The Sean Hannity Show - Environment

Solyndra

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:19:40 -0800

Friday November 18 2011

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:02:02 -0800

Solyndra Case Reveals Gateway Between Administration Loans, Obama Allies

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:57:23 -0800

FoxNews.com

As the White House rejects charges that the Obama administration was motivated by politics in its decisions on green energy loans, scrutiny is increasing over the preference given to Democratic donors seeking federal loans.

Recent emails suggest that politics did play a role in administration decisions regarding its energy loan guarantee programs. But beyond the timing of political announcements, the Solyndra investigation has churned up questions about the White House’s overall strategy of doling out taxpayer money.

The rolls of green energy subsidies show that beyond a few headline-grabbing cases, several well-connected Democrats obtained taxpayer assistance for environmentally friendly projects.

Among the recipients are:

– Solyndra, which received $535 million in loan guarantees and whose chief investor was the George Kaiser Family Foundation. George Kaiser was an Obama campaign bundler.

– Brightsource Energy, which received $1.6 billion and whose senior adviser is Robert Kennedy, Jr., an early Obama backer;

– Solar Reserve, which got a $737 million loan, and whose major investor is a company run by Michael Froman, who was a deputy assistant to the president. Froman bundled up to $500,000 for the president’s 2008 campaign;

– Granite Reliable Wind Generation, which received a $168.9 million loan. The company’s majority owner is a firm formerly led by Nancy Ann DeParle, now a White House deputy chief of staff and former head of the president’s health care communications team during the reform debate; and

– Abound Solar, which received a loan guarantee worth $400 million. A key investor is billionaire heiress Pat Stryker, who gave $87,000 to Obama’s inauguration committee, and hundreds of thousands more to Democratic causes.

Peter Schweizer, author of the book, “Throw Them All Out,” wrote that at least 10 members of Obama’s finance committee and more than a dozen of his campaign bundlers took money from administration loan programs.

Schweizer told Fox News that he believes that many of those who were chosen to receive loan guarantees, were picked almost solely for their success in raising money for the Obama campaign.

Obama used the alternative energy program as an opportunity to make his campaign contributors “even more wealthy than they are,” he said.

“This is a payoff to people who are your political backers and supporters. And this is really a wealth transfer from middle class taxpayers to billionaires,” Schweizer said, adding that about 75 percent of the loans and grants doled out by the federal government has gone to “Obama-connected companies” even though the acceptance rate in the program is less than 10 percent.

Nick Loris, an economic and energy policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said the problem lies with the government playing the role of venture capitalist.

“This is a problem of when the government becomes involved in economic decisions that are best left for the private sector. It reduces the incentive to lower costs and innovate,” he said.

He added that the Energy Department had an enormous amount of power because it received so much of the 2009 stimulus money.

“The real question needs to be the merit of the loan guarantee program, why is the government picking winners and losers in the market place when there is a huge demand for electricity, there’s huge demand for transportation fuels. That profit incentive (alone is enough) to drive new technologies into the market place … and I think really the question needs to be why do we have this program in the first place,” Loris said.

On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released emails about the loan to Solyndra, the failed solar energy company that has become the poster child for criticism over the loan program.

One of the emails — dated Oct. 30, 2010, just days before the midterm election — conveys how the Department of Energy wanted Argonaut Equity, the biggest investor in Solyndra, to hold off on news of pending layoffs until Nov. 3, the day after the election.

“DOE continues to be cooperative and have indicated that they will fund the November draw on our loan (app. $40 million) but have not committed to December yet,” wrote one Solyndra investor adviser. “They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd — oddly they didn’t give a reason for that date.”

The Energy Department and White House have steadfastly maintained that loan guarantees were made strictly on their merits.

“The Republican report cites internal email from Argonaut about the timing of a press release. But as the 180,000 pages of documents that the Department of Energy turned over to the committee indicate, the department’s decisions about this loan were made on the merits, based on extensive review by the experts in the loan program — and nothing in this Republican Committee memo changes that,” said Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera.

However, the Government Accountability Office and the Energy Department’s inspector general both issued critical reports in March on the department’s loan program. According to the IG report, investigators found that loan guarantee program could not always readily demonstrate “how it resolved or mitigated relevant risks prior to granting” the loans. It noted that key documents were missing from three of 18 electronic files despite federal requirements for inclusion and included only limited data for 12 additional projects.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is expected to testify Thursday on the program to the House Energy’s oversight subcommittee. He told NPR this week that the loan guarantee program analysis improved under his watch.

“We did no cut corners. We made it more thorough and diligent,” he told the public radio network, adding that the application process went through professionals and “outside people” who looked at he landscape and market conditions.

But that answer does not seem credible to House Republicans, including oversight subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., who issued a statement Wednesday saying that the committee wants to hear from Chu why “all the warnings, from inside and outside the Department of Energy, were ignored and this risky bet was allowed to happen.”

House subpoenas White House for Solyndra documents GOP sees stonewalling across administration

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:16:10 -0800

By Stephen Dinan The Washington Times

Showing a growing frustration with the the Obama administration, congressional Republicans on Thursday authorized their second subpoena this week, demanding White House documents related to failed solar technology company Solyndra.

By a 14-9 party-line vote the Energy and Commerce Committee's investigative subcommittee authorized issuing a subpoena for any White House documents related to Solyndra, which received renewable energy loan guarantees under President Obama's stimulus program. The request for documents could include details of the president's own travel and communications.

Democrats said it was "unprecedented" to subpoena documents from the president's executive office like this, but Republicans said they've run out of patience with White House "stalling."

"We simply cannot allow the executive branch at its highest levels to pick and choose what they will produce, or whether they will produce anything at all," said Rep. Cliff Stearns, the Florida Republican who runs the investigative panel.

Thursday's subpoena came just a day after the Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee voted along party lines to authorize a subpoena for Homeland Security records related to illegal immigrants the department has declined to pursue deportation cases against.

Together they mark an escalation as Republicans have become increasingly aggressive in pushing back against what they see as administration stonewalling of oversight by the new GOP majority in the House.

In each case, the vote only authorizes a subpoena. It's up to the chairmen of the full committees to actually issue them.

Democrats said both votes were premature. They pointed to ongoing discussions between Homeland Security and the Judiciary Committee on the one hand, and between the White House and the Energy and Commerce Committee on the other, as evidence the administration is acting in good faith.

"The White House repeatedly said they had turned over documents and they were willing to turn over more documents," said Rep. Diana DeGette, the ranking Democrat on the investigations panel.

She also said the administration has already turned over tens of thousands of documents.

Each side now argues the other is acting in bad faith.

Republicans point to a lengthy effort to get documents, and said it is only when the committee begins to threaten subpoenas that things shake loose.

Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican and chairman of the full committee, said several new boxes of documents were released to the press Wednesday night even before they were turned over to the committee. Those documents reportedly show the Obama administration mulled bailing Solyndra out just days before the solar panel manufacturer collapsed.

Democrats said they support legitimate requests for information and back the House's right to investigate the administration. But they said the request for all potential Solyndra communications was a broad fishing expedition, and accused the GOP of short-circuiting usual negotiations.

"Apparently what the committee really wants is a confrontation with the president," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the top Democrat on the full Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Waxman, a past chairman of the House's chief investigative committee, said he issued many subpoenas, but never against a White House. He said he was always able to reach an agreement with administration lawyers instead, and said that's what Republicans should try to do in this case.

The White House has sent several letters objecting to the broad request for the documents. It says the committee already has obtained documents from Cabinet departments, and said it doesn't think Congress needs to see the White House's own documents.

"We believe agency communications with the White House are the best source of information to accommodate the committee's interest in this matter," Kathryn H. Ruemmler, the White House's chief lawyer, said in an Oct. 25 letter.

She said the White House has an interest in "confidentiality" of its internal communications.

But Republicans said the White House has not actually claimed executive privilege, which is one of the exceptions that could make some documents off-limits to a congressional investigation.

The administration offered $535 million in loan guarantees to Solyndra, which borrowed $528 million. Documents the GOP has already obtained show approval was sped up despite the concerns of some officials.

Solyndra went bankrupt in September.

The subpoena is the second one the Energy and Commerce investigative panel has issued this Congress.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is scheduled to testify on Solyndra at a Nov. 17 committee meeting.

Late Wednesday another House panel, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Mr. Chu saying he has failed to answer questions on a new round of loan guarantees the Energy Department finalized on Sept. 30.

Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and chairman of the committee, set a deadline of next Monday for the Energy Department to produce the information.

White House Green Scam?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:56:24 -0800

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 16, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: There is new evidence that the Obama White House ignored multiple warnings about the financial viability of Solyndra. Now the evidence comes in the form of e-mails handed over to Congressional investigators, and the documents clearly show, White House officials dismissing a report in July of 2010, criticizing Solyndra's finances.

Now Obama aide Greg Nelson responded to the analysis by declaring, quote, "Seems BS."

As usual this administration wasn't interested in protecting your money. They were interested in protecting the president's job. The AP quotes an e-mail from an Obama aide that warned, quote, "The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad. The timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up."

And to be honest, the author of that e-mail is right. That the White House staked its entire green jobs agenda on this company. And it all began way back in 2009 at the groundbreaking of a now vacant solar plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM SEPT. 4, 2009)

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Part of our plan is to make sure as we create these jobs, we create jobs in the future like the ones you are creating. Jobs you can raise a family on. Green jobs. Jobs that will serve as a foundation for a stronger American economy. Which is why it is so important we invest in Solyndra.

And I'm really happy along with the secretary, to announce today that we've closed a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra. More than half a billion dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, that half billion dollars is gone. As are the 1,100 jobs that were at that site. And sadly, we are learning that Solyndra is only the tip of the very big iceberg. Because there are at least four other companies who received millions in stimulus funds that have since filed for bankruptcy.

Joining me now with analysis of this growing firestorm is Fox News contributor, columnist, the one and only, our friend Charles Krauthammer. Charles, welcome back, sir.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Pleasure to be with you, Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Well, you know, what are we to make of this? They got every warning imaginable not to do this. All the e-mails, they even predicted the date of this company would go bankrupt. But they forced it through any way. What are we to make of this?

KRAUTHAMMER: This is a classic example of this toxic combination of lemon socialism and crony capitalism. The lemon socialism part is the old story of industrial policy. Meaning, smart people in Washington, people who think they are smart. Elected officials, bureaucrats and they bring in experts who think they are even smarter to decide which are the industries of the future. As if they know and the market doesn't. So, you pick industries that you think, companies that you think will do well with none of the knowledge of the market. We have 100 years of experience. That tells us that the impersonal knowledge spread out in the market always appear in the long run to any choice, especially by non-economist politicians.

That's why -- and the most extreme example of course are the social states. So, the union Cuba -- you destroy an economy when you think that a politician in the centralized capital knows where capital ought to be allocated. The other element of this is that the corruption, that is the crony capitalism. It is not randomly thrown around money. It always seems to be money thrown as in the Solyndra case into a company that just happens to be invested in heavily by a George Kaiser who is a big donor to Obama. It is always like this, it's a corruption of the process. In principle it won't work because it is a socialist idea of experts over the markets. But it is made worse when it involves cronyism and favors and corruption.

HANNITY: I think what you are saying, you are not really buying the definition of crony capitalism as much as you are saying, you know, this is cronyism here. This is, you know, we have this friend of Obama's, the week before they get this half a billion dollars, 535 million stimulus taxpayer dollars, that they had access to the White House. Access that for all intent and purposes from my analysis was bought because they bundled this money and gave all this money to the Obama campaign. Is that fair analysis? Is there any other way to interpret that?

KRAUTHAMMER: Well, let's just say that we don't have evidence yet that can hang anybody. But there's a lot of circumstantial evidence. You are right, this is the first loan. It is also an immense loan, half a billion dollars to one company. And it is to somebody who gave a lot of money to the president. The worst part about this is Energy Department officials on the board in the late months, in 2011 when it was headed downhill. And they were aware of the condition of the company and apparently, did nothing. And all that the money -- but there was a change in the loan arrangements. Late in the game, the Energy Department, which was originally supposed to be first in line, to collect in case of a liquidation and a bankruptcy, ended up last in line, and that's why you and I as people who pay taxes are going to be wiped out in this are going to lose the entire half a billion dollars.

HANNITY: Yes, I mean, it's pretty outrageous. They also got a special loan rate which I think has been overlooked by a pretty significant portion of the media. And there are other companies as well. And it is a similar story. So, there's a pattern of behavior here that people that bundled money were able to buy access. And then, as a result of the access, they get, you know, basically taxpayer money and these companies go under.

KRAUTHAMMER: But the larger issue to me is that even if it weren't a corrupt deal. Even if it were above board, what is the government doing throwing $30 billion at an industry that is now a fantasy. We hear Biden say jobs of the future. How does he know? You know, it is like throwing billions of dollars at jet engines in the 1920s. If it comes the market will tell us. The market says, these companies are worthless. This is a company that was making a solar panel at $6. And selling it at $3. I'm not an economist, I'm not sure that that actually works in the long run or the short run.

HANNITY: I don't think you need to be an economist. My 10-year-old daughter, she just turned 10, I think she can figure out the math on that Charles. It's fairly simple.

KRAUTHAMMER: You know, the old Jewish joke of the two tailors, Max and Sam one says, how are you doing? He says, well, I'm making shirts at a dollar each and I'm selling them at 50 cents. And the other asked, well, how do you make a living? He says, I make it up on volume. Well, apparently it didn't work in this case.

HANNITY: Apparently that's the arithmetic there. All right. Let me move on to 2012. I thought you had a very good column this week. And I was glad, you said something, I have used the term as you did, Ponzi scheme as it relates to Social Security. You point out this is a classic Ponzi scheme. But it seems to be now front in center in the Republican GOP presidential debate, and your attitude and your column says, get past the stupid definition of how we're going to debate this, and fix the system. Do you think the country is now ready to take on what has always been the third rail in American politics?

KRAUTHAMMER: No. And you can tell by the president who we learned today is going to make the unveiling of a debt plan next week. And he is going to leave out anything on Social Security. And that as we know, is the easiest of all the entitlements to fix. It requires a tweak on the inflation measure. It requires some means of testing. And it requires most importantly, a raising of the retirement age. Everybody knows that. At the time Social Security was invented, life expectancy was 62. It is now around 80. So, obviously, you've got index it to life expectancy, which is not been done in 60 years, that's an easy fix. And yet, this president won't touch it.

HANNITY: Do you recommend that Rick Perry then emphasize more what he said in the last debate? Contrary to what he said in his book. Do you recommend that Rick Perry perhaps pivot and say no, I want to save Social Security and perhaps keep using that term?

KRAUTHAMMER: Well, look, pivoting is not always a good idea if you have come out so radically on one side. Once you've say it is unconstitutional. And you say it is essentially a scam from beginning to end, it is hard to make a pivot and not look as if you are flip-flopping. Nonetheless, I think unless he reassures people who are now on Social Security or are going to be on in the next 10 years or so, that nothing will change. He's going to have a problem that's going to insoluble and it will make him unelectable, that's a fact of American life.

HANNITY: All right. Charles Krauthammer, good to see you. Thank you so much for being with us.

KRAUTHAMMER: Pleasure.

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Actress Daryl Hannah arrested near White House with dozens of others in oil pipeline protest

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:42:41 -0800

WASHINGTON — Actress Daryl Hannah has been arrested in front of the White House along with other environmental protesters opposing a planned oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The sit-in Tuesday involved dozens protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. It would go through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to refineries in Texas.

Before she was arrested, Hannah told The Associated Press the protesters want to be free from dependence on fossil fuels. The group calls for clean energy investments instead. Hannah says they hope President Barack Obama will not bow to oil lobbyists.

Hannah sat down on the sidewalk and refused orders from U.S. Park Police to move.

She has been arrested in the past for environmental causes.

Obama on Hurricane Irene

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:22:28 -0800

“Federal Family” Learns a Lesson About Disaster Politics

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:15:29 -0800

By Chris Stirewalt | FoxNews.com

“Since the end of last year's hurricane season, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been working with the nation's entire emergency management team to get ready for this year's hurricane season. That team includes the entire federal family, state, local and tribal governments, the faith-based and non-profit communities, and the private sector.”

-- McClatchy Newspapers Op-Ed by Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Jack Hayes, director of the National Weather Service

American politicians have a gift for over learning the lessons of the immediate past, and the response to Hurricane Irene is a prime example.

Compared to the other major natural disasters of the year – the rash of cyclones that killed hundreds across the Southeast in April or the mile-wide tornado that killed 160 people in Joplin, Mo. on May 22 –Irene was a dud.

But the storm had all the makings of a catastrophe: large, slow-moving and pointed at the heart of the nation’s largest city. It was not hard to imagine that the low-lying central part of Manhattan would be swamped like New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. Not only would there have been scores of lives lost, but the beating heart of America’s financial industry would have been stifled.

In the end, though, the storm was nothing like Katrina and the small number of dead and isolated property damage will be lamented now, but soon swept from the front pages. It takes a lot to hold the nation’s disaster fascination: ask the still-struggling folks in Alabama and Joplin.

But before Irene fizzled, the Obama White House wanted to make sure that Irene was no Katrina and that, in fact, the president and his aides would be seen in compassionate command of the situation.

Hence the introduction of what may be the most condescending euphemism for the national government in its long history of condescending euphemizing: “federal family.”

This new phrase was supposed to, Power Play supposes, make anxious East Coasters feel the love of a caring federal government -- tender squeeze from the Department of Homeland Security, a gentle embrace from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The phrase was a centrally distributed talking point, appearing in op-eds, press releases and statements from across the administration.

No major hurricane had hit the U.S. mainland in the Obama era, and the “federal family” had obviously been saving up a lot of new approaches to differentiate itself from the clan under President George W. Bush.

President Obama, presumably the federal father, came home early from his vacation and addressed the nation on the progress of the storm daily. The agency heads, presumably the siblings of this caring network, fanned out to show intimate engagement with the subject, from sandbagging procedures to storm tracking.

Meanwhile, Democrats were already pushing hard on the notion that Republican spendthrifts had crippled federal disaster preparedness, laying the predicate for pinning the blame for the disaster on the Tea Party movement. When the worst came, the president’s allies wanted to make sure everyone knew who was trying to break up the federal family.

It’s easy to say today, in hindsight, that the administration and its allies over-hyped the storm. If the damage had been greater, the panicky preamble and blame placement would seem justified. But the Obama political team has undoubtedly been taught a lesson about political perception.

It’s much easier to score negative points against someone else than it is to add positive ones to your own tally.

The president made attacking the Bush administration’s handling of Katrina a big part of his rise to power. Obama frequently used the storm and its aftermath to highlight the differences between himself and the man who is now his predecessor. This was a useful strategy because it plugged into one of the dominant narratives of the time: that Katrina was a domestic Iraq, a place where the president allowed people to suffer and die because of his own indifference or stupidity.

While Bush himself would later lament holding back a federal intervention in New Orleans, the largest part of the tragedy of Katrina came because of poor planning, poor preparedness and the sunken geography of the poorest parts of New Orleans. But the establishment press narrative fit fabulously and helped consign the GOP to two massive electoral defeats.

Obama called Irene an “historic storm” on Friday, but she will be all but forgotten soon enough. Katrina, conversely, brewed and churned in just the wrong way to suddenly swamp New Orleans. Remember that Katrina crossed Florida with minimal damage and only became the monster storm of legend when it entered the Gulf of Mexico.

While Americans had days to watch and worry over Irene, Katrina had already been dismissed by many as just another tropical depression before she started sucking up warm Gulf water and picking up speed. It was a perfect disaster.

Irene’s long lead time and the untapped hurricane plans of the Obama administration caused overwrought phrases like “federal family” and for a general sense of anxious hovering. The potential for massive disaster and graphic memories of Katrina cause local leaders to follow suit and join their presidential papa.

(Power Play would suggest that any New Yorkers and New Jerseyans currently complaining about the dire warnings of their mayor or governor ask themselves this: Would they rather have Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco?)

It is in this way that campaigns shape governments. The way that Obama ran for office, in this case blasting Bush for Katrina, caused his organization to place an excess premium on hurricane preparedness and messaging.

Some of it may have been defensive, since Democrats came to realize the political potential of a disaster while using the tragedy against Bush, but most of it was probably juxtapositional: “We can do this because we are the party of government. The Republicans hate government and that kills people.”

But rather than having a chance to show how effectively the government party can unite the federal family to a common cause, the president’s team got all worked up for a storm that most Floridians wouldn’t have interrupted their canasta games for. That’s how it goes with natural disasters.

The political lesson, though, is one that the members of Team Obama seem to be constantly being taught: it’s a lot easier to run for president than it is to be one. As they watch Republican frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney take chunks out of the embattled president’s hide, they will continue to re-learn it.

Category 3 Irene Prompts Evacuations in North Carolina

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:04:02 -0800

FoxNews.com

Evacuations began Wednesday on a tiny barrier island off North Carolina as Hurricane Irene, now a powerful Category 3 storm, barrels toward the East Coast, packing winds of 115 miles per hour and potentially wreaking havoc on areas stretching from the Mid-Atlantic region to New England.

Federal officials have warned Irene, which has grown considerably more powerful since Tuesday, could cause flooding, power outages or worse all along the East Coast as far north as Maine, even if it stays offshore. The projected path has gradually shifted to the east, though the storm is still expected to make landfall as a major hurricane in North Carolina sometime over the weekend. It is then expected to continue trudging northward.

The evacuation in North Carolina on Wednesday was a test of whether people in the crosshairs of the first major hurricane along the East Coast in years would heed orders to get out of the way.

The first ferry to leave Ocracoke Island arrived just before 5:30 a.m. in nearby Hatteras with around a dozen cars on board.

It won't be easy to get thousands of people off Ocracoke Island, which is accessible only by boat. The 16-mile-long barrier island is home to about 800 year-round residents and a tourist population that swells into the thousands when vacationers rent rooms and cottages. Tourists were told to evacuate Wednesday. Island residents were told to get out on Thursday.

It wasn't clear how many people on the first arriving ferry Wednesday morning were tourists, but the first two cars to drive off it had New York and New Jersey plates.

Getting off the next ferry about an hour later was a family that included newlywed Jennifer Baharek, 23, of Torrington, Conn. She and her husband, Andrew, were married Monday and planned to spend their honeymoon on the island.

"We just got to spend one day on the beach and then we went to bed early to get up for the evacuation," she said.

The White House is urging people living in the path of the hurricane to follow the advice and warning of state and local officials as the storm approaches.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama was briefed Wednesday on the latest developments. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is also coordinating with state and local officials.

The storm could impact Martha's Vineyard, the island enclave off the Massachusetts coast where Obama is vacationing. The White House said there are no plans at this point to change Obama's scheduled Saturday return to Washington.

In North Carolina, the state-run ferry service off Ocracoke Island would be free during the evacuation, but no reservations were allowed. Boats can carry no more than 50 vehicles at a time.

The island is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a roughly 200-mile stretch of fragile barrier islands off the state's coast. Pristine beaches and wild mustangs attract thousands of tourists each year. Aside from Ocracoke, the other islands are accessible by bridges to the mainland and ferries. The limited access can make the evacuation particularly tense.

All the barrier islands have the geographic weakness of jutting out into the Atlantic like the side-view mirror of a car, a location that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades.

In South Carolina, meanwhile, officials are not planning any evacuations in advance of Irene because forecasts show the storm is likely to miss much of the state's coast.

Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday that residents should still keep an eye on the weather and cautioned that people on the coast near the North Carolina line should still take precautions. But, she said that "after a long night of waiting" and watching forecasts, she determined the National Guard also no longer need to be on standby.

Irene is "going eastward an upward and that is what we wanted," she said.

Haley said warnings will be issued if the storm track changes in coming days.

The governor says officials in South Carolina coastal counties should be able to handle any issues brought by the storm and pledged to help North Carolina, where predictions show the storm could have a greater effect.

Irene has already wrought destruction across the Caribbean, giving a glimpse of what the storm might bring to the Eastern Seaboard. In Puerto Rico, more than a million people were without power, and one woman died after trying to cross a swollen river in her car. At least hundreds were displaced by flooding in the Dominican Republic, forced to take refuge in schools and churches.

It's been more seven years since a major hurricane, considered a Category 3 with winds of at least 111 mph (179 kph), hit the East Coast. Hurricane Jeanne came ashore on Florida's east coast in 2004.

On North Carolina's mainland, residents who have weathered years of storms took notice. People flocked to gas stations and stores to stock up on supplies like gasoline for generators, plywood for boarding up windows, flashlights, batteries and drinking water.

In the coastal city of Wilmington, Tommy Early watched Tuesday as customers came in to his Shell service station to prepare. Irene was the main topic of conversation there, and Early was getting ready to give the hurricane its rightful place in a thick yellow notebook, even if it takes a turn out to sea. For years, Early has tracked names, wind speeds, rainfall and other data from storms that are nearly as familiar there as beach-loving tourists.

"Hurricane Earl," Early said Tuesday, looking up the entry for the storm that narrowly missed North Carolina last year. Evacuations also were ordered last year ahead of Earl. "That was a Category 4 at one point. One hundred and sixty-mile-an hour winds. We got lucky that time."

The last hurricane to hit the U.S. was Ike in 2008. The last Category 3 or higher to hit the Carolinas was Bonnie in 1998, but caused less damage than other memorable hurricanes: Hugo in 1989, Floyd in 1999 and Isabel in 2003.

Though a Category 2, Isabel cut a new inlet through Hatteras Island and killed 33 people.

At Craft American Hardware at Wrightsville Beach, Don Korman said he had placed a big order set to arrive Wednesday: Batteries, lanterns, tarps and shutter supplies.

"People are watching the TV, but they usually come by a few days before," he said. "If it looks like it's coming like this, you can run out of stock really quick."

Korman, though, plans to be ready even for 11th-hour supply trips: the store is ready to plywood its windows and run off generator power until it becomes unsafe or unwise to keep the doors open.

"We won't close until the last minute," he said.

Most locals were heeding the warnings and getting ready for the storm, though few seemed panicked.

"Water, batteries, flashlights and now I'm going to get my grocery shopping done," said Sally Godwin, carrying two large jugs of fresh water out of Korman's store with her. "I live at the beach, and they always evacuate it the day before. I have to make sure all my little stuff's taken care of."

Newscore and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Shell Oil

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:17:58 -0800

EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:11:43 -0800

Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.

Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”

The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska. It is one of the most remote places in the United States. According to the latest census, the population is 245 and nearly all of the residents are Alaska natives. The village, which is 1 square mile, sits right along the shores of the Beaufort Sea, 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.

The EPA’s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.

“What the modeling showed was in communities like Kaktovik, Shell’s drilling would increase air pollution levels close to air quality standards,” said Eric Grafe, Earthjustice’s lead attorney on the case. Earthjustice was joined by Center for Biological Diversity and the Alaska Wilderness League in challenging the air permits.

At stake is an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil. That’s how much the U. S. Geological Survey believes is in the U.S. portion of the Arctic Ocean. For perspective, that represents two and a half times more oil than has flowed down the Trans Alaska pipeline throughout its 30-year history. That pipeline is getting dangerously low on oil. At 660,000 barrels a day, it’s carrying only one-third its capacity.

President Obama

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:09:35 -0800

Who Doesn't Love Nature?

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:55:26 -0800

Who doesn't love nature?

Even if you don't like nature this live stream is an incredible thing to watch.

A mother eagle nesting and waiting for her three eggs to hatch and come to life.

This is what I'm watching today as I call screen :)

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Are Fears of a Catastrophic Nuclear Meltdown in Japan Warranted?

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:48:48 -0800

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 14, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And tonight fears of a catastrophic meltdown at a Japanese nuclear power plant are rising.

Now in the wake of Friday's massive earthquake, a series of explosions have crippled efforts to reduce the temperature inside those reactors. And the latest explosion occurred just over an hour ago.

Now seawater is being used to cool the rods, but late Monday night in Japan, the water level dropped and the rods were exposed. Now this poses serious health risks and dramatically increases the chances of a total meltdown.

Now also today, we learned that crewmembers of the USS Reagan were exposed to radiation while on a relief mission. Now reports indicate that the exposure occurred when U.S. helicopters flew through a cloud of a radioactive dust although the exposure being described as low leveled and test did not detect any contamination after they washed with soap and water, the sailors are being closely monitored.

Joining me now with the very latest on the developing situation are Jay Lehr from The Heartland Institute, Ira Helfand, a nuclear expert, member of the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and nuclear safety consultant Margaret Harding.

Thank you both -- Jay, I'm looking at not only the contamination story of the USS Reagan Navy crewmembers but, you know, "this is a race against time." You know, "Japan's frantic efforts to avoid a meltdown." Some people say, "we were told not to breathe the air, it's scary." How realistic is this threat?

JAY LEHR, THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE: Sean, it is not at all realistic. I can tell you with the utmost confidence there will not be a health impact of anything that is going on at the Fukushima power plant. A meltdown, people interpret it as virtually a disaster, and explosion, destruction like an atomic bomb that is not true at all. A meltdown just means that the cooling of the rods has failed. The temperature is higher than can be controlled in order to create the hot water that ultimately flashes to steam and turns a turbine. So, they immediately install rods to bring the radioactive decay down to subcritical but they have leftover heat and residual radiation that has to be brought under control, it will happen naturally within a few days. They are doing the best they can.

But a total meltdown has only occurred at Three Mile Island back in 1979. That was a disaster of a nuclear plant considered 10 times more serious than Fukushima. And the rods actually did melt down, fell to the floor of the reactor building. And they only melted five-eight of an inch into five inches of steel before they cooled and the situation stopped. And as you well know, there were no health impacts from Three Mile Island.

There will not be any health impacts here. The nuclear engineers in Japan are doing a magnificent job under a situation that could never be expected. And the public in Japan has enough to worry about with a horrible disaster without worrying that there is going to be a nuclear explosion.

HANNITY: Let me bring Ira in here. Now, the Japanese nuclear safety agency rated the damage at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima at a four on a scale of one to seven. Each number being 10 times worst than the prior one. For example, Three Mile Island was a five. And Chernobyl rated as the seven. Do you agree with the assessment of Jay Lehr?

IRA HELFAND, NUCLEAR EXPERT: Well, no, not at all. I mean, it was rated as a four, two days ago. And a lot of very bad things have happened since then. We don't know what is going to happen. There may not be a significant breach of containment at either any of these three reactors, but there may be. And that's the point. For the last three days, the people who occupy this plant, have not known what has been going on. They have been doing a spectacular job, but they've been working in the dark. They've been using techniques which are not in any of the playbooks. Using fire trucks to pump seawater into a reactor which you know is going to destroy the reactor. It's something that has never been done before and is never been contemplated before. And it is not working really well either which is why we keep having these periodic increases in the amount of fuel that's melting down.

HANNITY: Well, there's always a possibility -- but Margaret, let me bring you in here. As, you know, by all accounts, you know, they even built this facility which was built number of decades ago to withstand an 8.2 magnitude earthquake. There is, as I understand what they're saying is a ton of redundancy and protections that they put in place here, you know, even envisioning a worst-case scenario, your thoughts on where we are right now, what we can expect.

MARGARET HARDING, NUCLEAR SAFETY CONSULTANT: Well, that's correct. First I'd like to say that on behalf of the American Nuclear Society, that our hearts go out to what is happening in Japan. And the earthquake and the tsunami and the devastation. I especially want to congratulate and honor the workers at the plants whose families and homes have been lost, and yet they've stayed on the job.

That said, you are absolutely right. There's huge defense and depth on these plans. They were designed to operate through an earthquake, an 8.2. They survived this earthquake, the tsunami was what took out some of the backup systems. But the ultimate backup has always been the reactor vessel and the containment which are working. In addition, remember that the seawater option was built into the plant. This is not something that was not anticipated. It is of course something you don't want to do. You don't want to put seawater into the facility. But it was planned as an ultimate backup if you needed it and it is working.

HANNITY: All right. Jay, we keep hearing "meltdown" and I know when we talk about nuclear anything, that I assume that people's minds go towards nuclear explosion of some kind.

LEHR: There's no question about that Sean. A meltdown is basically a nuclear

engineering term which simply means that the heat from the radioactive decay is greater than we want it to be in order to operate --

HANNITY: But the fear is to release a radiation, is it not?

LEHR: It is but we have a containment structure that is not likely to release the radiation. And if it did release the radiation, most of the radioactive particles have a very short half life. Chernobyl was a number seven as you said. It had no containment building. It totally exploded. There was a cloud of radiation that they said was going to kill tens of thousands of people and deform children.

Ten years after the accident, the U.N. produced a 1,200-page report pointing out that there was no long-term impact on health from anybody away from the plant due to the radiation cloud. There were 1,000 cases of leukemia in the village right surrounding Chernobyl, and 998 of them were cured.

So, this idea of this radioactive cloud like a nuclear bomb is totally false. And puts stress on a population --both our country and their country -- that is totally unwarned.

Nuclear Overreactions

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:14:48 -0800

As the Wisconsin debate exposed the unholy alliance between unions and the Democratic Party, Sean felt that we’re also beginning to see the unholy relationship between environmental groups and Democrats. Sean mentioned an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal that illustrated how we should learn from disasters and not flee everything involving risk {Article}.

Due in part to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, liberals and Democrats have seized the opportunity to call for less reliance on nuclear energy because of the potential dangers involved. “Because a plane crashes we don’t stop flying, because an oil rig explodes we don’t stop drilling.

Because the Challenger space shuttle blew up we didn’t stop shuttle flights,” Sean explained. We should learn from the Japanese nuclear crisis, not let it feed a political panic over nuclear power in general. The WSJ article concludes, “Modern civilization is in the daily business of measuring and mitigating risk, but its advance requires that we continue to take risk. It would compound Japan's tragedy if the lesson America learns is that we should pursue the illusory and counterproductive goal of eliminating all risk.”

Tuesday March 15 2011

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:06:50 -0800

Michele Bachmann, Steve King,

Monday March 14 2011

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:06:50 -0800

Newt Gingrich,

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami 2011

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:32:26 -0800

Gas Prices Continue To Rise, Inching Up Over Last Two Weeks

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 05:09:40 -0800

Obama's Energy Dependence!

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:36:05 -0800

Sean played a clip of a congressional hearing where Dan Burton (R-IN), grills Hilary Clinton on the concept of energy independence, saying we are continuing and increasingly dependent on foreign energy, impeding the United States’ ability to become energy independent.

In true Hilary fashion, she doesn’t back down…”There is a lot that can be done right now that will make us energy efficient and I think some of the short term decisions that are being made by the Congress undermine our march for energy independence.” Really Hilary, placing blame on Congress? The Congress that has been in office for just barely two full months?

Sean notes that it is Obama who has banned drilling everywhere he can. He promised he’d build new nuclear energy plants…nope…instead he’s allocated billions to phony green energy products which are useless and have accomplished nothing.

The political instability in the Middle East is just the latest scary realization come to life that if we do not gain energy independence their turmoil will blow up in our face and gas prices will spike.

Since Obama has been inaugurated and joined forces with the left’s environmental extremists the price of oil has now tripled. That dependence is the single greatest national security issue we have.

Sean tramples on the assumption the “Obama mania media” has put forth that the uprisings are to blame for gas prices rising saying “it shouldn’t matter! The single biggest cause for oil prices is refusal of this president and recent congress to develop our own energy sources. Period.”

Troopers sent to absent senators' homes

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:02:30 -0800

www.jsonline.com/blogs

By Steve Schultze of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 24, 2011

State troopers were dispatched early this morning to the homes of all 14 Democratic state senators, who fled the Capitol a week ago to stall debate on a bill to restrict public worker bargaining rights.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said he took the move because he'd had reports some of the senators were going home nights and driving in the morning to Chicago. The Democrats have said they left Wisconsin to avoid being compelled to return to the Capitol and face a vote on Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill.

"Troopers aren't going to arrest anybody," Fitzgerald said. He hopes the Democrats if confronted by a trooper and a Senate page will comply with Senate tradition and rules and return to the Capitol.

As of 9 a.m., though, Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Fitzgerald, said that so far no Democratic senators have been found.

It would only take one of the 14 Democrats to give majority Republicans a quorum so the budget bill can be voted on.

Fitzgerald said he would not immediately bring up the budget bill for debate as soon as one of the absent Democrats can be brought back to the Capitol

He said the Democrats' tactic of leaving town was "absolutely trashing the decorum of the Senate."

A Miracle In Massachusetts

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:58:10 -0800

The election of the Republican Junior Senator from Massachusetts shocked the nation and is credited with starting the tea party title-wave. The GOP Senator was elected in a 2010 special election to serve the remainder of arguably the most Liberal Senator Ted Kennedy’s term when he died after a long struggle with a brain tumor.

Considered an epic upset in the most Liberal state, Brown defeated Democratic candidate and Massachusetts Attorney General, Martha Coakley, 53% to 46% . The upset was particularly embarrassing to the White House after Obama had personally traveled to Boston to try to ‘save’ the once favored Coakley. The loss was also devastating to the Liberals in support of healthcare overhaul, who feared another vote for the GOP would halt passage in the Senate.

Brown’s win was just the first of a GOP landslide when gubernatorial, senate and congressional candidates swept their Democratic opponents in the 2010 November elections. Since taking office, however, Senator Brown has been accused of flip-flopping, and caucusing with the Democrats instead of Republicans on important issues such as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

In his new book “Against All Odds,” Senator Brown gives the reader an in-depth behind the scenes of the man who shook Massachusetts to the core, from his shameful and hidden childhood to his rise to the United States Senate. And Sean presses him on the issues the people want to know the most such as his thoughts on Obama, the direction of the country, healthcare and his future aspirations.

Listen to Sean’s Radio Interview {HERE}

Watch Senator Brown on ‘Hannity’ {HERE}

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 21, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown burst on to the political scene back in 2010 when he was unexpectedly elected to fill the seat of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. And now in a brand-new book, he details his life struggles and how they have helped shape him into the person that he is today.

And joining me now is the man himself. His book, "Against All Odds: My Life of Hardship, Fast Breaks, and Second Chances" is now in stores.

Senator, how are you? Welcome back to the program, I appreciate you being here.

SEN. SCOTT BROWN, R-MASS.: Great, Sean. Good to be on again. Thank you.

HANNITY: I read this book. I got to tell you, you grew up poor, broken family. I mean, really broken family. You talked about, "I remember the days when the largest thing we had in our refrigerator were milk and blocks of yellow government-issued cheese."

BROWN: Yes. Good old days.

HANNITY: Not exactly, right? Pretty tough.

BROWN: It was tough. But, you know, throughout all that, the one thing that my mom did instill on us is hard work. She usually had two or three jobs. And she was just battling to, not only battling, literally sometimes with her husbands, but also, you know, battling to keep a roof over our heads. And that really was conveyed to me.

HANNITY: And you even stole food, because you were hungry.

BROWN: Yes.

HANNITY: And you got busted when you were 14-years-old.

BROWN: Yes. I stole food. I was playing basketball and running around and was growing leaps and bounds at that point at a young age. I think at 12, I was 5'11, I would just grow, grow, grow like a sprout. And, yes, I was always hungry.

HANNITY: Well, I will get to that in a second, how basketball and a coach and a social studies teacher really saved your life. You, and this got a lot of news -- you revealed in the book that you were sexually abused by a 13-year-old kid when were you seven.

BROWN: Right.

HANNITY: And when you were 14 and went away to a Christian camp, of all places.

BROWN: I was 10 actually.

HANNITY: You were 10 at that point, OK. And in the first case, you took a rock and hit the kid in the head.

BROWN: Yes.

HANNITY: How -- first of all, when you're writing this book and you're going through all of this, you know, it had to be tough to remember it all. I'm sure you tried to forget it. And why did you think it was important to put in the book?

BROWN: You don't forget at all. You don't forget. So no, it wasn't hard to recall.

HANNITY: I didn't mean it that way.

BROWN: What was difficult was obviously was bringing it public and talking about it. My family, my mom didn't know, my dad -- my wife had a sense that something was going on, just little things I did with the girls. "Hey girls, stranger danger, you know, you go to a camp and if anyone is touching you a little weird, just be aware, make sure you tell mom or dad. We won't be mad, you know, don't be embarrassed." Little things like that. So, after she read the book, she is like, oh, OK, I get it. It's allowed us to really talk things through, the same with my mom and dad. And my daughter Ayla just read it, she said, dad, I get it now, I understand why you are so protective.

HANNITY: One of your daughters, by the way, was on "American Idol," she has done very well for herself.

BROWN: Right.

HANNITY: What -- as all of this was going on in your life you had some people when you finally got to 8th grade that really, because you had, how many men came into your life through your mother -- a lot?

BROWN: My mom and dad were married four times each. My mom is happily divorced. My dad is happily married. And yes, I had some good coaches and teachers who just took me under their wing and said, "Here, here is a basketball, here, you have a lot of potential, here." And they directed me, and quite frankly, but not for that, I probably wouldn't be -- definitely wouldn't be here talking to you. That's for sure.

HANNITY: But every relationship that your mom had when she brought men into the house seemed to become an abusive one.

BROWN: Yes. Two out of four were. My dad -- obviously my dad -- they were just too young. And after that, it was pretty intense.

HANNITY: And you say, you focused all your energy in basketball. You were angry all the time and that was your outlet.

BROWN: Yes.

HANNITY: Sports.

BROWN: Yes, sports. You know, like I said, but not for that, it channeled me. I mean, I remember the coach saying, "Hey, Brown! Why don't you guys play like Brown?"

HANNITY: Because you were playing with intensity.

BROWN: "Brown, whatever you have, you keep it up. Why can't you guys be like Brown?" I'm like, what are you talking about? If they only knew.

HANNITY: Yes. Well, let's move on to politics a little bit here.

BROWN: Sure.

HANNITY: There are some members of the Tea Party that have gotten angry with you. And they've even used the term Benedict Brown. You mentioned the Tea Party, as far as I caught in the book that I was reading through most of it, is I think one time. And I think the Tea Party Movement feels, hey, wait a minute, we helped elect you. You know, why not give more praise to them.

BROWN: First of all, I do, I give great praise to not only the Tea Party but every other political party and individual group that helped me. It wasn't just one group. To think that is not really accurate.

HANNITY: You consider yourself a Tea Party member?

BROWN: No, I'm a Republican from Massachusetts. I'm not a Tea Party member. But, what is a Tea Party member, somebody is concerned about the fiscal and financial future of our country? That's me. They're concerned about the over taxation and over spending in our national security, that's me. So, I agree with what they stand for.

HANNITY: I'll give you the examples where people are mad at you, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," financial reform, START Treaty, and the jobs and highways bill.

BROWN: Well, the jobs and highways -- let's start with the jobs and highways bill. A $15 billion bill that could that, if it went through, and remember, we only had 41, I moved for cloture immediately because there was $100 billion of amendments. So, I look at it as I saved $100 billion. And it hit the parameters, did it increase taxes, increase the deficit, good for Massachusetts, good for the country, and create jobs. And it hit all those five parameters.

HANNITY: Right.

BROWN: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." I'm in the military, I'm still serving. I'm a lieutenant colonel. There are gays in the military, and when they come home injured or dead, I don't ask if they are gay or straight.

HANNITY: What about the military personnel or leaders that say this is not good for morale?

BROWN: All the leaders said -- and I spoke with every one of them, and I spoke over a thousand people. They said our concern is about the implementation during wartime, and I agree with that, and so do they.

And they are very cognizant of trying to do it during that period. So that issue obviously stands on its own merits. With regard to the finreg, as you know, that bill was about as big as this building and because I got involved we made it about as big as this table. When Congress gets done with this, it is going to be this big. And that was very important.

HANNITY: Here are the headlines. You've seen them. "Brown helps Democrats break GOP filibuster." "Scott Brown under pressure from left, votes for regulatory bill," I'm giving you the media. "HDH in Boston," "Scott Brown defends voting with Democrats." In that sense, "Harry Reid woos Scott Brown on jobs bill."

BROWN: You know, there is no wooing. Bottom line is --

HANNITY: He didn't woo you? He didn't court you? He didn't call you? He didn't meet with you?

BROWN: He asked me to look at the bill, which I would have done anyway. But if you look at each and every bill in an independent manner, I'm not sure what the mystery was. As I said, I went down there to be an independent voter and thinker.

I'm not going to be in lockstep with any particular party. I'm going to look at what is best for hitting those five parameters. And bottom line is we are in deep trouble right now, and we need people who are going to work to move our country forward and attack the very things that are holding us back.

I'm looking forward to tackling the debt and the deficit when we get back into session. As I said, when I went down there, $11.95 trillion, up to 14 -- over 14 trillion and rising. Absolutely no effort to reel in our spending and our debt and get our economy moving again. We spent very little time talking about jobs, and I'm going to continue to work to do that.

HANNITY: When we come back, I'll get your thoughts on President Obama and much more we will have with Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: As we continue now with Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. His brand-new book, "Against All Odds" is in stores right now.

I consider myself a Reagan conservative. What that means, you know, a constitutionally principled limited government, more freedom, strong national defense conservative. You say you are a Scott Brown Republican.

BROWN: A Reagan Republican.

HANNITY: Are you a Reagan Republican?

BROWN: I absolutely feel very strongly about Ronald Reagan. I'm actually giving the keynote speech out at the Reagan library in a couple of nights per Mrs. Reagan's request. I have a lot of love and respect for President Reagan and what he did for our country.

HANNITY: Yes, all right, let me ask you. What do you think of President Obama?

BROWN: As I said it before, he's got a lot of challenges. You know, he's got a good heart and he has a couple of kids like I do. But in terms of tackling the very real fiscal issues that we're facing right now, I think he could do a lot better.

HANNITY: Did he -- did he punt, did he wimp out? Did he, you know, show a lack of leadership with, for example, his budget? Because it was only about a month ago he was talking about if we really want to deal with the budget, we have to deal with entitlement reform. He presents the budget and he doesn't deal with any of that.

BROWN: As you saw in the State of the Union, there was hopeful conversation about tackling a lot of things. So everyone was expecting them -- him to actually lead on those issues. I'm hopeful that through the numbers we now have in the House and the message we send with that budget, and then dealing with the opportunities facing with the CR and also some of the debt ceiling issues -- not only can we tackle those, but there will be some leadership when it deals with entitlements.

HANNITY: You say he faces big challenges, nobody disagrees with that. But this president by the end of this fiscal year will have accumulated nearly $5 trillion in new Obama debt. The stimulus has failed. The deficit has never been larger. If we project out, the deficit is even going to be higher.

BROWN: Listen, I don't support the budget in its present form.

HANNITY: No, I got it. But can you say that he failed? His economic policies--

BROWN: It is a work in progress. Certainly, we can all do better. I mean, we need leadership not only from the House, but from the president and the Senate. We need to come together.

HANNITY: Did he show leadership on that bill?

BROWN: On the budget? Listen, he could have done better. I think everybody knows that. You know, everybody is saying that he could have done better.

HANNITY: You seem -- I don't know. I'm trying to understand your reluctance --

BROWN: You're trying to have me hammer somebody, and where I can work with the president, I'm going to do it. It is not certainly productive for me as a senator to go out hammering anybody, whether they're Democrat or Republican.

HANNITY: How about just honest, truthful criticism?

BROWN: I've said right from the beginning that I'm disappointed in the budget and he should have shown leadership when it comes to working with entitlement reform and focusing on jobs and the economy.

I've been beating that drum for the last year. When they are talking about everything but the economy, I'm talking about jobs and moving our country forward.

HANNITY: Go back to when he said if we don't pass the stimulus, we face a catastrophe.

BROWN: I would have voted against that.

HANNITY: OK, fair enough.

BROWN: He hasn't create one new net job, that's been a failure, yes.

HANNITY: All right, health care passes, a brand new entitlement.

BROWN: They rammed it down our throats.

HANNITY: CBO says it going to lose 800,000 jobs, and the president, again, nearly $5 trillion in new debt. I think his economic plan has been a failure. And I'm just -- you say he has a tough job.

BROWN: It speaks for itself. I mean, we are in deep trouble. We have to work together collectively. It is not going to be one man. His leadership is critically important to send a message throughout the world that we are ready for business, that we are going to get our fiscal house in order.

I'm hopeful that he will do that. I know what I'm going to do. I'm talking about jobs. I've offered many alternatives to the spending that we are doing, paying for things with money in the system versus using the credit card.

Listen, I'm beating that drum and every other senator I know is beating that drum. We need some leadership from the majority party and the president to do the very same thing.

HANNITY: Are you happy the way he handled Egypt? Are you happy the way he's handling his foreign policy? Did you think he's given enough support to the dissident voices for example in Iran?

BROWN: Listen, I think that I'm very hopeful about what's happening over there, but I'm very concerned about obviously the way the protesters are being treated. I think everybody worldwide got caught off guard with what happened in Egypt.

I would have liked them to be on the same message, secretary of state, president, vice president, et cetera -- they weren't. With regard to Libya, and obviously what is happening in Iran, I'm hopeful they will continue to allow -- give the tools and resources to these people who want to seek freedom to in fact do so and be there behind them.

But we also need to make sure when we actually have a change that there's no void. We have groups like the Muslim Brotherhood come in. We need an orderly transition. Sometimes the United States needs to just step back and let these countries feel their way out and get some young rising stars in those countries to step forth and say, "You know what? I'll take it. I'll run with that mantle and let them go out and have a free and fair election."

HANNITY: Last question, as it relates to Wisconsin and the protesting, and the governor, Governor Walker's position about collective bargaining. Do you think the governor is right?

BROWN: I think the governor was elected to do a job and he's going to send his budget to the legislature so they can do their job. I encourage the senators to come back into the state and start tackling these very real issues realistically --

HANNITY: Do you agree with the governor? Do you think the governor is right?

BROWN: I agree that everything is on the table right now in this tough fiscal times.

HANNITY: Yes, but he's saying get rid of collective bargaining.

BROWN: I think he's the governor, and whatever he and the people of Wisconsin want, we should support.

HANNITY: You are ducking that question.

BROWN: Hey, listen. It's true. I'm not from Wisconsin. If I was there--

HANNITY: I got it, but -- it's a big union state in Massachusetts, right?

BROWN: It's a big union state and certainly there's a place for unions, but also there's a place to also come together to solve the real problems of each and every state. While everyone is tightening their belts, so do unions and other groups need to tighten their belts and contribute to the --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Senator, I'm glad under tremendous difficulties growing up, in that sense it is an inspiring story that people can overcome a very hard past. Thanks for being with us.

BROWN: It's great to see you, too.

HANNITY: All right, thanks.

Remembering the Lives of the Tucson, Arizona Shooting Victims

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:31:25 -0800

News.Gather.com by Marcus Paden

The shooting in Tucson, Arizona left 20 people injured and six others dead. The six who died had families. They touched other lives everyday. They will be mourned by their friends and families, and by their country. Please take a moment to remember those who died.

Christina Taylor Green was a nine-year-old girl with political aspirations. She was recently elected to the student council in her school and went to the Giffords event to learn more about serving in government. She was already a leader and her classroom at Mesa Verde Elementary School, jumping in to help students.

Christina continued her family’s baseball tradition. She was the only girl on her Little League Baseball Team, the Canyon del Oro Pirates. Her father is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and her grandfather is a former player and manager. She has the unfortunate distinction of having a life joined between two national disasters. She was born on September 11, 2001, and she died on the day a gunman went on a rampage. She is survived by her father John Green, her mother Roxanna Green, and her brother Dallas Green.

Gabe Zimmerman, 30, was the Director of Community Outreach for Rep. Giffords. He was also the organizer of the Congressional event where the shooting took place. Zimmerman had worked for Giffords since her first Congressional campaign.

A former social worker with a degree in social work, Zimmerman was the contact for constituents in the area. Jonathan Kalm, an intern in Giffords’ office said, "He always cared what people had to say... When tea party activists held a protest there during the health-care debate, "Gabe was able to reason with them."

He is survived by his father Ross Zimmerman, step-mother Pam Golden, brother Ben Zimmerman, and fiancée Kelly O’Brien.

John Roll, 63, was the chief federal judge in Arizona. He was appointed to the federal position by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and gained the role of chief judge in 2006. He is the first federal judge killed since 1989.

Judge Roll was not originally at the event. He was at a nearby store when he saw a friend, Ron Barber, an aide to Rep. Giffords. A few minutes later, the gunman started shooting, and the judge was killed. An unidentified law enforcement official said, "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Judge Roll is survived by his wife Maureen, three sons, and five grandchildren.

Dorwin Stoddard, 76, was with his wife to meet the Congresswoman. She wanted to tell her she was doing a good job. Stoddard was a leader in his church and the community. He and his wife Mavanell attended high school together in Tucson. When they graduated, they moved away, married other people, and started a family. After their spouses died, they both moved back, got reacquainted and then married. When the shooting started, he covered his wife with his body to protect her. "He was a hero," said neighbor Marge Osterman.

Pyllis Schneck, 79, until recently was a snowbird. Originally from New Jersey, Schneck lived in Tucson during the winter. She eventually became a resident of Tucson and lived there permanently. She was married for 56 years to her husband Edward before his death. She was not political but she admired Rep. Giffords for her views on border protection. Although she was a long-time Republican, she voted for Giffords and went to meet her at the event after receiving a robocall. She is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Dorothy Morris, 76, originally from Reno, NV, married her high school sweetheart. Dorothy and her husband George moved to the Tucson area from Reno about 10 years ago. Her husband being a former pilot and Marine, flew the corps flag and the US flag outside her home.

Dorothy and George were caught in the line of fire when the gunman started shooting. Dorothy died at the scene and her husband remains in critical condition. She is survived by her husband and two daughters.

House GOP to Scrap Pelosi's "Select Committee on Global Warming"

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:11:36 -0800

The incoming House GOP Majority has decided to scrap the Select Committee on Global Warming, initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when Democrats seized control of the House in 2006.

From Boehner spokesman Mike Steel: "We have pledged to save taxpayers' money by reducing waste and duplication in Congress. The Select Committee on Global Warming - which was created to provide a political forum to promote Washington Democrats' job-killing national energy tax - was a clear example, and it will not continue in the 112th Congress."

Rep, Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) was the top Republican on the panel. Sensenbrenner is skeptical of climate change. But he made a case to incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to maintain the panel as a check on the Obama Administration’s energy policies.

The committee was a key player in the so-called “Cap and Trade” climate bill that the House adopted in June, 2009. The measure died in the Senate.

Bobby Jindal

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:41:07 -0800

HOW THEY VOTED

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:47:09 -0800

Learn how your incumbents voted on the most important issues:

PERCENTAGES OF HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES WHO VOTED WITH PELOSI/DEMOCRATS: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/111/house/party-voters/

HEALTHCARE

H.R. 3590 (PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT)Final Health Care Overhaul HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll165.xml

SENATEhttp://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00396H.R. 4872

Reconciliation Act of 2010: Final Health Care Overhaul

HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll167.xml

SENATE http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00105

H.R. 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act (included public option):

HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml

STIMULUS/SPENDING

H.R.1 Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending 2009

BILL TITLE: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

HOUSE http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll070.xml

SENATE http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00061

H.R. 1105 Omnibus Spending FY09

BILL TITLE: Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll086.xml

SENATEhttp://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00096

H.R. 3288 Omnibus Spending FY10:

BILL TITLE: Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, HUD, and related agencies for FY 2010

HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll949.xml

SENATEhttp://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00287

S CON RES 13 BILL TITLE: Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2010:

HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll216.xml

SENATEhttp://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00173

HR 1424 TARP Bailout (110):

BILL TITLE: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

HOUSE http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml

SENATE http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00213

H.R. 2454 Cap-and-Trade:

HOUSEhttp://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll477.xml

Friday July 16 2010

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:18:57 -0800

Michele Bachmann, Stephen Smith,

BP Deepwater Horizon

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:09:46 -0800

BP encouraged that capped-off oil well still holds

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:07:31 -0800

NEW ORLEANS – BP said its capped-off well appeared to be holding steady Friday morning, almost midway into a white-knuckle waiting period in which engineers watched the pressure gauges for signs of a leak.

Results monitored from control rooms on ships at sea and hundreds of miles away at the company's U.S. headquarters in Houston showed the oil staying inside the cap, rather than escaping through any undiscovered breaches, BP PLC vice president Kent Wells said on a conference call.

Two underwater robots scoured the sea floor looking for signs of new leaks.

President Barack Obama said BP's capping of the spill was "good news" but cautioned that testing continued.

There was no evidence of a leak in the pipe under the sea floor, Wells said, one of the main concerns. Wells spoke 17 hours after valves were shut to trap oil inside the cap, a test that could last up to 48 hours.

He said pressure continued to rise inside the tight-fighting cap, a good sign that oil was not getting out somewhere else. The pressure was more than 6,700 pounds per square inch, above the minimum they were hoping to see, but not yet in the high range of 8,000 to 9,000 psi they were hoping for.

Thursday July 15 2010

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:01:46 -0800

Michelle Malkin, Juan Williams,

Moment of truth for energy bill

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:37:41 -0800

The next three weeks represent Democrats’ last, best shot at getting an energy and climate change bill passed this year.

In the White House and the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, it’s moment-of-truth time. People on every side of the energy debate say that Reid must unveil a concrete plan backed by a full-court press from the president this week, or the entire effort will fall apart in the run-up to the midterm elections.

After weeks of indecisive caucus meetings and passionate but vague speeches calling for “comprehensive energy legislation,” Reid’s office on Friday assured POLITICO that clarity, at long last, is coming.

The majority leader is set to meet this week with the five Senate committee leaders who hold jurisdiction over slices of energy and climate legislation. He will give them a scaled-down menu of options prepared by his staff and tell them to assemble an energy package that could get 60 votes. The options will break down into three core elements, and the question will be how the leaders choose to combine them.

Solar Farm

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:35:23 -0800

Wednesday June 30 2010

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:06:53 -0800

Pat Caddell, Ann Coulter,

Tuesday June 29 2010

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:49:10 -0800

Susan Estrich,

Al Gore

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:39:01 -0800

Wednesday June 23 2010

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:50:50 -0800

Bob Beckel,

Monday June 21 2010

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:50:19 -0800

BP Says Gulf Oil Spill Costs Reach $2 Billion

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:16:58 -0800

BP said Monday it has now spent $2 billion responding to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

And with no end yet in sight, that number is expected to keep rising.

BP PLC agreed last week to set up a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the disaster on the Gulf coast. The company said Monday it has so far paid out $105 million to 32,000 claimants. Its shares were down 4 percent Monday in early trading in London at $5.12.

The news came as teams drilling the relief wells designed to stop the oil gushing into the Gulf continue a daunting task -- hit a target roughly the size of a salad plate about three miles below the water's surface.

If the workers aboard Transocean Ltd.'s Development Driller II or its sister rig DDIII miss or move too slowly, oil will keep pouring into the sea.

Article continues here

BP Oil Cleanup

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:14:54 -0800

Friday June 18 2010

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:54:12 -0800

Newt Gingrich,

Tony Hayward (BP CEO)

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:04:23 -0800

Tony Hayward to appear at House hearing

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:03:16 -0800

By Aaron Blake
Check back to this post for regular updates on the goings-on in the Rayburn House office building.BP chief executive Tony Hayward will be at the disposal of angry members of Congress Thursday, when he testifies in front of a House subcommittee looking into the environmental disaster on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) has promised that Hayward will be "sliced and diced," and other members of the committee are unlikely to be much friendlier.

Click here for regular updates on the goings-on in the Rayburn House office building.

Obama Draws Bipartisan Criticism

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:39:05 -0800

President Obama is drawing bipartisan criticism for using the BP oil spill to revive an energy regulation bill that's been on the back burner since last year, with lawmakers saying the so-called "cap-and-trade" package does nothing to stop the leak or mitigate the damage.

Obama, trying to take control of a crisis that has slowly eroded support for his administration, addressed the nation from the Oval Office Tuesday night to rally support for his efforts to tackle the spill. He pointed to the relief efforts already underway and said the government would hold BP responsible. But later in his 18-minute speech, he turned to focus on the need to "seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels" and tout Democrats' climate legislation.

"We can't afford not to change how we produce and use energy, because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security and our environment are far greater," Obama said in the first Oval Office address of his presidency.

While the president was taking the long view, lawmakers said that's not the kind of response Gulf residents suffering immediate economic and environmental damage need.

Friday June 11 2010

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:24:50 -0800

President Obama to Meet with BP Officials

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:29:00 -0800

Late Thursday, Admiral Thad Allen in his role of National Incident Commander, sent a letter to BP inviting them to attend a meeting at the White House on Wednesday June 16. Allen specifically said in the letter that President Obama will attend part of the meeting.

The letter reads, "As part of our ongoing communication, I request that you and any appropriate officials from BP, meet with senior Administration officials on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 to discuss these timely issues. President Obama will participate in a portion of this meeting."

The letter comes as many have been pressing for the Obama administration to meet and speak directly with BP officials including CEO Tony Hayward, something President Obama said earlier this week he has not yet done.

Article continues here

Friday June 04 2010

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:38:24 -0800

Oil spill size

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:50:45 -0800

Visualizing the BP Oil Spill Disaster

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:46:34 -0800

An explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven crew members on April 20, 2010m sparking the greatest environmental disaster in United States history. In combination with the Texas City Refinery Explosion and the Prudohoe Bay Oil Spill, this marks the third serious incident involving BP in the United States in the last five years. Current estimates put the amount of oil being discharged from the broken well at above 1,050,000 US gallons per day! There are over 400 different species of animals living in the area affected by the spill. 253 sea turtles and 29 dolphins have been found dead within the spill area (NOAA).

The website, IfItWasMyHome.com show just how big the oil spill actually is compared to where you live.

Click here to see

There Was 'Nobody in Charge'

Fri, 28 May 2010 09:55:04 -0800

There Was 'Nobody in Charge' - Wall Street Journal

After the Blast, Horizon Was Hobbled by a Complex Chain of Command; A 23-Year-Old Steps In to Radio a Mayday

By DOUGLAS A. BLACKMON, VANESSA O'CONNELL, ALEXANDRA BERZON And ANA CAMPOY

In the minutes after a cascade of gas explosions crippled the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, confusion reigned on the drilling platform. Flames were spreading rapidly, power was out, and terrified workers were leaping into the dark, oil-coated sea. Capt. Curt Kuchta, the vessel's commander, huddled on the bridge with about 10 other managers and crew members.

Andrea Fleytas, a 23-year-old worker who helped operate the rig's sophisticated navigation machinery, suddenly noticed a glaring oversight: No one had issued a distress signal to the outside world, she recalls in an interview. Ms. Fleytas grabbed the radio and began calling over a signal monitored by the Coast Guard and other vessels.

"Mayday, Mayday. This is Deepwater Horizon. We have an uncontrollable fire."

When Capt. Kuchta realized what she had done, he reprimanded her, she says.

"I didn't give you authority to do that," he said, according to Ms. Fleytas, who says she responded: "I'm sorry."

An examination by The Wall Street Journal of what happened aboard the Deepwater Horizon just before and after the explosions suggests the rig was unprepared for the kind of disaster that struck and was overwhelmed when it occurred. The events on the bridge raise questions about whether the rig's leaders were prepared for handling such a fast-moving emergency and for evacuating the rig—and, more broadly, whether the U.S. has sufficient safety rules for such complex drilling operations in very deep water.

The chain of command broke down at times during the crisis, according to many crew members. They report that there was disarray on the bridge and pandemonium in the lifeboat area, where some people jumped overboard and others called for boats to be launched only partially filled.

The vessel's written safety procedures appear to have made it difficult to respond swiftly to a disaster that escalated at the speed of the events on April 20. For example, the guidelines require that a rig worker attempting to contain a gas emergency had to call two senior rig officials before deciding what to do. One of them was in the shower during the critical minutes, according to several crew members.

The written procedures required multiple people to jointly make decisions about how to respond to "dangerous" levels of gas—a term that wasn't precisely defined—and some members of the crew were unclear about who had authority to initiate an emergency shutdown of the well.

This account of what happened aboard the rig at the time of the explosions, which killed 11, is based on interviews with survivors, their written accounts, testimony to the Coast Guard and internal documents of rig operator Transocean Ltd. and well owner BP PLC.

In written responses to the Journal, Transocean said that the time between the first sign of trouble and the catastrophic explosion was too short for the crew to have done anything to effectively prevent or minimize the disaster. The company also said the rig's chain of command was in place and "did not hinder response time or activity."

At a Coast Guard hearing on Thursday, Jimmy Wayne Harrell, the top Transocean executive on the rig, acknowledged under questioning that a split chain of command on the platform could lead to "confusion" but it didn't hinder emergency response. At the same hearing, Capt. Kuchta said that communications had not been a problem.

BP declined to comment on anything that happened April 20.

In the minutes before the Deepwater Horizon exploded, almost no one on board realized that serious trouble was brewing, other than a few men on the drilling floor—the uppermost of three levels on the massive structure. The sea was as still as glass. A cool wind blew faintly from the north. Capt. Kuchta was hosting two BP executives on board for a ceremony honoring the rig for seven years without a serious accident.

Nearly 20 men, many of them close friends, were operating the drilling apparatus, which already had bored through more than 13,000 feet of rock about 5,000 feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico. No alarms had sounded that day signaling gas on the platform.

At about 9:47 p.m., workers all over the rig heard a sudden hiss of methane gas. Methane is often present in the ground in and near reservoirs of crude oil, and managing the threat is a regular part of drilling.

Within two minutes, pressure caused by gas in the well pipe had spiked dramatically, drilling records indicate. A torrent of methane gas struck the rig. Power failed throughout the vessel. "Everything started jumping up and down and rocking us," said Kevin Senegal, 45, a tank cleaner, in an interview.

Out on the water, 40 feet away, a 260-foot supply ship called the Damon B. Bankston was tethered to the rig by a hose. That ship's captain said in an interview that he saw drilling "mud," which is used as a counterweight to gas in the well, flying out of the drilling derrick like a "volcano." He radioed the bridge of the Deepwater Horizon. He was told there was "trouble with the well" and the Bankston should move 150 meters back. Then the channel went silent.

Micah Sandell, a 40-year-old with a wife and three children, watched with alarm from the rig's gantry crane, a massive device that moved across the main deck on a track. He radioed his crew to move away from the derrick.

Down on the deck, Heber Morales, 33, a former Marine from Texas, turned to the worker beside him. "Oh, man. That's not good," he said. The two moved away from the derrick.

Up in the crane, Mr. Sandell saw another worker on the deck, assistant driller Donald Clark, a 48-year-old former soybean farmer from Newellton, La., bolt for a set of stairs leading for the area where workers were fighting to control the well.

Ms. Fleytas, one of only three female workers in the 126-member crew, was on the bridge monitoring the rig's exact location and stability. Briefly, all the equipment went black, then a backup battery kicked on. She and her coworkers checked their monitors, which indicated no engines or thrusters were operational. Multiple gas alarms were sounding. One of the six huge engines that kept the floating platform stable was revving wildly.

No methane had been detected on the Deepwater Horizon before the massive gas jolt. So no "Level 1" gas emergency—according to Transocean safety regulations, when "dangerous" levels of gas are detected in the well—had been declared, according to crew members. That meant the crew had gotten no general alert to prepare for trouble and no order to shut down anything that might ignite the gas.

The rig's regulations state that in the event of such an emergency, the two top managers—on April 20 they were BP's senior person on the rig, Donald Vidrine, and Transocean's installation manager, Mr. Harrell—were to go to the drilling floor and evaluate the situation jointly. But once the gas hit, neither was able to get to the area.

Transocean says the rig's chain of command and safety standards were followed and worked effectively under the circumstances. Mr. Harrell didn't return phone calls. BP said Mr. Vidine was unavailable to comment.

When the pressure in the well spiked suddenly, the drilling crew had limited options and little time to act. Jason Anderson, a 35-year-old "toolpusher" who was supervising the crew on the oil platform's drilling floor, tried to divert gas away from the rig by closing the "bag," a thick membrane that surrounds a key part of the drill mechanism. That didn't work.

Four emergency calls were made from the rig floor to senior crew members in the moments before the blast, according to a BP document reviewed by the Journal. One went to Mr. Vidrine, according to notes about a statement he gave the Coast Guard that were reviewed by the Journal. The rig worker, who isn't identified in the notes, told him the drilling crew was "getting mud back," a sign that gas was flooding into the well. At that point, Mr. Vidrine rushed for the drilling floor, but already "mud was everywhere," he told the Coast Guard.

At about 9:50 p.m., Stephen Curtis, the 40-year-old assistant driller working with Mr. Anderson, called the rig's senior toolpusher, Randy Ezell, who was in his sleeping quarters, according to a statement given by Mr. Ezell to the Coast Guard. Mr. Curtis said that methane was surging into the well and workers were on the verge of losing control.

Two rig workers who later discussed the matter with Mr. Ezell said he was told that Mr. Anderson was going to trigger the blowout preventer, a 450-ton device designed to slice the drill pipe at the ocean floor and seal the well in less than a minute. If triggered in time, it might have been enough to prevent the explosions, or at least limit the scale of the disaster, say some drilling experts. Mr. Ezell prepared to go to the drilling floor, according to his statement.

Seconds later, the methane ignited, possibly triggered by the revving engine. That set off an explosion that blew away critical sections of the Deepwater Horizon, sheared off at least one engine, set large parts of the rig on fire and allowed oil to begin spewing into the sea.

Mr. Curtis, an ex-military man who enjoyed turkey hunting, and Mr. Anderson, a father of two who was planning to leave the Deepwater Horizon for good at the end of his 21-day rotation, almost certainly were killed instantly, according to other workers. So was veteran driller Dewey Revette, 48, from State Line, Miss. Six men working nearby also died. They included 22-year-old Shane Roshto and Karl Kleppinger, Jr., 38, from Natchez, Miss., and Mr. Clark, the assistant driller who had rushed to the stairs to help out.

Dale Burkeen, a 37-year-old Mississippian who operated the rig's tall starboard crane, had been trying to get out of harm's way when the blast hit. It blew him off a catwalk, other workers say, and he fell more than 50 feet to the deck, where he died.

A series of detonations followed. The motor room was wrecked. Steel doors were blown off their hinges. The wheel on one door flew off and struck a worker. Crew members were hurled across rooms, leaving many with broken bones, gashes and serious burns.

When he heard the first explosion, toolpusher Wyman Wheeler, who was scheduled to go home the next day, was in his bunk. He got up to investigate. The second blast blew the door off his quarters, breaking his shoulder and right leg in five places, according to family members. Other workers scooped him up and carried him toward the lifeboat deck on a stretcher.

The explosions knocked gantry-crane operator Mr. Sandell out of his seat and across the cab. As he fled down a spiral staircase to the deck, another explosion sent him into the air. He fell more than 10 feet, then got up to run. "Around me all over the deck, I couldn't see nothing but fire," he said in an interview. "There was no smoke, only flames." He ran for the lifeboat deck.

From the bridge, Chief Mate David Young ran outside to investigate and to suit up for firefighting. After he encountered only one other crew member in gear, he returned to the bridge. Crew members say no significant firefighting efforts were undertaken. "We had no fire pumps. There was nothing to do but abandon ship," said Capt. Kuchta, in testimony at a Coast Guard inquiry on Thursday.

As workers poured out of their quarters, many found their routes to open decks blocked. Ceiling tiles and insulation were blown everywhere. In some areas, fire-suppression systems were discharging carbon dioxide. Stairways were gone.

According to many workers, most crew members didn't get clear direction from the bridge about what to do for several minutes. Finally, the public-address system began to blare: "Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire on the rig floor. This is not a drill."

Many crew members couldn't reach their designated assembly areas. Scores scrambled instead toward the only two accessible lifeboats, which hung by cables 75 feet above the water on one side of the rig. Each enclosed and motorized boat could hold about 75 passengers.

"The scene was very chaotic," said worker Carlos Ramos in an interview. "People were in a state of panic." Flames were shooting out of the well hole to a height of 250 feet or more. Debris was falling. One crane boom on the rig melted from the heat and folded over.

Injured workers were scattered around the deck. Others were yelling that the rig was going to blow up. "There was no chain of command. Nobody in charge," Mr. Ramos said.

"People were just coming out of nowhere and just trying to get on the lifeboats," said Darin Rupinski, one of the operators of the rig's positioning system, in an interview. "One guy was actually hanging off the railing…. People were saying that we needed to get out of there."

At one point, a Transocean executive was standing partly in the lifeboat, helping injured workers off the rig and telling Mr. Rupinski not to lower the boat yet. Rig workers piling in were shouting for him to get the boat down. "There had to be at least 50 people in the boat, yelling, screaming at you to lower the boat," Mr. Rupinski recalled. "And you have a person outside saying, 'We have to wait.'"

Terrified workers began jumping directly into the sea—a 75-foot leap into the darkness. Mr. Rupinski radioed the bridge that workers were going overboard.

A Transocean spokesman said the company hasn't yet been able to determine exactly what happened in the lifeboat loading area.

Capt. Kuchta and about 10 other executives and crew members, including Ms. Fleytas, were gathered on the bridge, which was not yet threatened by fire. When word reached the bridge that workers were jumping, Ms. Fleytas's supervisor issued a "man overboard" call.

The Bankston, now positioned hundreds of feet from the burning rig, picked up the call. Officers on that vessel had seen what appeared to be shiny objects—the reflective life vests on rig workers—tumbling from the platform into the water. The Bankston put a small boat into the water and began a rescue operation.

Messrs. Vidrine and Harrell, the two highest ranking executives, appeared on the bridge. Mr. Vidrine later told the Coast Guard that a panel on the bridge showed that the drilling crew, all of whom were dead by then, had already closed the "bag," the thick rubber membrane around a section of the well.

But the emergency disconnect, which would sever the drilling pipe and shut down the well, had not been successfully triggered. Some crew members on the bridge said the disconnect needed to be hit, and a higher-ranking manager said to do so, according to an account given to the Coast Guard. Then another crew member said the cutoff couldn't be hit without permission from Mr. Harrell, who then gave the OK. At 9:56 p.m., the button finally was pushed, with no apparent effect, according to an internal BP document.

Mr. Young, the chief mate who had left the bridge to survey the fire, told Capt. Kuchta that the fire was "uncontrollable," and that everyone needed to abandon the rig immediately, according to two workers on the bridge. Under Transocean safety regulations, the decision to evacuate was to be made by Capt. Kuchta and Mr. Harrell.

Capt. Kuchta didn't immediately issue the order, even though at least one lifeboat had already pushed away, according to several people on the bridge. At the Coast Guard hearing Thursday, several crew members said they weren't certain who issued the abandon ship order or whether one was ever given. Capt. Kuchta didn't return calls seeking comment, but in his testimony said it was obvious to all by that time that the crew should evacuate.

Alarmed at the situation, Ms. Fleytas recalled in the interview, she turned on the public-address system and said: "We are abandoning the rig."

Capt. Kuchta told everyone who remained on the bridge to head for the lifeboats, according one person who was there.

One boat was long gone. When they reached the boarding area, the second was motoring away, according to several witnesses. Ten people were left on the rig, including Mr. Wheeler, the injured toolpusher, who was lying on a gurney.

The deck pulsed with heat. The air was thick with smoke, and the surface of the water beneath the rig—covered with oil and gas—was burning. Crew members attached a 25-foot life raft to a winch, swung it over a railing and inflated it. Mr. Wheeler was lifted in and several others climbed in with him. As the raft began descending, Ms. Fleytas jumped in. The remaining people on the rig, including Capt. Kuchta, leapt into the Gulf.

Once the life raft reached the ocean, it didn't move, even as fire spread across the water. Some hanging on to its sides thought the heat of the rig was creating a draft sucking the craft back in. Terrified, Ms. Fleytas rolled out of the raft into the oil-drenched water.

"All I saw was smoke and fire," she recalled. "I swam away from the rig for my life."

Minutes later, the rescue boat from the Bankston plucked Ms. Fleytas and several others from the water. The crew of the small boat saw that a line attached to the life raft was still connected to the burning rig.

"Cut the line," yelled one Bankston crew member. Another passed over a knife, the raft was cut free, and the last survivors were towed away from the fire. All told, the Bankston rescued 115, including 16 who were seriously injured. A Transocean spokesman says that the fact that so many survived "is a testament to the leadership, training, and heroic actions" of crew members.

The crew of the Deepwater Horizon watched from the deck of the Bankston as the drilling platform burned through the night. More than 24 hours later, it sank in 5,000 feet of water.

—Jason Womack, Ben Casselman, Russell Gold, Jennifer Levitz, Miguel Bustillo and Jeffrey Ball contributed to this article.

Write to Vanessa O'Connell at vanessa.o'connell@wsj.com, Alexandra Berzon at alexandra.berzon@wsj.com and Ana Campoy at ana.campoy@dowjones.com

Gulf Coast Struggles With Oil Spill And Its Economic Costs

Fri, 28 May 2010 09:52:54 -0800

Thursday May 27 2010

Thu, 27 May 2010 08:50:07 -0800

Dick Morris,

'Top kill' stops gulf oil leak for now, official says

Thu, 27 May 2010 08:38:19 -0800

By Jim Tankersley, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Houma, La. — Engineers have at least temporarily stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil-spill commander, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning.
The "top kill" effort, launched Wednesday afternoon by industry and government engineers, had pumped enough drilling fluid to block oil and gas spewing from the well, Allen said. The pressure from the well was very low, he said, but persisting. The top kill effort is not complete, officials caution.
Once engineers had reduced the well pressure to zero, they were to begin pumping cement into the hole to entomb the well. To help in that effort, he said, engineers also were pumping some debris into the blowout preventer at the top of the well.
As of early Thursday morning, neither government nor BP officials had declared the effort a success yet, pending the completion of the cementing and sealing of the well.

Tuesday May 25 2010

Tue, 25 May 2010 09:39:03 -0800

Juan Williams, Stuart Varney,

Oil spill far worse

Tue, 04 May 2010 18:16:01 -0800

Gulf Oil Spill Far Worse Than Officials, BP Admit, Says Independent Analyst

Gulf oil leakage could worsen

Tue, 04 May 2010 18:10:32 -0800

By Steven Mufson Washington Post Staff Writer

Under a worst-case scenario, the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a damaged offshore rig could rise to 40,000 barrels a day -- eight times the current estimated leakage -- oil-industry executives told members of Congress on Tuesday.

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said that the estimate was prompted by a question: What might happen if BP fails to cap the flow of oil from the well or funnel it through a giant steel box and pipe? He said the executives responded that, in a worst-case scenario, that oil could gush out at rates ranging from 10,000 barrels to 60,000 barrels a day, with 40,000 being the most likely in such circumstances.

The estimates were given in a meeting between lawmakers and executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton -- all companies connected to the damaged rig. Three of the executives were in Washington, and three others spoke on phone links from the gulf region.

For more on the story please click here.

Tuesday May 04 2010

Tue, 04 May 2010 12:19:56 -0800

John McCain, Mark Levin,

Monday May 03 2010

Mon, 03 May 2010 13:48:19 -0800

Duncan Hunter,

Yvo de Boer To Resign

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:58:45 -0800

Top U.N. climate change official Yvo de Boer told The Associated Press on Thursday that he was resigning after nearly four years, a period when governments struggled without success to agree on a new global warming deal.

Winter Storm Hits South Carolina

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:54:16 -0800

CHARLESTON, SC - FEBRUARY 13: A woman adds a tiny snowman to a snowman family February 13, 2010 during a rare snow storm in Mt Pleasant, South Carolina. About three inches of snow fell on the Charleston area, the first significant snow in 20 years.

Friday February 12 2010

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:46:36 -0800

House Republicans/Climate Change

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:13:44 -0800

House Republicans Discuss Climate-Gate And Copenhagen Summit

Monday December 07 2009

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:36:13 -0800

Thursday December 03 2009

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:27:56 -0800

Monday November 30 2009

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:21:31 -0800

J.C. Watts,

Michael Steele

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:44:51 -0800