.
Incompetence and corruption are a bad combination.
Pray for the Gulf
“WHY DID HE NOT MOBILIZE EVERY AVAILABLE SKIMMER IN THE WORLD TO KEEP THE OIL FROM GETTING TO THE FISHING GROUNDS AND THE COASTS?”
See comment #4. It’s unfortunately true IMHO.
You forget that even if The Won was actually born an American, he certainly wasn’t raised an American; rather he was raised to loather America.
His interests and American interests are polar opposites.
True...if the spill is stopped too early, he might not be able to use it as an excuse to pass cap-and-trade....
Ask and ye shall receive:
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