Foreign Skimmer Boats May Be Allowed to Help Fight Gulf Oil Disaster
Day 70: Barack Obama Allows Limited International Assistance to Fight Gulf Oil Spill
(Read AP story here. US accepts international assistance for Gulf oil spill)
Barack Obama's Arrogance Hinders Help From Skimmer Boats
Barack Obama is still arrogantly refusing to waive the Jones Act, an act that would open the doors for foreign skimmer boats to help defend the environment from the Gulf oil disaster. Skimmer boats can collect BP's spewing oil before it reaches the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida damaging sensitive marshland and estuaries, and harming wildlife.
Today, a release from the State Department reveals that special considerations will allow some of the skimmer boat help offered from over 30 countries to participate in the defense and clean-up efforts. The details of which countries and organizations will be allowed to help weren't released, but only 12 countries and international organizations were referred to in the release.
(Learn about the Jones Act and why Obama won't waive it here.)
Congressman Jeff Miller's Tele-Townhall Meeting
This comes as good news, especially to Floridians distressed over the Gulf oil disaster who spent Tuesday evening, June 29, in a tele-townhall meeting with Florida Congressman Jeff Miller. The need for more skimmer boats was discussed. Congressman Miller has been an ardent advocate for more skimmer boats to fight the oil.
Congressman Miller blends technology like Facebook, Twitter, a YouTube video library, and robo-call invitations to his teleconferences, called "tele-Townhall meetings" to keep his constituents informed. Miller even accepts live questions in the tele-townhall calls.
In the Tuesday evening tele-townhall meeting, Congressman Miller shared interesting facts and some of his concerns. In listening to the tele-townhall meeting, I discovered that:
There are currently 2.7 million feet of boom deployed in the Gulf to help protect the shores.
BP is now refusing to fund the efforts of the Vessels of Opportunity program. (Learn about BP's Vessels of Opportunity Program here.)
It is unclear who, if anyone, is specifically in charge of the Vessels of Opportunity program, and the program is not well-coordinated.
None of the counties in Florida that have been affected by the oil disaster have received any financial reimbursement from BP for monies spent to-date. There are concerns as some counties are now forced to dip into hurricane response funds.
Congressman Miller would not be surprised to see that FEMA is called in to coordinate the response to the oil spill, simply because of the expansive nature of this disaster.
Florida DEP Secretary Michael Sole, who participated in the call, shared that Florida law does not allow dispersants to be released into the waters off Florida's coast.
In Congressman Miller's tele-townhall survey, 66 percent of respondents felt the federal government's response to the oil disaster was too slow, 19 percent felt it was good, and 14 percent were unsure.
Online Sources:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeff-Miller/66367876671?v=wall
US accepts international assistance for Gulf spill
Published by Gina Covell Maddox
As a writer and professional speaker, Gina Maddox helps individuals enhance their personal impact and take personal responsibility for their success. Gina is the author of, "The Working Woman's Rant & Rave G... View profile
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4 Comments
Post a CommentGood newsm but a bit late..it just took our President way too long to send the appropriate help.......
I think every attempt to stop the spill and to help clean things up.
Marc - Oh Boy! 15 whole skimmer boats! We should have had 100 more out in the gulf. More skimmers in the gulf means less oil invading the shore. The objective is to defend and protect the environment - the beaches, marshland and estuaries. It appears that your objective is to defend and protect a failed Obama administration response to the biggest oil disaster in our history. Waive the Jones Act and we can have more skimmers protecting our shores.
Do you do any research? There have been 15 foreign ships already helping with the cleanup and they didn't require a jones act waiver.
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/660195/