World-News

In assuring Americans on Tuesday that BP won't control the compensation fund for Gulf oil spill recovery, President Barack Obama failed to mention that the government won't control it, either. That means it's anyone's guess whether the government can, in fact, make BP pay all costs related to the spill.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37720386/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/



WH requests $15 million for oil spill commission

The White House is asking Congress for $15 million to pay for the presidential commission that will investigate the BP oil spill. President Barack Obama made the request in a letter Wednesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/16/1684638/wh-requests-15-million-for-oil.html



BP Finds a Champion

At least one member of Congress, Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is sympathetic to BP. Actually, he's rather mad at President Obama and Congress on BP's behalf.

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/06/17/bp-finds-a-champion/?xid=rss-blogs



BP Admits That - If It Tries to Cap the Leak - the Whole Well May Blow

Video

Oil industry expert Rob Cavner said that BP must "keep the well flowing to minimize oil and gas going out into the formation on the side",

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/06/bp-admits-that-if-it-tries-to-cap-leak.html



BP starts burning oil from leaking ruptured well

Once that gas reaches the rig, it will be mixed with compressed air, shot down a specialized boom made by Schlumberger Ltd. and ignited at sea. It's the first time this particular burner has been deployed in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100616/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_containment



Protester interrupts BP hearing

A woman with a black oil-like substance on her hands and face stood up and started shouting down Hayward before he could get a word in. "You should be in prison!" she yelled at the BP chief.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/103833-protester-interrupts-hayward-hearing


From Information Clearing House

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Gas stations boycott: Is there a better protest?

Christian Science Monitor

06/17/10

Boycott local BP stations? The oil giant makes only a small portion of its profits from retail gas sales, and can sell excess fuel to other retailers.The 10,000 BP gas stations in the United States are run by small business owners with supply contracts to various oil companies, not just BP, which are difficult and costly to break. ‘Anytime you boycott a local gas station you’re doing far more harm to that station owner than who they’re buying their gas from,’ said Brandon Wright, a spokesman from the Petroleum Marketers Association of America. BP’s local gas distributors, called jobbers, are starting to see serious losses, said John Klein, a spokesman for the BP Amoco Marketers Association...

http://tinyurl.com/256rm6g



As the spill expands, so does presidential power

Reason
by Steve Chapman

06/17/10

The other day, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked what will happen if the people running BP decline to go along with everything the administration demands of it. ‘The president,’ he replied with chilly menace, ‘has the legal authority to compel them to do so, and if they don’t, he will.’ As a matter of strict truth, Barack Obama may not have all the legal authority he would need. But punctilious adherence to the law is rarely the hallmark of American presidents. When the head of the executive branch makes his desires known to a private corporation, the company defies him at its peril...

http://reason.com/archives/2010/06/17/as-the-spill-expands-so-does-p


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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