Rick Scott Oversteps On Obama’s Oil Drilling Ban

Rick Scott is not happy about the offshore oil drilling ban reimposed today by the Obama Administration.

His statement on the ban, and President Obama:

“The Obama Administration’s offshore drilling ban is yet another example of government regulation impeding economic growth.  Florida is committed to pursuing energy independence, which is essential to national security. With sound policies in place, we could expand domestic drilling and eliminate our reliance on foreign oil.   Furthermore, I am disappointed that the White House has chosen to unilaterally impose a policy that threatens job creation and economic growth in Florida without consulting our office.”

Think about that statement for a minute. Just imagine how it would “impede economic growth” in Florida, or any of the other Gulf states if there were any LESS regulations on offshore oil drilling than there are now? Perhaps Scott should ask some of those fishermen who depend on the Gulf for their livelihood. Maybe ask those who own and run businesses like hotels and restaurants along the Gulf coast how they would feel about giving big oil more freedom than they had back in April when that blowout preventer failed to prevent a blowout? Because I did ask some of them back then. They weren’t pleased, to put it mildly. But then Rick Scott isn’t one to talk to the people who live here. He’s more concerned with dealing with big business. Behind closed doors.

He says he’s “disappointed that the White House has chosen to unilaterally impose a policy that threatens job creation and economic growth in Florida without consulting our office.” OK, first of all, Mr. Scott fails to realize, much like he did on the campaign trail, that he was not running for, nor was he elected to the office of Commander-in-Chief. Barack Obama, however, was. Scott may also be surprised to discover that President Obama doesn’t answer to the yet to be sworn in Governor elect Scott.

Second, when Rick Scott professes profound “disappointment” over “job creation [being] threatened,” I suppose he could have a small point there. After the BP oil spill, there was at least one company who discovered newly created jobs, but that was as a result of that oil spill, not the “drilling for” part. That would be this company:

This month the state of Florida awarded WRS a $250,000 contract for “reviewing county responses, designing beach protection devices and identifying areas of ecological concern.”

Kathleen Shanahan, the CEO of the consulting firm WRS Compass, has ties to both Former Vice President Dick Cheney and Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Shanahan was chief of staff for Cheney during the 2000 Presidential campaign and transition. She later became chief of staff for Jeb Bush. In March Shanahan was also re-appointed to Florida’s State Board Of Education by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Talk abut coming full circle. Nice work, if you can get it.

But then if Scott gets his way, there will be a lot more jobs and profits where those came from for his new found friends like Jeb Bush and businesses like WRS Compass.

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BP: $93 Million Spent On Advertising Since Gulf Disaster

Today House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Bart Stupak released findings on how much BP has spent on advertising since the oil disaster to Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) who prompted the probe.

Among the findings:

Between April 2010 and July 2010, BP spent more than $93 million on advertising. That equates to an average of $5 million a week.

That is triple the amount the company spent on advertising during the same time frame in 2009.

Castor’s office sent out the information in a news release:

Upon learning that BP has spent more than $93 million in advertising between April and July, Castor said: “BP’s extensive advertising campaign that is solely focused on polishing its corporate image in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout disaster is making people angry. As small businesses, fishermen, and mom and pop motels, hotels and restaurants struggle to make ends meet, they are bombarded by BP’s corporate marketing largess day after day. BP should be doing more to address the damage to the Gulf Coast tourism industry, fishing industry, and for researchers and for the taxpayers.

“While BP’s advertising campaign ramped up, businesses and the Gulf communities struggled to deal with the costs of the disaster. While BP’s advertising campaign is being executed like clockwork, business and state claims have languished. While BP certainly has the right to advertise, its approach has been insensitive to the taxpayers and business owners harmed by the Deepwater Horizon blowout. BP should use a significant portion of its advertising dollars to ease the strain on Florida small businesses that rely on tourism. Some of the focus should be devoted to marketing and advertising to promote the beautiful, pristine beaches of Florida and give a boost to our struggling tourism economy.”

Castor also referred to Conde Nast, University of Central Florida, U.S. Travel Association and other economic impact studies that have shown the economic impact of the BP oil disaster to tourism and the state’s overall economy is projected to be in the billions of dollars.

The letter to Rep. Castor, below:

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“Can You Hear Me Now?” BP Claims Go To “Louder” Realtors

For all of you GOP-Tea Baggers in Florida who love the Free-Market, and small government there’s good news about those BP claims:

Florida Realtors will divvy up $16 million to cover lost sales in the aftermath of the April 20th Deepwater Horizon rig blast and ensuing massive oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida’s sharing in about $60 million claims czar Ken Feinberg set aside for real estate agents and brokers.

So a big “WOOT WOOT!” for you! Free Market realtors win!

Oh, wait. Do some of you GOP-Tea Baggers own a home in Florida? Which may tank in value due to that little Free Market BP oil “mishap?” And the loss of tourism in the state? Sorry, you may just want to take off that party hat and put down the kazoo for a minute.

He’s (Feinberg) already given property owners the bad news that they’ll likely get nada from the $20 billion fund set up by BP to cover losses caused by the spill.

Really hope you love that home enough to spend the rest of your life in it while Florida’s economy tanks and others flee. Like, say realtors who took their claims and ran for greener, less oily pastures. Bummer. But hey, you win some you lose some right? But you just keep that chin up while you gaze at those pictures of Dick Cheney and George W. Bush and Little Jeb on your mantel and repeat this mantra: “Elections have consequences, elections have consequences, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.” Feel better? There you go!

Getting back to those claims:

Each of the Gulf Coast states’ real estate associations will dole out the funds to realtors.

Florida Realtors, the state association representing realtors, hired Indiana-based claims adjustment firm NCA to handle the claims and administer the funds, according to press release issued by the association.

Feinberg, who took over BP’s botched claims system at 12:01 a.m this morning, has said that realtors were the loudest group making a pitch for how the oil disaster made an already sluggish real estate market even worse.

Bad news: Little guy homeowners (that would be you) have small voices.

Good news: Drill, baby, drill!

One more item, while we’re on the subject of claims. In the Free Market, it appears that size matters:

Ken Feinberg, the new claims czar appointed by BP and President Obama, said Tuesday that commercial fishermen and charter boat captains from Florida may not be eligible for a full six months of emergency payments for lost revenues caused by BP’s massive oil spill.

And there’s more:

Florida lawmakers also may be backing off Republican leaders’ promise earlier this summer to hold a special session in September to address economic problems in the Panhandle created by the spill.

After all, your beloved Republican leaders told you there was no need for a special session anyway. Pshaw!

Hotels owner, are you? Maybe a Restaurant?

…hotel operators and restaurant owners also want special treatment. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association brought high-powered trial lawyer Fred Levin to a meeting with Feinberg Tuesday afternoon to ask for a separate process to handle their claims. Feinberg said later that probably won’t happen.

As Feinberg prepares to take over BP’s claims process on Monday, the sense of urgency about how to help the Panhandle recover seems to be dissipating.

Feinberg has pledged emergency payments to cover six months of losses under his new, expedited system. Last week, he said he would begin making individual payments within 24 hours of receiving a claim. On Tuesday, he said it would take at least 48 hours for those payments to get approved.

But, wait! It’s safe to fish now, really. The government said so! They’ve even got people with expertise sniffing your seafood for you! No oil! Safe! (Well, except there’s no test for dispersant.)

In the face of continued complaints from mom-and-pop hoteliers, restaurant owners and fishermen that the stigma of the oil spill continues to affect them, Feinberg said, “What do you mean you can’t fish for six months? Your compatriots are fishing now. I’m reading it in the newspaper. So the new wrinkle … that I didn’t confront two weeks ago, or two months ago, is what is the impact of the spill as every day I read in the newspaper things are improving. Thank goodness.”

It’s all good! Suck it up!

There’s lots more, but you can read that later here. Right now you may want to just sit back a while and take it all in slowly. Just relax and breath in all that fresh Free Market air. (Actually don’t breathe in too deeply. Corexit and all, you know.) Just put your feet up and gaze up at those pictures on your mantel.

But hey, you know what? I’ll bet you could get a real bargain on a picture of Tony Hayward to put in between Dick and Dubya! That way you’ll always remember the price of that GOP, BP Free Market freedom!

Feel better now? Sure you do!

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Gulf “Three-Quarters” Low On Oil….

We’ve heard that nearly three-quarters of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil gusher is gone. Sure. Of course, that means there’s still at least one-quarter left in the Gulf, and kind of like the old question “is the glass half empty, or is the glass half full?” how you feel about those amounts of oil depends which side you’re on. Regardless, we’re talking about the oil we can see.

Well, here’s a bit of what “one-quarter” oil looks like, just for starters, from the Associated Press:

Beachcombers on the Florida Panhandle have been turning up remnants of the Gulf oil spill, including oil-covered life jackets and large chunks of foam from the rig.

Hard hats, oil-caked plastic bottles, and unusual metal debris have also washed ashore.

Florida Emergency Response Team reports indicate that several of the items are confirmed to have come from the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded off the Louisiana coast in April.

A spokeswoman with the Gulf Islands National Seashore said four hard hats were found on the beach last week, one marked with the word “Transocean,” which owned the oil platform.

The oil isn’t the only thing that’s “gone:”

….wildlife officials are rounding up more oiled birds than ever as fledgling birds get stuck in the residual goo and rescuers make initial visits to rookeries they had avoided disturbing during nesting season.

Before BP plugged the well with a temporary cap on July 15, an average of 37 oiled birds were being collected dead or alive each day. Since then, the figure has nearly doubled to 71 per day, according to a Times-Picayune review of daily wildlife rescue reports.

The figures for sea turtles have climbed even higher, with more oiled turtles recovered in the past 10 days than during the spill’s first three months.

Or will disappear, eventually:

While the increase in turtles remains a mystery, wildlife officials say there are several factors at play in the seemingly counterintuitive surge in the number of oiled birds recovered since the leak was stopped.

For starters, it took longer for the oil to reach nesting colonies in coastal marshes, creating a lag in the spill’s effect on sea birds, said Kyla Hastie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

She said rescuers also had steered clear of some rookeries until recently.

“We’re just now getting into some of the really sensitive areas,” Hastie said. “If we had done so earlier, we could have done more harm than good.”

Fledgling birds that are just now leaving nesting colonies are particularly vulnerable to landing in oiled areas, said Charlie Hebert, a deputy wildlife branch director for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We’re seeing more juvenile birds getting oiled as they’re trying out their wings,” he said.

But hey, it’s just “one quarter.”

Feel better now?

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Got Sun?

If you live in Florida that’s a silly question. Sure, we’ve got plenty of sun. We just can’t use it to our advantage. Our GOP leaders have made sure of it.

See, if you’re one of those in Florida who went ahead and invested in solar energy technology for your home due to that Solar Energy Rebate Program created back in 2006 by the Florida Renewable Energy Technologies and Energy Efficiency Act, YOU LOSE! But you’re not alone. The state owes you and at least 15,799 of your fellow “Burned By The Florida Legislature, Again” club members $52.7 million in solar rebates, AND they have no plans to pay up any time soon. They have just refused to fund the program for the second year in a row. They claim they just don’t have the money.

Although, if you go to the state solar rebate program website, it looks kind of like it’s your fault:

"Government In The Sunshine?"

See? Just because all you “Sunshine State” tree huggers ran out and took them up on that offer, there’s nothing left. You bought it, you broke it. No rebate for you. Are you happy now?

There’s just no money to fund rebates for solar energy in Florida according to the GOP controlled legislature. Never mind that they’ve signed you the taxpayer up for the tab on nuclear power plants in Florida that may or may not get built. Whether they become a reality or not, you’re paying for them. In 2008 they sold you out to the energy companies who charge you for construction of those “somewhere over the rainbow” power plants.

And that’s not all! Let’s don’t forget that the legislature also recently cleaned house and fired four of the five members of the Public Service Commission for the unforgivable sin of voting against raising electric rates in January.

Yet when it comes time for your well-earned solar rebate, they simply have no money. Yes taxpayer, this is your GOPrivatize Everything in action. They would like nothing more than to expand on that in the upcoming elections, not only in Florida but nationwide. If you’re comfortable with the reality of being sold out to and owned by the corporate friends of the GOP, look no further than their candidates for Governor.

First you have millionaire Rick Scott. He was practically unknown when he popped up on the ballot, and his shady company being implicated in a Medicare fraud scandal didn’t help matters, so he started funding his own campaign and sued the state when his rival tried to catch up on your dime with matching funds, because free speech is expensive! (Again, do you see a familiar pattern forming here? Ka-Ching! But we’ll get to Bill McCollum in a minute.) What’s Scott’s platform on energy? Since he’s running as a member of the “Just Drill It” Party, it should come as no surprise that he’s a big fan of “safe” offshore drilling (just like BP!), and the expansion of (surprise!) nuclear power. If you like that you’ll love what he wants to do to your health care, as his website will tell you: “Rick was one of the first to recognize how to fix the American hospital industry.” Well, no one could argue with him on that one.

Speaking of your health care and those who want to take it away from your cold, dead hands while you pay them to do so, there’s GOBP candidate number two, Bill McCollum. He’s following the party line as well. He’s a free market kind of guy, except when he wants you to match Rick Scott’s millions to get him elected. He’s got a nice picture of Jeb Bush flashing on his website to prove it, just like the “Ghost of Florida’s Crashing Economy Past.” If you thought things couldn’t get worse in Florida after Jeb left, he’s got a puppet that will prove you wrong if he earns your vote. On energy, well, “safe” oil drilling, “clean” coal, nuclear power, he’s a fan of em’ all. On drilling, in the past he claimed he was opposed to drilling offshore within ten miles, but he’s also opposed to any constitutional ban on drilling. You’ll probably have a hard time pinning him down on the issue until it’s too late, but you can do the math.

No, the GOP isn’t big on solar energy, or at least until they find a way to profit from it, and beyond throwing around vague statements about “renewable” and “clean” energy, they’re lacking in the credibility department. Look no further than those oil soaked beaches and the dead fish and wildlife. Wake up and breathe in the Corexit. Something that makes our environment and quality of life better, saves money for consumers in the long run, and creates jobs, well, electing one of these two guys to be our next governor may well let the sun set on those prospects in the future. They would rather charge you today for things like a nuclear power plant they may just build tomorrow.

Just like they promised you that solar rebate four years ago.

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Marco Rubio’s Simple Ideas: Pull His String And He’ll Say “TAX CUTS!”

Marco Rubio dazzled himself and the crowd at a Crabby Bills seafood restaurant in Tampa Tuesday when he unveiled his “new economic plan” for the country:

“Lunch is on me! You take credit cards here, right?”

OK, he didn’t really say that. But he did roll out a list of “23 Ideas” for what he calls “a clear alternative” to the “anti-growth, anti-job creating” policies coming out of Washington:

“We have reached a point in our history when we must decide if we are to continue on the free market, limited government path that has made us exceptional, or if we are prepared to follow the rest of the world down the road of government dependency,” he said.

Allow me to plug that into the “Tea-Bagger to English” translator:

We have reached Day 83 of a disaster where we are nearly drowning in a BP Gulf of “free market” oil, natural gas and UNNATURAL toxic dispersants largely because, previously we had eight years of an “exceptional and limited” President who DID give us a limited government, and a Vice President who dictated a no regulation energy policy for fun and profit (who ALSO endorsed Marco Rubio!). It made us “exceptional” all right. Most other countries, and those of us who can think for ourselves (but not Rubio) have acknowledged concepts like Global Warming and reality. To solve oil spills and other problems, are we going to continue to say things like “Drill, Baby, Drill?” If we keep voting in candidates like Rubio and his GOP ilk whose solution for every problem from an oil spill, to losing your home, health insurance, job and yes, your unemployment benefits is: “tax cuts for the rich,” are we prepared to bypass others on our way to becoming a third world country? (Rubio thinks we’d be dependent on OUR government?? Isn’t THAT adorable?)

Yes, Rubio is scrambling for ideas again all right. He bought into his own hype back when he was labeled and disguised as the new “Darling of the Tea Party” by the GOP.  He assumed this race would be easy. Then Charlie Crist switched parties. Rubio was finally ahead in the polls again last week. So naturally Crist went ahead and played the oil drilling ban special session card. Finding himself below Crist in the polls again, Rubio said “I’ll take your special session and I’ll raise you “23 Big, New Ideas!” The only problem is they are the same ideas he’s had all along. There’s nothing “big” or “new” about them. Rubio merely made some adjustments and tweaked a couple to make them oil spill friendly, while throwing a couple of bones to the “small people” as his oil buddies refer to them. Bones that will be largely overlooked beyond their comedic value.

The Tea Baggers/GOP often rile up their lemmings with the tired statement “we want to take our country back.” Well, Rubio wants to take the country back too, back to the days of the Bush Administration:

Many of the ideas mimic the tax and economic policies of most Republicans – from making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush permanent, to ending the inheritance tax, plus opposing any new energy tax or the creation of a value added tax.

For those who, like the largest percentage of the country, don’t have an income high enough to qualify for those tax cuts, have no inheritance or trust fund in their future, or they don’t own interest in an oil company, Rubio doesn’t want them to feel left out. He’ll throw a couple of bones their way too:

Other ideas, like creating a sales tax holiday for areas affected by the oil spill and offering affected property owners property tax relief, appear to be state issues, not federal ones.

A “sales tax holiday for areas affected by the oil spill.” Sort of like the one we have in Florida for hurricanes where we get a tax break on generators? This would be for things like what, oil booms? As for property tax, good luck with that. We have a hard enough time trying to get insurance claims for hurricanes here too. They require flood insurance, but after a storm, flooded or not they say it’s wind damage and vice versa. I doubt every homeowner in the affected states would get a tax break much less in Florida where we’re due to be surrounded by oily toxic waters.

Some other bones:

Idea #1: Make The Claims Process Simpler, (presuming BP will even pay them)

Idea #9: Stop Foreclosures For Those Affected (funny he would mention “foreclosures”, probably wishes he could have taken advantage of that one!)

Idea #10: Relax Onerous Fishing Bag Limits And Seasons (this is just another excuse to deregulate yet another industry disguised as protection for fishermen’s livelihood. Rubio’s reasoning overlooks the sad fact that at the rate the spill is going, all affected fish will be dead. Rubio would deregulate even a dead industry. He just can’t help himself!)

Back to the economy:

And then there’s “IDEA #8″ under “Marco’s 12 Simple Ways To Grow Our Economy” Much like Florida Gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum and the rest of Rubio’s GOP obstructionist colleagues, Rubio wants to repeal and replace your health care. That won’t improve your economic situation much unless you have money to burn and an inheritance to count on, but Rubio is certainly proving he wants to grow the economy to favor insurance companies and big oil! That could also grow Rubio’s bottom line:

Rubio raised a record $4.5 million in the last three months, beating Gov. Charlie Crist’s $4.3 million fundraising quarter at the start of the race.

Unfortunately raising that kind of money doesn’t raise poll numbers and now Charlie Crist is leading Rubio by seven points. While Crist is busy flip-flopping his way up the charts and Rubio is taking ideas from Bush and Cheney, and taking marching orders from Jeb, that leaves an opening for Kendrick Meek who comes in below both of them in poll numbers. Meek could use the opportunity to keep reminding people that he’s been against oil drilling all along. Plus he recently joined forces with BPMakesMeSick.com to convince President Obama and the government to demand that BP allow oil clean up workers to wear protective gear. BP has so far blocked workers from doing so and threatened to fine and/or fire them if they do.

So Rubio claims he has new ideas and solutions and rolls them out as: “Marco’s 12 Simple Ways To Grow Our Economy”, and “Marco’s 11 Simple Ways To Help The Gulf Coast Economy Recover,” but as usual, all they are is this:

“Marco’s Simple Ideas, My Solutions For Everything: Tax Cuts!”

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BP Cuts Claim Payments: Cites Incomplete Files And Moratorium….Seriously

Millions more gallons of oil from the gusher in the Gulf Of Mexico are now flowing freely as BP has removed the cap from the well. The cap was removed so that another tighter cap can be put in place. BP claims that the other cap could be in place by Monday. Or not.

Millions more than….how many gallons now? If you’re like me you’ve lost track of the numbers. But then BP has given out lots of numbers since this disaster began 81 days ago. Most of them were wrong. Nevertheless, now millions more are spewing with no cap or anything else to stop them. Not that the cap made much of a difference in the first place, judging from the live “gusher cam” BP was forced to put in place. About the only thing that ever changes is the shade of the substance belching out. Of course, since there’s no cap to restrict the flow, right now there’s merely a shot of some random piece of equipment down there, and no sign of any oil. A typical maneuver of BP if you’re a frequent viewer of the gusher cam.

In spite of BP’s efforts to keep information from getting out, we still manage to get some news from members of the media who are threatened with the possibility of fines and/or jail time if they cross the BP “safety zone.” Pictures do get out of dead dolphins and birds. Dispersants can’t keep us from eventually finding oil, but they will make you sick if you’re cleaning up the oil from the beach since BP won’t allow you to wear protective gear. My goodness, were a photographer to slip through the so-called “safety zone” and snap a picture of you in said protective gear, it might look as if that were dangerous or something!

Yes, misinformation and the lack thereof does seem to be the one thing you can count on from BP. From the old and penciled in “plan” for spills that included dead experts, how to save the famous “Gulf walrus” and nonexistent Japanese home shopping websites providing equipment, right down to the ignored warnings, shoddy and flawed design of the well, and yes, the “blowout preventer” which of course does no such thing.

In the midst of all this isn’t it obvious? There is so much destruction happening now, so much more to come and the future is uncertain. Those who will suffer because of it shouldn’t also have to endure struggles just to have their livelihood restored somehow, if that’s even possible. For many in the Gulf Coast, it’s a fight for survival. The small feat of filing and receiving a claim from BP should be a no brainer.

We’re told that BP “gets it.” After all, we hear it over and over in those pricey BP ads on television and radio. We see it plastered all over those full-page ads in newspapers across the country from “BP employees and their families who work and live on the Gulf coast” alongside the victims:

“We may not always be perfect, but WE WILL MAKE THIS RIGHT.”

They’ll right their wrong. Simple concept, correct? Actually, not so fast. After all, this is BP we’re talking about here.

If you read the latest ad in the newspaper it also says they have simplified and accelerated claims. By some stretch of imagination that may be a more accurate statement than “making things right.”

Yesterday in Louisiana they found out that by “simplified” BP means they have simply decided to pay thousands of people less than their claims. And being the meticulous record keepers that they are they expect nothing less from those filing claims:

BP has decided to reduce payments to tens of thousands of people whose claim files are incomplete, the secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services said.

Yes BP, the company with the “stellar” track record that they have will simply not stand for incomplete records on claims filed by victims of their “tiny leak.” Those affected may want their lives back, but please! Not until each and every “t” is crossed, nor every “i” dotted.

Back when BP finally touched on the topic of claims and compensation for victims of the spill, one key phrase stood out and spoke volumes. Now when anyone from BP addresses the subject of claims, it’s repeated almost robotically like any Republican attempting to hypnotize his sheep with a tax cut:

BP will pay any “legitimate” claims. Translation? Good luck with that.

Now legitimacy takes on a whole new meaning:

In Louisiana, BP didn’t bother to inform anyone that the claims would be cut. It was merely discovered Thursday when the secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services discovered it during a review of the claims. BP would only give an estimate that cuts in payments were in store for more than 40,000 of the 99,508 victims.

That “will be devastating to individuals surviving financially month-to-month,” she said. “This action is irresponsible and in complete contrast to BP’s repeated promise that they will ‘make things right.’”

(Kristy) Nichols said that many people who have filed claims don’t have records that BP finds acceptable. “It is crucial that BP not continue to penalize these individuals and instead accept alternative forms of documentation, such as records held by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,” she wrote.

“It is rash for BP to make this decision without consulting the State to determine if there are alternative methods for obtaining the documentation in State records,” she wrote.

As for the criteria on those “legitimate” claims:

BP also told the state “it will begin adjusting claim payments based on the seasonal nature of fishing activities, which will also result in a decrease in payments,” Nichols wrote.

Nichols also took issue with what she said is BP’s policy against considering business expenses, including loan payments on fishing boats, when paying captains of shrimp, fish and oyster boats.

BP also cannot tell the state how many people haven’t gotten any money because the company classified their claims as related to the moratorium on deepwater drilling, Nichols wrote.

“This is a significant flaw in the design of the system and one that must be corrected,” she wrote. “The moratorium is the direct result of the oil disaster and people affected should be adequately, accurately and promptly compensated.

So here we have the biggest oil gushing disaster in history unfolding in the Gulf. The disaster has come to us courtesy of BP. The company who drilled, but who never had a plan in the event of a spill beyond the phone numbers of dead experts for emergencies and instructions on how to save sea life that weren’t there, used blowout preventers that were risky and not maintained properly and equally shoddy plumbing with design flaws, habitually ignored or misread warning signs of impending disasters, pushed risky procedures to save profits which caused the spill, injured and killed workers, has lied and misled us on how much oil is spilling, used solutions that only made the spill worse, like dispersants banned in BP’s own country and others due to toxicity and makes measuring spill amounts more difficult (by design?), made genius attempts to plug the hole like building a giant milk carton to drop onto the well (failed), used other means and gave them names like top hat (failed) and top kill (failed), shot mud into the well (failed and possibly destabilized not only the well, but the sea floor itself), shot garbage into the well (failed), put a cap on and supposedly captured some oil for a while (if you say so), burned oil on the water, causing unknown and known health problems which they lied about and called “food poisoning”, drilled relief wells (still waiting), removed the cap to replace it which presently is allowing oil and gas etc. to flow freely on the 81st day of the spill (to be continued), and the oil has killed: countless (literally) numbers of sea life, birds and other wildlife, marshland, tourism, and the fishing industry, concealed information on the amounts of oil in the water by restriction of flights and reporters, and concealed dead wildlife in a similar fashion, and finally, anything else I have left out.

And yet claims against BP and compensation payments are cut because the claimants paperwork isn’t “acceptable” to BP, while other claims may not be paid because of the moratorium on oil drilling. WHICH THEY CAUSED.

Beyond those, one can only imagine what BP considers a “legitimate” claim?

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Florida GOP To Residents: “Boil In Oil!”

Over the weekend, President Obama announced that the Department of Energy will award $2 billion to solar energy companies to help speed the economic recovery and create jobs. It didn’t help when Obama thought he could gain Republican support for a new, comprehensive energy plan by going along in the near term with offshore drilling. This solar energy announcement comes at the same time that the GOP in Congress continue to filibuster over unemployment benefits.

Here in the “Sunshine State” one would think that solar energy would be a no brainer. Unfortunately the no brainers down here in Florida are the Republicans controlling our legislature.

Need evidence of that? Let’s review, shall we?

Up until recently, Florida kept offshore oil drilling off the table. Then thanks in part to John McCain and his dim-witted choice of a running mate Sarah Palin screaming her palms off, the new GOP chant became “Drill, Baby, Drill.” Why? Because that was about the only “platform” they could come up with, and their supporters at the convention all but responded with blood lust. So of course Florida Republicans were only too happy to jump in and say “Drill Here, Drill Now!”

Then came the BP oil gusher. To even the least aware, brain cell-lacking Jeb-Bot in existence just south of Valdosta it might occur that walking back this particular oil drilling policy might be a smart idea. And to that one person, the Florida GOP would say: “quit whining, Harvard!”

Of course, not many would have expected empty-headed Ken-doll candidate Marco Rubio to be deep enough to grasp such a concept, but even career GOP politicians who you would think would know better are steadfast against a special session to ban oil drilling. Even as oil washes up on our beaches, and tropical storms swirl and oil literally hits the fan. For crying out loud, even Charlie Crist figured it out. The RPOF crew? Not so much.

That brings us to solar energy. The state saw the light on that issue briefly. Once upon a time there was a rebate program for residents who invested in solar power for their homes. So people invested in solar energy. Too bad:

Take the Florida Solar Rebate Program, an initiative operating more on feel-good rhetoric than actual state revenue. The program owes almost 11,000 Floridians who believed state officials that they’d get a rebate for their investment in solar-powered water heaters and electric systems. The state marketed the benefits of solar energy, only to sell out a lot of its constituents with a bill of goods….

….The consumer end of the bargain is a bust, however. Property owners in Florida had been afforded incentives to invest in solar, but state lawmakers reneged on the deal by not funding the program.

The rationale behind the decision to let the rebates lapse is clear enough: Florida doesn’t have the money, pure and simple. When the economy improves, lawmakers can reconsider the solar-energy rebates and actually pay for the incentives. In straight English, it’s simply not a priority. And that’s unacceptable for a state that should be a leader in solar technology, not an also-ran.

That’s shortsighted and, in the long run, counterproductive. The rebate program holds the promise of creating a new industry in Florida, from solar panel installers to the very real possibility of attracting manufacturers of solar technology. It’s economic development that Florida could use, but won’t get if the state’s initial efforts in creating a meaningful rebate program remains an empty promise.

Silly solar power-investing tree huggers! If you have a diploma, Harvard or otherwise, the RPOF laughs in your face! ESPECIALLY if that diplomas is printed on recycled paper! Ha!

And you thought drilling for oil while skimmers “potentially” suck oil out of the Gulf, and out of work fishermen scrape it off the beaches without the benefit of the protective gear that would prevent them from needing the health care that you have vowed to take away from them (I’m talking to you Bill McCollum) that they may have still had  when BP put them out of work in the first place was counterproductive!

Sell you some swampland they will!

Oh, and about that excuse that those rebates will be but a figment of our imagination until the economy improves? Well, those same GOP leaders would also tell you that’s why your power bills keep climbing. It’s not their fault! It’s the economy, stupid! Right?

Four of the five members of our state Public Service Commission who voted against raising electric rates in January have now been canned by the Legislature.

Such a housecleaning is unprecedented in the three decades since the PSC switched from an elected body….

….Two of the four ousted members, David Klement and Ben Stevens, were appointed at the end of last year by Gov. Charlie Crist.

They voted against $1.5 billion in electric rate hikes before the state Senate voted on their confirmations. The Senate then rejected them on the pretext they were “unqualified.”

Last week, the ax fell on two other members. Chairman Nancy Argenziano and Nathan Skop were applying for a second, four-year term.

Instead, a screening committee controlled by the Legislature simply left their names off the list of candidates to be interviewed. They will be gone at the end of the year.

The bad news: (well, besides the economy) it almost appears that the Florida legislature owns the PSC. Plus power companies are “people” who can donate unlimited campaign contributions to candidates too. Repeat after me: “I pledge allegiance to Florida Power & Light, Progress Energy, The Grand Obstructionist Party, The Republican Party Of Florida, BP and Citizens United.” And not necessarily in that order….

The good news: your GOP controlled legislature actually saved you the gas money you would have spent getting to the voting booth. You’re welcome!

Far be it from me to cause nightmares, but many are the politicians who say nuclear power plants (Republican translation: “nucular pawer’”) are the way forward along with, or as an alternative to oil drilling. Given what they’ve done with the oil spill, I dare you to imagine the bang up job the GOP and BP would do with control of a nuke plant?

Now imagine what happens when crude oil and dispersants meet a nuclear power plant, which need water for cooling, some of which is water from the Gulf Of Mexico? Imagine no more! In Florida we may be about to witness it firsthand. Not that there isn’t an emergency plan in place:

Even before the big Deepwater Horizon spill, an oil boom stretched across the intake canal at the Anclote power plant near Holiday, Florida, just east of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s there to keep the oil in, should there be any accidental spill at the oil-fired electricity station. But now it’s part of Progress Energy’s defense plan for keeping the oil out.

That’s right folks. Just as it protected marshland in Louisiana and most beaches so far in the Gulf from all that oil, boom is all that stands between oil and nuclear power facilities in the “Sunshine State.”

A state where the lunatics have taken over the asylum and are forcing us all to live there along with them.

If you have a solar rebate check, hang on to it. It might come in handy in place of firewood someday soon.

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