Tonight on Larry King Live!

Does BP really want to cap the well?

The media refers to BP “capping” the leak, however BP has not attempted to “cap” or even restrict the flow at the wellhead…. BP has only worked on funneling and collecting oil…...not capping it! “Capping” would simply involve bolting or clamping an open gate-valve to the top of the blowout preventer stack and then shutting it off.

The fact that BP has only worked on plugging the borehole miles underground suggests that the borehole casing and well head would not be able to hold the pressure if capped, and if BP stops the oil at the wellhead it will only leak more elsewhere.

BP easily snipped off the riser pipe whereas it would have been just as easy to crimp the pipe. to restrict the flow. Cutting the pipe relieved the pressure within the well by increasing the flow. BP likely decided not to cap the leak, preferring to collect oil from the riser rather than from many seabed leaks coming from a shattered borehole casing or from an exploded well head.

Republican – Tea Potty politicians are suggesting Obama isn't working swiftly enough on this Oil Gusher. President Obama has been forcing BP's attorney's to pony up ALL of the costs of the enormous Gulf Oil spill instead of using American taxpayer dollars as the Bush-Cheney administration repeatedly did instead.

It took 3 Republican administrations 19 YEARS to settle liability penalty's and fines against Exxon over the Exxon Valdez spill. And thanks greatly to Big Oil's friend in the US Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts whom Bush jr. placed into office, Alaskan residents did not receive the full liability claims being requested AFTER 19 YEARS!

Long standing Republican lawmaker crafted Oil and Gas laws largely prevent large liability claims and penalitys being pressed upon Big Oil for such spills. Obama knows that as does the BP attorneys, however it appears President Obama's team has been collecting evidence of gross neglect of BP's partners in following safe drilling regulation practices which would likely sidestep previous limits and fully pressure BP and BP's team of attorneys to pony up a multi-billion dollar escrow account.

With the escrow account, States could then independently request skimmer tankers around the world and a wide range of other remedy's to help unemployed workers, business's and environmental remedy's as well. I'm hopeful tonight's Presidential Address will declare an agreement to this effect has in fact taken place, green lighting the go ahead for ordering a multitude of non-BP equipment to the Gulf States and send those bills to the escrow account.

The Republican-Tea Potty lawmakers and leaders are also 'floating' the psycho-babble today that current drilling technology makes a repeat of this Oil Gusher impossible in the future. And they are stating Big Oil is working to make certain this never happens again. So they are resuming their 'drill baby drill' mantra, go figure!

It's the same speech Republican values have delivered for decades, 'let American corporations police and regulate themselves, keep the federal government from regulating them'. WELL America is waking up to what that mistake brings to them and to the environment.

The only way to make certain this kind of Oil Gusher never occurs again is for America to entirely ban deep sea Oil and Gas drilling anywhere on America's territory. Drill wells that hit such deep sea extremely high pressure Gas pockets are almost certainly going to result in more blow-outs. The only sane prevention is to ban deep sea Oil and Gas wells in America's deep Ocean waters.

The only way the American Taxpayers are not going to pay for Big Oil's blunders, mistakes and spills is for a Democratic leader such as President Obama standing up with courage against the Big Oil attorneys and demand their company's pay to substantially cleanup and repair the damages the Big Oil company's have caused.

@Ken from Tampa FL, quiet rumors have stated that during the top kill attempt the drill casing in multiple sections gave out due to the extreme pressure being applied in both directions.

I have long suspected there were already craters and seafloor venting of crude Oil from this same Mercado Oil field and only rarely do any of the ROV's whose images are publicly streaming panning the surrounding area and the seafloor itself. I suspect if they did the public would see additional venting streams of crude Oil from a ruptured drill casing that has erupted up thru the seafloor.

James Cameron's team of experts placed the upflow pressure at 13,000 PSI which is likely the very max that drill casing could possibly contain. The topkill method and any other cap the top method would need to exceed that immense pressure to overcome it.

Your suggestion they didn't attempt to slowly crimp the riser pipe over a one or two foot section to slow and shut off the flow is I feel very valid. Although it's very likely the intense pressure would have blown off the fatigued pipe that was resized and crimped, the overall reason you pointed out was far more likely. It would have resulted in seafloor venting of the high pressured gas and crude Oil which could have come up in multiple locations.

You can bet the relief well drillers working now are among the world's best, still it took FIVE relief wells to slow down the Pemex Ixoc Oil blowout in the Gulf previously and only about 2 months AFTER the 5th and final relief well was drilled and the plug applied did it stop. Let's all hope the two relief well drillers are in fact experts and are lucky in the critical job they are doing.

Hello Mr. Kin, here at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Washington DC. our team of male nurses began thinking for the solution of this Oil desaster.

Looking in our supply system, we came to the conclusion that BP should create a divice called MEGA-FOLEY CATHETER. This is a pipe sufficiently long , would have a mega rubber ballon, one it is filled with a sealant capable to close the hole. We have thought about using for the ballon something like a very large tire as used in agriculture, etc. This is our contribution, thanks.

My question is for James Carville. How come he speaks about the oil spill as if it were only a huge problem for Louisiana? My family immigrated from Sweden in the mid 1800's to the Santa Rosa Beach area and has always been a family of fishermen and small business owners in the area. This has already effected our coastlines and will continue to change the way we live for years to come. This is a horrific thing to happen to the ENTIRE Gulf Coast region. NOT JUST LOUISIANA!!! We all need to stand together to save our coast!!

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the president's duty was to enforce constitutional law, not to be the savior of the world. There is no way that the Obama admin. has done anything wrong. They might be able to litigate the various issues, but I wish people would stop holding his feet to the fire- remember B.P is the main culpret

Do you think that the BP execs should pay for this out of their own pockets or should the government seize their assests?

According to the Senate today, the following Oil companies' profit and taxes paid for the year 2009 (resulting from the tax adjustments given by the Cheney/bush administration). President Obama is requesting a roll back in Oil companies' tax breaks. Today, Senators just voted 35-61 against stripping big oil companies of $35 billion in tax breaks they will receive over the next 10 years. 10 Democrats voted with the Republicans. Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont, wants to strip tax production credits from oil companies and place the proceeds toward paying down the deficit and promoting efficient energy. He wants to attach the measure to a proposal on the extension of unemployment benefits and COBRA. The following is an excerpt of the three largest Corporations....

Exxon Mobile:
Profits for 2009: $19 Billion
Taxes paid: 0
Tax refund: $156 million

Chevron:
Profits for 2009: $10 Billion
Taxes paid: 0
Tax refund: $19 Million

Valero:
Profits for 2009: $ 3.7 Billion
Taxes paid: 0
Tax refund: $157 Million

What is wrong with this picture. How many of you making $$ billions of dollars paid (ZERO) in taxes for 2009 plus receiving Millions of dollars due to tax credits? If you do not believe this, check out ABC – NBC – CBS news and washingtonpost!!!

Hi Larry, I cannot understand why President Obama was not in the Gulf tonight along with CEO of BP, engineers, and other experts concerning how to stop the flow of oil and doing a question and anwser session with the public!! This would have been the best way for him to respond to this disaster. He had open talks when he was running for president, why can't he hold the so called "town meeting" tonight??

Take the gloves off. He's taken us for fools. We are now officially sacrificial lambs for his agenda. No waiver of the Jones Act, no activation of the Military. All bull. I was hopeful, but should have known better. If it weren't for Palosi and Biden I'd say impeach him now. I hope everyone on the gulf coast now realizes what an arrogant ash we have as a Blamer in Chief. If you live on the water, I suggest you make your own protection, the calvary ain't coming.
He just spit on all of us to promote his agenda.
Don't ever forget this night. It will go down in infamy, and will lead to his end as a white house squatter. We will make Obama and BP pay.

Please ask Mr. Pickens why cant they install an gate valve on top of the BOP after they take off whats left of the riser stub and then just close the valve.

BP does not care about the environment, the total death and destruction of an entire bio-sphere or the impact on the individuals in the surrounding area. The only thing BP is concerned about is $$$$$$ and how much oil can they salvage from that well. End of story!!!!!

Why, if we now know that NO oil company has an effective and realistic emergency clean-up plan in the event of another oil spill, would we not just end deep water drilling until they do?! Why are Gulf coast politicians insisting that deep water drilling resume when BP hasn't even cleaned up this ecological nightmare?

Alien technology or a nuke are going to be the only things that is going to stop this disaster.

Wolf and my other mentors at CNN.

BP only cares about the oil, therefore kick them out of the gulf.
(BP will work hard to pay to get back in favor) They want to pay cuzz they care about oil & money
Confiscate all BP assets, exec. bonus, stock, property, to pay for the fixes
Move in every other oil company for advice, tell them if they don't find a fix, they may find themselves out too.
Obama move to the gulf coast, so we can see you understand their pain, take with you experts in wildlife, corp of army engineers, to get a plan for putting back the natural barriers. Audobon, woodshole,greenpeace.
Nationalize the oil companies, pay for a changed oil policy
Set up a NASA for environmental matters, global warming, hurricane and other disaster plan, so we know what to do before it hits.

Lead Obama, this ain't no dance, where if two lead, you just get sore toes, You have folks like Cosner who have worked out plans T.B. Pickins

mary in Oregon
You're in our prays citizens of the Gulf coast!

Rudimentary technology exists to create emergency oil containment reservoirs at the spill location mitigating the oil spread. Why the collective oil industry giants don't insist on the implementation of these applications is beyond comprehension. They are the only ones to can accomplish this capability with minimum turn around time. These applications are a stop gap measure until a final solution is achieved. There exists no government agency, etc., that has the authority or capability to achieve this. The Obama Administration hasn't a clue and, in the end, it will be the oil industry that addresses the issue. Unfortunately, too late to stop the damage.

As a P.S. to Dodie's comment --
How dare ANY American complain about Obama and how he and his administration are handling this mess if they haven't called their Senator and demanded this legislation be passed!!!!! We are a nation of idiots and suckers.

@Smith in Oregon...While I don't always agree with you on everything, what you have discussed here makes excellent sense. I appears to me that deep sea drilling has demonstrated in no uncertain terms, that we cannot continue to provide energy for this nation in this way. The immense amount of pressure contained in these underground resevoirs is apparently too great for our technology to contend with. The idea that there are other undersea vents spewing oil into the gulf is scary as hell. Are these vents something that would be found in nature or have we opened some sort of a pandora's box where we will never be able to put the genie back in? If they are natural events, where else in the worlds oceans can they be found? How has nature dealt with oil released in natural ways? During World War II, there were so many oil transports sunk by submarines, what effect did they have on the creatures who depend upon clean water to survive? Does nature eventually clean itself up when it comes to oil spills? Oil, after all is a substance found naturally throughout the world. What lasting effects are there on the environment in Kuwait after the Iraqi Army destroyed so many wells? I realize it took place in a desolate desert part of the world but I have to believe that there are still immense dead areas in Kuwait as a result of that earlier disaster.
I think the most important part of President Obama's speech this evening is his focus on ending our dependence on oil in favor of renewable sources of energy. We cannot wait a minute longer. If we can bail out Wall Street and Big Banks, we ought to be able to bail ourselves out of this situation and develop new industries which will provide clean renewable energy to almost totally end our need for oil. I understand that we brought a lot of this disaster upon ourselves by allowing the big oil companies to develop their own rules and focus on profit over safety. I am tired of the argument that if we overregulate industry, industry will be unable to provide the resources that we need. I would ask that all who agree that we need to start now, that you tune in to Larry King's show this evening and listen to T. Boone Pickens. He may be an Oil Billionaire but he has some excellent ideas and I believe that he sincerly wants to be a positive force in ending our dependence upon oil.

The president done some talking but hes done that before with no results .

The president and B.P. theres an old saying money talks and bull crap walks when the money is recieved then maybe the people will beleave .

Why does the President keep talking about "holding BP accountable"? We get that. When will he coordinate a federal response to defending our marshes, beaches & wildlife? Why are we leaving the defense of our country to BP? From news coverage, it appears to be an uncoordinated zoo down there.

@Dodie

Yes, it seems very strange that the big oil companies received huge refunds, while people on small pensions etc. had to Pay income taxes. What's up with that crap?

@ Linda, CT

Good question. My guess is because our entire military is dependent on huge amounts of oil because we are currently engaged in 2 wars. Every time we purchase oil from the middle east, we are supporting Al-Qaeda. Its a "catch 22"

There has bean no talk about a worst case disaster what if the leak cant be stoped how big is the caldera how much ocean will it effect they need to use radar or ground exsplosions and map the size of this cavity .

LARRY, JAMES, LOOK HERE HE made you SECOND to the ENERGY PLUG!!! PEOPLE COME FIRST!!! USA is the way!!! ALWAY'S!!!

i hate all these negative comments on the president's oval office presentation. his chief problem is the obstructionist republicans in Congress. these people try to block every measure he proposes; i hope they are defeated in mid-term elections. i am tempted to send each, particularly mitch mcconnell, a letter bomb, but i know, unlike others in our interrelated world, that is no solution. the republicans, however, need to shape up and make the oil disaster an
american problem, not a partisan issue.

Mr. President: Current estimates say up to 2,500,000 gallons of oil are leaking into the Gulf each day!!! The clean-up effort? A typical government miasma. MILITARIZE THIS DEBACLE NOW!!! Enough of OSHA, Coast Guard, National Guard, volunteers, politicians, and BP. Put an admiral/czar/BillyNugesser/whoever in charge of a fleet of Navy ships out there with booms, skimmers, Costner centrifuges, and coordinated vessels from Sweden/Norway/Japan. Put 30 crews of safety inspectors out there to get the moratorium rigs up and running again. Cut compensation checks to the unemployed fishermen, oil workers, etc. MOVE MOVE MOVE!!! Hold BP's feet to the fire for the well, but act NOW and INDEPENDENTLY on clean-up! Financials, suing BP, Dem vs Repub, the blame game, politics, and crafting long-term energy policy can wait; the Gulf cannot!!!!

if the seafood from the gulf is good, why does Sammy and others want to have PB give the money to them... How many are out of work NOW?

Put a bounty on crude oil. Make BP pay $? a gallon. Let the fisherman go out in their boats and catch oil anyway they can. Make the fisheries oil collection stations. They will find a way to make a living at it, and make their boat payments, and pay their crew. People pick up cans and sell them. Let anyone take buckets or bags and clean up beaches and sell what they collect. Greed put the oil there, let greed clean it up. Free interprise. This would cost very little, put people to work that want to work.

@ Michael Armstrong Sr.

Our government is not equipped to stop the oil leak. We can move forward with clean up... however, until we solve the problem, the oil continues to spew out in the gulf, all the clean up in the world will not really solve anything. It is only a temporary fix.

Here is how the government can take control of the gulf catastrophy:
Take $35 billion from the unspent stimulus money – begin defending the shores and wetlands right now – begin paying the people who are losing incomes, including businesses – then bill BP that amount with interest.
The stimulus belongs to these people anyway.

I want to know why states that welcomed the oil jobs and despite this catastrophe want drilling to continue RIGHT NOW have not arranged their own resources in case of emergency? I keep hearing complaints about where are the tractors? Where are the physical resources? from governors and parrish presidents and beach owners. But if you live where oil is drilled, that YOU want there, why aren't there clean up resources built in to your states resources? NO one is asking this question. It does not let BP off the hook. They need to PAY for it, but the fact is, if there were resources on the ground the states could be using them and bill BP.

@Dodie...What was the logic given when approving tax credits for oil companies which allow them to make such huge profits, pay no taxes, and receive millions in tax refunds? What was the advantage to us, the US Taxpayers? That kind of logic makes me angry enough to chew nails or better yet, pick up my pitchfork and head for Washington D.C.

Mr. King and Mr. Carville,

I understand the nature of the political beast morphs virtually every situation into a political quagmire; however, I would like your guests (specifically Mr. Carville) to speak to the disaster that has taken hold of our Gulf Coast. I am a native of the Dauphin Island area and our coast is its own culture. How can we work to recover from this potential collapse? When President Obama spoke of the tradition of the Blessing of the Fleet, he revealed just how integral the coastal environment–fishing, beaches, marshlands, wildlife– is to the family, religion, economy–very social structure of Lousiana, Mississipp, Alabama, and FLorida.

Furthermore, why isn't President Obama making Governor Riley, the leader of Placermain Parish, the Mayor of Orange Beach part of his advisory committee. James Carville will tell you...eventually the locals of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida are going to take matters into their own hands and clean things up for themselves. ALready in Mobile, citizens are ready to go pick up the oil themselves. It seems as though the White House doesn't understand hurricane season is here. We can't wait forever. Listen to the locals....let us help...we get the sense of urgency...

Frustrated. I have contacted BP by phone 3 TIMES with an idea for containment that I really think will work.

Has anyone noticed that BP has no email addresses on their site? I am so tired of commercials and news adds stating that folks can contact. But who??????? what if there is really a good idea out there that we just don't get to share. Way of the world?

I just heard James Carvelle state that if anyone has a good idea out there I am sure they would listen.........my frustration confirmed.

Let the common man help. Who do we contact?

These oil company's are going to be a whole lot more careful now because they can see that there going to be held responsible .

The Presidents office is occupied by someone unqualified. The military needs to have a full take over of the situation, fix it of course; which than can. Then we need to look at impeachment proceedings on our current President shortly after things are taken care of.

John/Memphis

Near Pensacola : I was down here today. Every local politician (Dems & GOP) and busnessmen told him we needed to treat this as an act of war, Engage the Army, Air Force, and especially the Navy. BP and the Coast Guard are clearly overwhelmed. There was still plenty of time to skim a lot of this oil before it hits our coast. Waiving the Jones Act would have allowed those giant Dutch skimmers to enter the gulf and help out. So we sit here watching TV thinking he might act like a president to protect American soil. Tonight we learned Southerners are not Americans. We were completely played for fools. Of course we want to be fossil fuel free as much as any part of the country. But now we will be his sacrificail lambs. By making this political instead of presidential, we will make him pay dearly. I'll guarantee you if this spill was in Lake Michigan, Chicago would have a complete naval blockade.

James Carville and Mary Matalin criticism of the administration’s response from Louisiana is a big part of President Obama’s problem. Good for them!

Also, the President can't declare war on business and then wonder where all the jobs went.

what seafood has been spoiled? When and what seafood will be spoiled? When and what tourist communities have been spoiled? Who is responsible, if there are people who won't eat Gulf sea food or visit Gulf communities out of fear of non-existent dangers? Maybe the media?

Good evening, Jack! Nice to see you on board! Yes, I find that very interesting. I wonder how I could make billions of dollars and pay zero in taxes along with obtaining millions in refunds?

@Ron Bowman...This huge mess is a direct result of lax Bush/Cheney "regulation" policy. So, add this to the big list of other Bush/Cheney blunders that have to be corrected. At least President Obama, is willing to make some corrections, unlike the last administration that was mostly about enriching their super wealthy base.

I am a Canadian, but... I can't see where any of this oil spill is the fault of your president. How come there are rigs all over the world drilling offshore, and none of them have come to your aid. This must mean that none of the big oil companies has the equipment to deal with this disaster. When a hurricane hits, everyone in the world and all the agencies pull together to help. So.. where is the help for this disaster, Before another drop is pumped from any of t hose rigs, they should have the necessary equipment to solve any clean up problems right away.When this type of an emergency happens all the oil companies should have equipment to be sent any place in the world.

Pres.: "has tested the limits of Human Technology" .. ?

Look at the TV ... I see 5-8 "robots!!!!!!!!!!!" working a 5000 ft below sea level, in 2°C ... Remote Controlled Robots...!!! And you say that we can’t plug a Hole...?

Pres. you are a Lawyer ... great for you... talk to a real Engineer.

@ John H

I am right behind you!!!

I am amazed that the conservative south and their Confederate Values combined with their anti-environmental policies, are now asking for handouts from Washington. If I did not firmly believe in democracy and equality for all, I would tell them to clean up their own mess and pay for it themselves.

@ Dodie your right and thats the next problem we need to fix we need to be equipped .

Obama lacks compassion in his speech. Does he really care or is he responding to the pressures of the job? Where is FEMA? Where is the protection from the chemical effects to US citizens? Is he Commander in Chief, and if so, of WHAT? All resources need to be in the Gulf to stop the oil already there from reaching the shores, while trying to cap the well. Enough days have passed for SOMEBODY to have a plan to protect the shore!!!

To put this in perspective:

43, 200 barrel per day flow rate = 1 barrel every 2 seconds

60,000 barrel per day flow rate = 1 barrel every 1.44 seconds

Mr. President. When less than 2% of our electricity is derived from petroleum, what does building more wind turbines and solar panels have to do with breaking our dependency on fossil fuels and petroleum. I agree with your statement, "The time has come to embrace more clean energy." Clean energy comes from renewable fuels and bio-fuels not wind turnines and solar panels. The time has come to understand energy and what it takes to break our dependence on oil.

Alaska still has oil under there rocks and deep in the ground theres no way it will be better then before .

Lets face it...the President has NO IDEA what to do...he continues to politic and has a large number of "advisors" that are "clueless"!

James Carville is a passionate Democrat ..."not that I agree with a lot of his beliefs" but he does show great concern for this oil crisis. Let James head up the "relief fight"...he will probably do a much better job than our President!!!!!

Want to get the oil cleaned up quickly in the gulf? The govt. should offer to pay entrepreneurs / business men $144 per barrel that is recovered / captured in the gulf (2x the current price per barrel). Additionally the buy product of this exercise should produce a variety of very creative solutions that can be quickly used to help clean up any future oil spills.

What an ineffectual president. A whole lot of talkers – almost as many talkers as there is oil....

why do we have wall to wall coverage of louisana? there are other states on the gulf. katrina almost drove the rest of the country nuts. some of them are still living off katrina,

After the 'top kill' method failed to shutoff the flow of oil, the enormous pressure of mud and water used for that process has reportedly ruptured the pipe casing below the surface. I think it is clear that we cannot shut this well off at the sea floor, in doing so it will allow the oil to permeate up through the sand, creating a certainly impossible situation for collection or clean up. I feel the waiting for a relief well is waiting too long. Perhaps they could try a method similar to angioplasty, a procedure of placing a type of balloon into an artery and expanding it, allowing blood to flow through. A similar method could be used in an opposite way, closing the well casing with a type of ballon, well below the sea floor. Just an idea, it feels like some folks down there need one.

Compensation to fishermen would be minimal compared to long term damage to wildlife and the environment. BP management's arrogant posture should not be tolerated, a criminal charge should be initiated immediately and large escrow fund (about the size of BP's average annual profit) should be set up, not only for humans, but the restoration of damaged wildlife.

Rick from Detroit, what planet are you from? Nobody in the South is asking for handouts. They want to feed their families like you do, if you do. I want to be able to vacation on the same beach I raised my kids vacationing on. We're talking about 4 states that a man-made disaster is about to destroy while drilling for the crude to power the autos that your city makes.

i think the president took to long to react. now we have to sease all bp. assets in america and not put there money it escrow . we know that their shares have gone down more than 50% and we know that they will find a way to get out of paying us. also all these new technologie that these small companie have been working on to pick up oil spills, god for sake let them try it out. who knows what we will come up with.edison made quite a few invention. we need to cap this well asap even if it means that the well will be not productive anymore. as fore are renewed technologie with wind mill and solar panels , this is the future and we should work on it .be we are not in the future right now , we are at reality and we have to deal with it now

OBAMA LIFT THE BAN, NOW, the DEEP well's that are 5000 PLUS, WHICH is how many??? KEEP THEM OFF, UNTIL SAFE!!! ESCROW 50 BILLION!!! THE PEOPLE NEED the MONEY!!!

Mr. President. When less than 2% of our electricity is derived from petroleum, what does building more wind turbines and solar panels have to do with breaking our dependency on fossil fuels and petroleum. I agree with your statement, "The time has come to embrace more clean energy." This type of clean energy comes from renewable fuels and bio-fuels not wind turbines and solar panels. The time has come to understand energy and what it takes to break our dependence on oil.

I know how Buil a concrete dome about 20 to 30 feet in dia. Half moon. Allow a tube like at the bottom and attatch 2 air bags of high press. Lower the half doom down over the cut off peice. Then once the dome is over the pipe, charge the high press air lines to expand and seal the oil. Then the attach hose will allow the oil to shoot to the top to a boat to catch the oil.

Yeah right! Like he's responsible for the Gore separation, and your bad hair day. You don't know jack, Jack.

What is the military going to do? He released the Nat'l Guard and the governors are not employing them. I just saw the president of Plaquamines Parrish shaking his head over that saying "a bunch of people" aren't going to help. I really don't know what people want from the president when the people of the gulf, the LEADERS of the gulf, don't seem to know what will work. Not that I've heard anyway.

The president is doing what he should be doing, making sure the responsible parties are held responsible. Thank you T.Boone, keep talking....we have some real numbskulls in this country. They are so hooked on foreign oil, they cant see the forest for the trees.

Mr. Edwards, if Katrina drove you nuts, then let's let a Katrina type hurricane hit your area and make you homeless. Then you might understand what others have gone through.

(URGENT)
PLEASE CALL ME ANYTIME DAY or NIGHT
Regarding the oil spill in the Gulf

I am retired.

I have higher education and am self-taught in many skills.

I have thought of a method to stop and also contain the oil leak in the Gulf.

I would like to talk to someone ( AN ENGINEER WITH KNOWLEDGE OF OIL WELL DRILLING ) very soon, because I believe I have a solution and am very concerned about the environment.
One of my ideas:
What is the largest diameter prefabricated dome shaped caisson with rubber seals you can stack from the sea bottom to the top of the sea surface, ( perhaps with the bottom 30 ft to 40 ft diameter, top possibly 15 ft to 20 ft diameter )? If this caisson could be made larger it would work better.
Then the oil and gas can be directed upward and collected at the top.
If you think this is a usable idea, I have more ideas to add to this to make it work better.

Full disclosure? How much does the ever-lovable T. Boone stand to make from the exploitation of natural gas? And, Mr. Starstruck, "right about what"?

well lets see no one thinks the well was sabotogged but everybody wants the president to scooper dive and fix the leak loyd bridges of sea hunt by his self . but katrina and bush let more lives go and it,s was in the same place but thats OKAY welllllllll

I'd like to know why BP will not allow the National Audubon Society, USA, to help capture & clean wildlife, birds, etc. in the Gulf? They have 7,000 members ready to help, at little to no charge to the BP company. Sounds like a win, win to me.

I truly believe the largest connection between hurricane katrina and the gulf oil disaster IS my home Louisiana. The responses are ironically similar, too little too late. The people largely impacted are the same people that came back determined to be stronger after katrina. It completly disgusts me that this has become political when I actually thought for a minute that we had learned from katrina that all this red tape needs to go. There is STILL oil boon out there that has not been used, there are thousands of ideas not being tried, and meanwhile the ceo of bp is spending money on maintaining his image on commericals instead of helping those suffering. I am aware of the fact that with diaster comes corruption but ASK the locals they know who they see on the waters. Ask the locals what they need and provide stop trying to be so "politically correct" and DO SOMETHING. I talked to an oyster fisherman who was in tears citing he doesn't know what he is going to do they closed his oyster bed. He questioned the simple pleasures like the electricity,food & shelter. I think there is not enough being done. Pay for the bills for people to survive figure the rest out later. Alot of people know nothing but fishing, shrimping and crabing they need the help they just want to survive. This is not the time to turn this into we need to go green. NO!!! We don't. We need this oil to survive it funds the state and a large part of the country. We DO need extremely strict rules and regulations on the safety and back up plans on the rigs. I cringe when I think of the fact that my father was supposed to be on the deep water horzion two weeks after the explosion date. The production on the oil disater hurts so many jobs but taking away all drilling does the same. The regulations and safety plans need to be the strictest of all policies and plans. People need to remember the gulf south is part of the united states and they need us and the treasures we provide. If the Gulf South was in charge of the oil rigs and the royalties than in would be a Gulf South problem. BUT Louisiana just recently began receiving benefits from the off shore drilling yet we arre receiving all of the disasterious consequences. "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have" ~Gerald Ford~august 12, 1974
And once again Louisiana loses due to politics

We need to regulate corporations. CEO's and their executive minions only exist to make themselves, and the share holders wealthy. They will cut corners, and even lay workers off, in order to maximize their profits. We can't entrust our safety in the hands of organizations with this kind of mentalitiy.

T Boon heres why be tough the fools killed people and turned our ocean into a toilet im glad you arnt president .

i heard on cnn the other day that bp. is 40% british & 40% american. seriously what does that mean?
i keep hearing that people just want to get out & do something like 'shop-vacs' or use their boats & rescue birds etc., but that bp won't let them! ?
if i was there i would just go do it!
screw bp!!!!! force them to charge people cause this is gonna be in courts for over one hundred years. call them what they are, greedy & guilty
this will have a direct affect on the whole world. not just southern usa. send any country that wants to help with any ships or equipment!!!
in canada oil rigs have to drill 2 holes when a rig is established the main line & then another as an emergency to (hopefully) avoid this exact situation. bp. is only drilling the second one now which they say will be finished in august. wholly crap that's 4+ months of oil spewing!

it's like pooping in our own sandbox!
i can not wait to watch the hearings on thursday boy o boy.

Can someone smarter than me in the Oil business tell me why a fleet of oil skimmers should be on call like fireman knowing the consequeces the SECOND it happens as when we call 911 with a fire., and circle the original spill in a circular motion to contain it as close to it's original point before it spreads?

Does that makes sense to not a a emergerncy plan and what am I missing with this thought that i wish iI57 days ago????

"Bad calls"? "Judgment errors"? How about criminal negligence?

Listening to the Senator from Louisiana, James Carville, etc. I understand the financial impact of going cold turken on offshore drilling. I wish we could just walk away from it but since that is not practical, we need to martial the entire nation to develop energy independence in the next five to ten years. If we could go to the moon in ten years, ten years for energy independence is not an unreasonable expectation. @Brad McMahan...Yes, we cannot go completely without fossil fuels and depend entirely on solar and wind power. But we can use an array of alternatives including Compressed Natural Gas (Cleaner than oil and plentiful in this country), Solar, Wind, Nuclear (which France seems to be doing alright with), power from the movement of the waves in the ocean, and power from the parts of the earth which have volcanic activity where steam can be captured and used to produce electricity. I'm certain there are other sources I have not mentioned but the point is we can no longer afford to wait. We have to put the resources necessary into developing all of the sources of energy. It is a national security issue as well as an environmental issue.

President Obama inherited yet another debacle from the Bush Administration. Why the media will not dare to mention the secret energy commission headed by Dick Cheney that was polluted with oil industry executives is beyond me.

Then US Comptroller General Dave Walker sued Cheney all the way up to the Supreme Court (stacked with Poppy and Baby Bush appointees) and Cheney fought it the enire way. Of course, the oil friendly Supreme Court did not rule that Cheney had to provide the most basic transparency and identify who the members of the commission were – a travesty given that the oil industry had way too much influence in developing US energy policy.

President Obama has done the absolute best he could, given the decades of mismanagement and the lack of a cohesive, nonconflicted energy policy.

T Boon needs to be watched as much as B.P. theres gas lines exsploding all over the country from cutting corners .

For Mr. Pickens: What is needed to move more vehicles on US highways to natural gas?

@ blong

FEMA is not trained in deep well leaks. They are trained in natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, Tsunamis, tornados, hurricanes, and now terrorism. There is NO training for an oil leak 5,000 feet deep!!!!! The government does NOT know how to plug up the leak! The only people who know anything about this, are oil people most of which are already working on trying to stop the leak!

I hope from this catastrophe,... we will NEVER forget! Hopefully, the move for alternative energy will be addressed as number 1 priority!

Larry,

I just wanted to comment on your guests concerns about the gulf coast and the residents livelihoods –

Sen. Landau seems like a great, down to earth person but her remarks with the other panelists hit a cord with us here in Ohio and Michigan – look our sources of income went away with the changes in auto and steel production. We have not recovered but we are going to have to recover and if the drilling in the gulf stops the people there will be no worse off than us, they will probably be in better shape.

"Bad calls"? "Judgment errors"? How about criminal negligence?
You are talking about Obama, right !

Hi Larry,
Great show and a topic that concerns many. My heart aches for the people of Louisanna and affected areas.

I'm from Atlantic Canada and we're concerned here also. Like the Gulf Coast Region our Fishing and Tourism Industries are two of our three main Industries in the Atlantic Region. I can understand the devastation the Gulf Coast is feeling. At the same time, I'm wondering if the oil doesn't stop flowing into the Gulf at these enormous levels will it eventually affect us too? If it begins to travel up the Eastern Coast of the US will it reach our Atlantic Shores? Not only the Tides are a factor but also the Hurrican Season that will soon be upon us.

This is a huge disaster and I hope and pray for the Gulf and the Eastern Coasts that someone can stop the oil from flowing and soon.
The affects this could have industrially and enviromentally will take years to rebuild.

The Oil Spill is not President Obama's Katrina.
Katrina was mother nature
The oil spill is BP's baby–Not Regulated plus Greed!

GOPs headed the tea marches throwing out big goverment and now the very same ones that don't want big goverment involve are dissing the President.He has been in a no win situation from day one.

The Exxon Spill in Alaska happen 21 years ago and to this day if ones dig down 2-3" oil is seen.Fishermen lost homes,their way of life along with many marriages that ended up in Divorce.This spill will take much longer to clean up.

As far as President Obama what do the ones on the right want him to do act like an idiot and jump around.

Bottom Line if BP doesn't know how to get it plug how would Pres Obama?? GOPS better think instead of playing their political games.
This rig might have to go dry till it's done–so sad for the people,the 11 lives that were lost,wild and the gulf fish that will hit 4 States and maybe go up Ga,Sc and Nc till it goes out to the Alantic like how the Gulf current goes.

It's funny.. Henry Ford ran HIS car on 'hemp', NOT black crude. That's right, hemp.. what used to be the largest industrial crop in the US.. until the US made it illegal 😉

We don't need to drill.. that's just a sales pitch!

Even Brazil has turned away from black crude.. they're using sugar cane to make ethynol 😉

It's time we took our planet back!

Mike, Vancouver, BC

if a person has a way to reduce the build up of ice crystals during the control of the oil flow.

If a person is not a major corporation who does one get in touch with, to present this information?

The mess in the gulf of mexico has to be brought under control, NOW!

T. Boone Pickens is soft on BP because he is an oil tycoon, and big oil apologist. He has nothing to offer your show , as far as a sane environmental friendly policy when it comes to oil. He is an oil man, and will never admit they (or any other big oil conglomeration) can do wrong. Asking him for a balanced opinion insofar as oil is concerned would be akin to ask a snowman what he thought of frigid temperatures. He should stick to wind energy, which is an excellent idea, and stop being such an apologist for BP. BP has deceived and failed us. Not content with the huge profits they were making , they cut corners on safety and infected the government/regulatory agencies with the virus of bribery. Now the beautiful animals of the Gulf , as well as the people of the Gulf states, and really all of us have to pay for their greed.

T Boon wants to call us stupid but mister we are growing wise to you bandits real quick .

1) What the hell is wrong with these engineers? Fabricate an upside down funnel and lower it over the pipe with a long pipe attached. This wont stop the spill but will allow the oil to be controlled and directed.

2) How can anyone say your economny is getting better when every hour the USA goes $180,000,000 in the hole. You cannot make your interest payments on your debt but you say the economy is getting better??? Total nonsense!!

Comments like JT are just uncalled for.. we are sitting on top of the biggest NG field in Nth America and we cant get our vehicles converted to use NG. We cant get a comprehensive Energy plan thru Congress because they drag their feet and play politics at Americas expense. So instead of kicking President Obamas butt how about taking it up with your respective representatives, and hold them accountable for getting us on the right track, after all its an election year.... and they should be ready to make promises.

Dear Larry and Mr Pickens.

The BP hole can be plugged.

Send down in airtight equipment "bombs" of significent strength and spaced so that when they are set up and fired, enough material will be moved to fill the hole.

Our submarines and Navy have enough fire power to fill this leak. Russia can hit us with the H / A Bomb surley we can cover an oil hole 3 miles down.

Glad to be of assistance.

Your're northern neighbor.

Joe.

It is very disappointing that the President I voted for is turning out to be so incompetent a manager of the nation's government and its response to the oil disaster.

Most people understand by now that "plugging the damn hole" is impossible until the relief wells hopefully succeed in August, and there's not much way around that basic fact of life.

But BP and the government both have been totally stupid about the attempts to keep the oil confined off shore and out of the marshes and estuaries.

Any Lousiana fisherman could have run the clean-up operation better than the oil company and the bureaucrats - but they all were more worried about protecting their own interests than protecting the coastline.

T. Boone Pickens and other oil industry leaders, along with those with real scientific knowlege how to contain oil spills, should have been assembled as an advisory group on Day One of the disaster to make sure that the best possible containment and clean-up actions were taken.

Instead, the President worried more about politics than getting thejob done. He didn't want to be blamed for anything so he staid out of the picture and decided not to talk to BP leaders, etc.

And now the President is making the politicial suicide mistake of trying to push long range energy change legislation instead of just concentrating on trying to control the current disaster as much as possible.

I thought he had more common sense than that when I voted for him.

In light of this Gulf calamity, why aren't the transcripts of the Cheney secret oil meetings being called for by the AG Holder and the legislators investigating BP? Why should those meetings have been kept secret to begin with? Since this is a matter of national security now, shouldn't they be released to the public? If there is nothing that is illegal or untoward in those transcripts, why aren't they made public? Don't citizens have a right to know that information, so they can make informed electoral decisions in the future. Isn't that the way a democracy is supposed to work, by having an informed electorate? That was what they taught where I went to school.

The Congress just passed an energy bill mandating 36 mpg for the 2012 models that will be arriving at dealers lots in just over a year.

Any bets on how many new vehicles will make the MPG? The Congress has been passing fuel economy standards since the mid 1970's and we are getting less MPG than when we started.

Americans consume 20% of the worlds crude, but we are only 4% of the worlds population. Our thirst for crude will lead to another disaster!

This is not a spill. This is not a spill, this is not SPILL!!!!!
Who cares who is responsible when we are all dead.
Plug the well.
All other conversation is moot.

hi larry

why can't they pull away the riser and drop an old flat bottom barge over the pipe that is left coming out of the ground... i am sure they have shipyards with old barges and i am sure they are heavy enough to flatten that pipe stub and settle down over the hole... and i am sure a sunken barg is heavy enough and large enough to stop the oil escaping from under the barge.

@Dodie
You are absolutely correct about FEMA. They are (or should be), however, trained in organization and mobilization of assistance. The natural disasters that you listed can cause the same effects that I saw last week while in Alabama. We bought our own rakes and shovels to clear the tarballs on our area of the beaches. BP's paid workers would not pick up the bags because they were not theirs. I called BP 3 times in 2 days to report the need for beach cleanup. "We will get someone right on it." One week later they were "right on it." Our government IS responsible for our land and its citizens when enemy forces threaten it whether by a planned disaster like 9/11 or an accidental disaster such as this!!

When BP lawyers get through suing Trans Ocean (the U.S. company who owns the platform and did the drilling) and Haliburton ( the U.S. company who were responsible for the cement collar on the well head) their prospects will take a huge upturn and this is a pure buying opportunity for potential BP shareholders.
Why is the U.S. media, including CNN, not telling the american public that those two companies are all american and of their involvement in this incident? It just seems like its fahionable to bash anything foreign be it Toyota or BP.

doug millar.

or drop a heavy cement slab on top of the pipe....or several layers of slabs...
they will never rust...

thank you

I am American, grew up in Brazil, and have to say T. Boone Pickens is absolutely right about Natural Gas. In Brazil the cars are leaving the dealerships already "FlexFueled" (Ethanol and Gasoline)... And it doesn't stop there... They are also adding the natural gas kit. They are playing smart and will actually sell us their oil at Tupi reserves. All gas stations there have Natural Gas "pumps"... Why cant we do it here... We are being fooled into believing we depend on oil so much for transportation... The truth is WE DONT.

@blong
you should buy more of our auto's. maybe someone in Detroit would have a job!

One way to become less dependent on oil is to convert more vehicles to LNG (natural gas). The government could offer cash incentives, like the "cash for clunkers", to convert your car to run on LNG. Many city and state vehicles have been converted. Why not convert private cars as well. I realize that the most critical issue is plugging the well, cleaning up the gulf, and getting the people in the gulf region back on their feet.. But this castrophy is a reminder that we need to come up with a better solution than continuing to drill for oil.

I think the Obama Administration has always been there working to get this stopped. He has done and is doing what is possible unless the Government takes over for a while. I think BP should pay for everything and maybe in 10 years or 15 we will finally have alternative energy. China is already ahead in this technology and we need to catch up.

Larry,
Thanks for having T. Boone Pickens on the program again this evening. It is good to hear from someone who really understands the oil business and give us a straight story. Some here apparently can't get beyond the fact that he's been in the oil business; I guess they didn't hear him say he would not buy BP stock.
I hope you continue to have him back as we work through this disaster.

The ocean waters travel the entire planet. This is not a national disaster, it is global! Stop finger pointing or placing blame it is a waste of precious time. PLUG THE OIL WELL or we are all dead.

Ask Markey who is designated by OPA '90 as the federal official in-charge of the federal effort in the response ?

Ask Markey on what page of the BP Response Plan did they address Walruses and Seals. Was it on any page other than the index listing provided by NOAA that was included in the plan consistent with the National Contingency Plan?

Ask Markey to name one regulation that affects drilling operations under Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations that was eased or deleted under the Bush admin? One, just one.

Ask Markey to confirm if it is true that the Inspector General from Dept of Interior testified that the latest elements of wrongdoing by MMS was in 2007. Was it true that the wrongdoers were terminated and in one case prosecuted? Did the corrective actions occur under Bush also? Didn't the Inspector General testify that the accusation of oil companies filling out inspection reports was NOT substantiated?

Is it true that the Death on the High Seas Act would not apply to BP as Congress wrote the act?

Boone Pickens is wrong. He can repeat it as often as he likes – I think it was 5 times – but the US is 7th in natural gas reserves, not 1st. It's not even close to Russia's reserves (1/7th), and only about 4% of total gas reserves.

BTW these folks down here are about "Red" as "Red" can be , they do not like President Obama and this is a good opportunity to avenge GWB handling of Katrina,

@ jack

You stated: T. Boone Pickens is soft on BP because he is an oil tycoon, and big oil apologist. He has nothing to offer your show

Excellent! Thank you!

I agree with Steve Eaton, I thought BP was the cause of the accident. Obama is not a drilling expert...geez! I am currently in Port Fourchon as I write this and worked here in this Port for around 10 years and I agree with the moratorium! Seems to me that people forgot about the 11 victims that were killed by BP! I applaud the man for going through with the moratorium..."SAFETY FIRST"...besides isn't this a motto preached by every company in the world? BP only exposed the industry and it's the Presidents duty to protect his people...so yes I agree with the moratorium. Our local politicians down here in Lafourche, Terrebonne, and St. Bernard are against the marotorium but you can't have your cake and eat it too! Seems to me Louisiana "politics" still persist even in a crisis. It's sad. Pick your poison politicians...will ya'll take responsibility if another crisis in the gulf happens and more people get hurt or ya'll to concerned with the money drilling helps ya'll parishes? Seems to me $ motivates and death has taken a backseat and is getting a ride out of town.

bong:

To be honest with you, there is little training for FEMA. We need a lot more.

How much oil did the Exxon spill? This is a puncture into our planet. The ocean waters travel the entire globe. This is not a national disaster, it is global! Stop finger pointing or placing blame it is a waste of precious time. PLUG THE OIL WELL or we are all dead.

@Dodie...My pleasure, and contrary to the earlier opinion, I do know jack. lol

Dodie:

Sad to know.

I would like to know why Mr. King did not push Mr. Pickens for a reason
why he thought the government shoud not be so tough on BP.
He had the chance and did not follow up on it. WHY?

He asked the next person whether the government should be tough
on BP or not, but did not as Pickens why he thought we should be easy. Being an oil person I would have liked to know his answer.

I think Mr. King missed a good point there or is he protecting Pickens?

or is he afraid to ask the tough questions. It seems alot of people like
Mr. King are afraid to ask the tough questions or follow up on other questions so the public like us can hear what these people are really thinking; They get them on the line and when we can really find out something they drop the ball and we are left with questions.

Very poor interviewing I think. It seem like they like to get the viewer all excited about whats happening and when they get someone on theshow who could answer the questions they chicken out and don't ask the questions we all want to know.

Gentelmen,
why plug the hole why not save it? Make a tunnel to send all oil to freighters above. Bring in many freighters like we do to collect snow with trucks. Save the oil don't plug the hole if you can't plug it save it!

Larry,
I think T.Boone Pickens is pushing natural gas because he has invested in it. I wonder if he is telling people about "fracking" and how the chemicals injected with the water are poisoning peoples wells and the water coming out of their faucets can be lit on fire. Companies involved are paying residents something for their land, but they have to keep quiet. Thanks, but no thanks! Not in my backyard.

@Susan Ortiz...That is true. I do not think the sense of urgency or the magnitude of this disaster can be overstated. Also, like Dodie was saying, they should meanwhile get all the units into the Gulf to skim the oil that they can possibly enlist.

@Ray Morgan...you are one of the few who seem to get the idea. Liquid Natural Gas or Compressed Natural Gas is the long term solution to much of our energy problems. All fleet vehicles including the trucking industry, police cars, taxi's, fire departments, city vehicles and buses should be mandated to convert to LNG or CNG. All new vehicles for these industries should be required to be delivered LNG/CNG ready. Once there are enough vehicles using this source of energy, the private sector will invest in the infrastructure to support these vehicles. Private vehicles could also be converted with tax incentives to encourage conversion. Natural Gas is clean and plentiful in this country where we have to most proven reserves in the world. While this is just one source of future energy, it is one that can be accomplished relatively easily now. The technology is here now. At the same time we are doing this, we can expand wind, solar, etc. with the goal of almost eliminating oil and the money we spend for it overseas.
On another issue, we Americans have a tendency to look to the Federal Government to solve all diffucult challenges and for some reason, many of us look at the president as the problem solver supreme. Fact is, there are many things the Federal Government cannot resolve and President Obama cannot wave a magic wand and fix this current problem in the Gulf. Blaming President Obama or any other president for man made disasters or acts of nature is futile. President Obama is not at fault and if you think he can fix this problem but just doesn't want to, then you have a larger problem than he does. We need to stop pointing fingers and throwing insults back and forth and concentrate all our efforts on fixing this problem so that it cannot occur again. Anything less than that is a waste of your own personal energy.

I listened to T. Boone Pickens as he talked about our natural gas reserves. I am 55 years old. I had a friend when I was 16 who drove a car that ran on propane only. That was 39 years ago. My friend drove this car EVERYWHERE! He had no problems with it and all he needed to do to convert this gas guzzler to a clean burning efficient auto was change the jets in the carburetor, replace the gas tank with a propane tank and regulator. It was that easy 39 years ago! With all the technological advances we've made, no one can tell me that if it weren't for the politics of it, we'd be free of foreign oil right now as far as transportation goes, (the bulk of our consumption)! Send the lobbyists and special interest guys home and get to work on it!

I hope the president follows through with his promises he announced tonight. I hope that the escrow fund is set up, I hope that BP is unable to file chapter 11 and escape thier responsibility to all people effected by this tragedy. I have a lot of hope for him and his administration.

@ dodie

I agree with you in regards to FEMA however I don't trust them and most people in Louisiana cringed when we heard they were coming in. Most people remember them with Katrina

The following is a solution for BP and the oil spill in the gulf:

I recommend preparing a pipe that is thinner than the width of the well pipe to be fitted into the well with a reducer and several prearranged couplings (washers) that vary from the size of the pipe to the size of the well fitting. Once the reducer and pipe are fitted into the well opening, slowly fit the couplings around the pipe so as to create a seal. Essentially, this is a reducing procedure. Take a wider pipe and reduce the size to a smaller pipe using couplings and or washers.

Once the seal is created, the pipe leading to the surface can be fed temporarily into crude, loader, cargo or any other vessel that can safely carry the oil into port. Once a platform is safely in position, it can be reconnected to the pipe and continue operations as before.

Please ask T Boone Pickins why BP didnt drill the relief well into
the first half mile of sea floor. Then it would have been into the
well long ago and could have been fill up by now. Thanks.

@LKL,
I was glad to see T. Boone Pickens back tonight. I appreciate that he is extremely knowledgeable on oil drilling and is very straightforward without misleading us with unreasonable expectations. He explains the situation based on the facts and not politics.

The President Obama's comments tonight seemed superficial and he seems arrogant and not in control of the very serious situation–he seems uncaring and totally unresponsive!

Obama has NOT been firm enough with BP. Has Obama listened to Mr Reich (former labor secretary) re: putting BP in temporary receivership, the concerns of Mr Carville, the governors, the affected people??? Has Obama actually seen BP preventing the news media from taking photos and workers from wearing the appropriate protective attire? His speech tonight was just more flowery words with no substance. Obama looked about as convincing and presidential tonight as scowling BP Tony is in his $50Million commercials. BP does not seem repetant one little tiny bit. We need an FDR or Teddy Roosevelt who will lead not make flowery speeches. Obama has to force BP intohelp fromthe other oil companies, placing $50 billion dollars in an escrow fund (this number could certainly be higher, prevent BP from filing for bankruptcy/paying dividends/wasting money on those pathetic TV ads. We don't need more committees and meetings–we need action 50+ days ago.

@Smith in Oregon@John H@Dodie

I agree absolutely.Our dependence on & thirst for black gold has to end.This nation's consumption of oil is unforgivable.
We should also leave the sea-beds alone as @John H says we do not have the technology to go commercial in that relatively un chartered territory.The thought that there are fissures in the sea bed itself spewing oil@ Smith, is nightmarish.
President Obama's initiatives on developing alternate sources of energy should be taken up in earnest leaving aside politics (as if thats going to happen).
@Dodie the excerpts exposing tax breaks of the Big Oil are unbelievable. How did they get away with this and who was in the business of aiding & abetting them?
According to the State Deptt there are 17 countries who have offered help to deal with this crisis.So whats keeping us from getting them on board?
From the very beginning I have been saying that the magnitude of this disaster appears frightening and we have to enlist help of countries which have the expertise & technology. I even suggested that UN should get involved. Isn't an enviornmental catastrophe a global issue?

Ron Bowman,
Trying to infer that we are President Obama's "sacrificial lambs" among other outrageous statements that you've made only proves how bent and far-right your real view of our president is. This kind of outlandish rhetoric merely proves your argument is jaded and weak.

To all you pious Obama lovers. I can assure you, if you lived down here on the gulf coast, you wouldn't so forgiving if you were made to be sacraficial lambs to his agenda. I don't like the GOP or the Tea Party either. We just wanted a president to do his job. I guess there's no longer such a word as American. You have to be conservative or progressive (liberal) – democrat or republican. Today, Pensacolians were what you find under the toilet seat. Tonight, he flushed the toilet.
Remember, we don't allow drilling in Florida. We all want clean energy, but to use this as a political football will cost him his second term. As Florida goes, so does the country. He completely blew it tonight. BYBAMA!

@Randall Ayers....Thank You! We need to get more people on board with this idea and perhaps our children and grandchildren will have a much better future than they would if we continue on the road we are on now. I was glad to hear President Obama bring up the subject of clean energy and breaking free of the strangle hold the oil producing nations have on us and our economy now. Only thing I would have asked is where are the specifics? I want SPECIFICS. How can I personally contribute?

Oh yes, one more thing. I wanted to say that some of us here are allowing our bias about everything to do with big oil cause us to overlook a person who can be one of our best allies in the struggle for energy sufficiency. I know T. Boone Pickens made his fortune in oil and may be a little too reluctant to criticize big oil but I am convinced he is ready and willing to use his knowledge and money to help us break away from oil producing states who do not have our best interests in mind. Don't cut off your noses to spite your faces. We can do much worse than joining forces with Mr. PIckens. He has some great ideas so do yourselves a favor and listen and try to turn off your predjudices long enough to hear what he is asking us to do.

@Dodie,
I think you will find upon further research this the information about the oil companies paying no taxes is quite false. For one thing, it's possible they had not yet paid their 2009 taxes when this information came out. For 2008, these companies paid nearly 50% of their pretax income in taxes which would be billions of dollars. Also, most likely the taxes can be found in their annual reports. But, again, the info about zero taxes is absolutely incorrect. Most likely they pay more dollars in taxes than just about any other industry. They don't do everything right we know, but it would be very much in error for anyone to think they don't pay taxes.

jack
You have me laughing! you are so funny

@ candace callaghan

Most government employees must be trained in FEMA... however, the training is not very good. We really need to do more than class and tests to be trained in FEMA. They need field work and practical experience

@Cindy...I also saw the report on a TV new show about their getting a refund. It startled me also. It seems so wrong it is just hard to believe. Especially when people under $25,000 dollars a year have to pay income taxes.

SAWDUST

Larry-
Will somebody please try sawdust to absorb oil that is floating on the water. Sawdust will absorb the oil and can then be picked up and burned in electrical plants to produce electricity. We have plenty of sawdust to do the job. It can be brought in by the trainload.

@blong
@ candace callaghan I completely agree with you. Something needs to change with the FEMA training. They need field training. If I told you how FEMA is trained, you would fall out of your chair...

@ IKHAN
There are naturally occurring oil leaks in the ocean, but nothing like PB's leak. They hit the core or heart of the oil field.

From reading multitude of sites some ".org" the change in oil tax credits came from the Cheney/bush era. The oil companies doubled in size within those 8 years. When I read this, I was also enraged! I triple checked the facts as I just could not believe what I was reading. And you know, most of congress is paid off by the oil companies. The entire situation is a mess and we tax payers are biting the "bullet" so to say.

Yes, IKHAN, denial is powerful and keeps people from mobilizing. I completely agree with you, we need help from everywhere.

Nick Pozzi, an American oil and gas engineer, was in charge of a 700 million gallon oil spill in the Arabian Gulf during the 1990's who successfully cleaned it up and was cast out by BP saying he did not go through proper channels. Pozzi’s plan was to quickly draw the oil from the gulf into Supertankers and separate the oil from the water. "BP official cussed him out for not going through proper channels and threatened him with a lawsuit.”

COULD D CHENEY BE ARRESTED BECAUSE OF THIS ?...

@ Dodie, wow that's some corruption on Big Oil American corporations making Billions last year and paying ZERO taxes and even worse is the US Government Big Oil subsidy's still paying them Millions of free American taxpayer dollars.

It comes as no surprise the Republican lawmakers would vote lockstep to keep this huge windfall of free American taxpayer dollars to American corporations making Billions in profits and paying ZERO in taxs. It is sad however that a handful of Democratic lawmakers who have Gas,Oil or Coal mines in their States appear to be corrupted by Big Oil in voting with the Republicans against ending that huge giveaway of taxpayer dollars.

@ John H, thank-you for reading my posts and your kind comments. Yes there is Ocean venting normally occurring from undersea Oil reservoirs, HOWEVER the ones that are artificially created can be much worse by an exponential rate. Drillers penetrating a pocket some 5,000 or 10,000 feet beneath the seafloor shatters the formation holding that in place and consequently with the immense pressure of the Ocean pressing down, it's like a giant stepping on a tube of toothpaste forcing it out.

Consequently, artificially created fissures can and do erupt on the Ocean floor which creates all kinds of problems. After the Oil or Gas reservoir is drained, the immense Ocean pressure flows down and compresses that formation creating further problems which greatly complicates geological stability. One artificially created deep sea fracture can create additional ones as well as substantial plate tectonic stress leading to possible earthquakes.

@ Cindy

I am not going to debate this with you. You can just google it and read a dozen sites. Go to Internal Revenue and you will see it in black and white! It is Public information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone

The United States have always come to the rescue of nations in distress.
It's Britain's goodwill tp help US in fighting the oil spill since its their oil company which did the damages.
it's pointless for President Obama to be speaking to BP CEO or other execs since they are not on the same level
In fact the CEO should be sacked!.
Britain and other ally nations are now helping the US in the Afghanistan war.
You have the best troops to fight the Talibans and Al-Qaeda there..
It's uncertain whether you can win that war.
But with concerted effort by US allies, you can and must win this oil spill war which affects all Americans.

I'm reminded of an Elvis Presley songs lyrics.

"A little less conversation a little more action..."

I'm tired of Obama's speaches I want him to stop the oil on the gulf.

The T. Boone Pickens plan to use Natural Gas specifically as a transition fuel for internal combustion engines certainly bears a better look and consideration by Washington , DC. It is and wasn't presented as a long term solution, only a way to quickly, safely power a majority of internal combustion engines including gasoline powered automobiles UNTIL America can fully embrace pure electrically powered vehicles.

It is a sham and disgusting that only HONDA offers a compressed natural gas powered sedan for the American public. As hinted at and mentioned before by a former citizen of Brazil, decades ago Brazil demanded ALL automakers selling Brazil its vehicles that they ALL be flex-fuel capable. And of course Chevy, Ford and other American automakers ALL made the exact same vehicles they were selling to the American public flex-fuel capable in Brazil, but REFUSED to sell those to the American Public. That utterly disgusting approach by former and now utterly disgraced GM CEO Wagner led to his infamous departure.

Yes, Flex Fuel American vehicles across the board for decades being sold to Brazil but the automakers actively prevented American citizens from obtaining the same!

NOW, there is Dual Flex-Fuel (Ethanol-Gasoline) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) capable auto's routinely offered to Brazil and routinely being produced! But not to American citizens by the auto factory! Yep, you have to go to a aftermarket dealer and have them converted for a considerable cost, go figure!

Until internal combustion engines are phased out for America's automotive needs, Americans should demand the Congress, Senate and the White House pass laws which mandate that all formally gasoline powered automobiles that American automakers sell the American public be Flex-Fuel (Ethanol-Gasoline) or CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) standard and offer Dual Flex Fuel capability in many of their models.

WHAT? I always liked T-Boone...but really???? NEVER bring an oilman in on something like this Larry. We right now, at least have over 80,000 barrels of oil spilling into the gulf and this ancient has been greedy bastard is saying, "Everything will be alright"....give me a break! I pray to GOD that every single one of these bastards & the media who made them look good swing from the gallows when this is all done and over.

Well Larry,
How much of Boone's money is in natuaral gas, or other fields of alternative energy.

Is he urging the country to a plan that will fill his pockets that he has already lined?

like you've observed, he's brilliant! I think he's got u, CNN and the rest of the media right where his marketing plans want you!!!!!!

I agree with James about engineering failures (if this truly is an engineering failure). Engineers accomplish some of the most incredible projects I have seen in my lifetime, and they do fail...but they don't usually lie about their failures. Their training is pretty good. Management has the final decision about whether it's a go/no go. From what we have seen of previous engineering disasters, it appears that there are training issues there...on the management side. (Training issues on the management side. )

I asked for industrial engineers earlier...not exactly the same. (A lot of people don't know what industrial engineers are. I run into that all the time. It's too bad. They could help. CEO's would do better if they had that training...it appears that way on the surface anyway.)

I would like to know how much of the oil drilled in the Gulf goes to Americans and how much is being sold to other countries that are willing to pay higher prices than us here in the U.S. I think Americans would be outraged and upset to find out that a higher percentage of the oil taken from our waters, our natural resources, are being sold from beneath us while we pay out the nose to have oil imported to us. If BP is out there drilling for oil I am sure that there are other companies doing the same to make as much money as possible drilling our oil, and selling it to the highest bidder.

Larry, why can't someone take a grain or corn storage bend? I've seen some across the west that were over a hundred feet wide. They could be reinforced, also have an 8 feet in diameter hose connected . The line would float and we could run it straight to the coast where it could be piped into mobile tanks and keep the for the Country?
After the leak was fixed we could use the same hose to suck the oil from under the surface?
Thanks just wondering.......Charles Hinds {Alabama}

The UK's Daily Telegraph yesterday reported that Larry King will be replaced by Piers Morgan.
It seems a 5.5. million pound deal has ben struck with CNN to hire the British celebrity.
Larry, please stay on.
If not, please have an American to replace you.

@ Smith in Oregon

Thank you for all the incredible amount of information you continue to bring. Maybe we can start a company importing cars that do not need oil? Then we can make Billions of dollars, use the tax shelters provided and receive millions of dollars in tax refunds?

Not. Tought enouh

T. Boone Pickens: We are scared of gas. It blows up houses.

I would like to hear more about MMS and how it does business. I'm thinking that gold mines in SD are owned by another country also. How does all of that work?

@Ron Bowman,
To all us "pious Obama lovers?" Get real pal, you are obviously a pious anti-Obama hater, and if you don't like being labeled don't do it yourself to other people. Just because we don't live where you do doesn't mean we don't care about the people there. What a lame ass statement. If we didn't care we wouldn't be on this blog reading lame pathetic comments like yours. I want this disaster over just as much as you do. The only difference here is, I'm not into the "blame the president" game like you are. BP created this disaster, so if any forgiveness is in order as you suggest, it's to forgive BP! So, you go right ahead.

How do natural gas cars do in a crash test? I've seen whole houses that were blown up.

We are in the ideas phase so its good to throw whatever you know on the table. Those are huge concerns that I would have about natural gas.

They use arsenic to get the gold out of the soil. People that live there have told me that it ends up in some of the streams. I think a different country owns the gold mine in SD. Not sure how all of that works. A friend of ours used to work in one. They made him sell his house so they could expand. He ended up divorced and committed suicide.

More specifically, a large fire went through the property that the mines wanted to buy, and they were basically forced to sell their house. There's a LOT going on in SD that makes me question MMS. Good that they have new management. Hope they have power to protect. Read: The Spirit of Crazy Horse

Google search: The Perils of Petrocracy, New York Times November 4, 2007. It explains the relationship between oil companies and government corruption...like you didn't already know...

@ Dodie, thank-you for your very informative comments and kindness.

I wish Toyota-Tesla would have placed their new plant here in Oregon, alas however they chose instead a pre-existing auto manufacturing plant in California to jointly produce a new series of Tesla inspired electrical sedans for the American public.

I'm watching the Nissan Leaf closely as a very viable pure electric vehicle whose range is larger than the smaller Zen which is seen here in Oregon. Electrical vehicles of all kinds however are constrained by their power storage system, currently the battery's are the major roadblock to getting them to the next level. All the rest of the hardware including the super efficient (95%+) electrical motors are all off the shelf and readily available. Even China is mass producing a pure electrical vehicle for its citizens and Oregon is rapidly producing pure electrical motorcycles for transportation.

A really good way to push States into building the infra-structure needed to fully support non-fossil fuel vehicles is for a federal and state mandate for their public vehicles to include a sizable number of non-fossil fueled State and Federal vehicles. Those vehicles would after 1 year be sold in public auctions to private owners, seeding the need for E-85, CNG Filling Stations and Electrical Charging Stations in metro-citys across America. I would like to see Electrical Charging Stations added to all Interstate Rest Areas.

I am not as educated on a lot of the facts that many of you bring to the table. Regards to polite..do's and don'ts. However, Larry I want to tell you something..not the people of this blog this. I watched President Obama today in his speech in Pennsocola Fl. with his milatary props behind him. No disrespect to my fellow troops...please do not take that wrong. One of my 2nd cousins was standing there. Anyway,
As a result of his efforts, not only is this the "worst" environmental disaster that America has ever faced. It is the worst the entire world has ever faced. I pledge to defend you MR. President on pages in the net of those who blame "you"....But this could go on for 30 years! Did anyone else get this...or just me? Do you really want to see the truth? Mr. President? OR Larry King? STOP BLAMING BP! bLAME ALL OF UP WHO ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN!!!!

Sandra: best to stay away from scissors too.
regards,
TBP

Any govt. of the last 50 years or so would have looked bad with a mess like this,hating on Obama is ridiculous.
The guy's juggling 2 wars,a spluttering economy,North Korea damn close to declaring war on the US in Korea and enough hate from the Tea Klux Klan types to fill a supertanker...see posts above like"We'll make him pay" etc...ugly stuff from the lunatic(out of office) Repugnicans.

Does Boone Pickens own stock in BP? His comments are so defensive of the BP position that they almost seem self serving. If this I'd the case, he should disclose this fact each time he makes an appearance, and you should remind your audience that he is not an uninvested reporter.

@David D...I don't care if T. Boone Pickens owns stock in Natural Gas (I don't know if he does). If he has an answer to begin clearing up our problem of dependency on oil then I am in favor of listening to him. We can't afford to disregard any legitimate suggestions from whatever source. When we do, we are hurting ourselves.
@Sandra...I am also interested in how Compressed Natural Gas tanks stand up under severe accidents. I am aware that gas leaks cause explosions in homes where it is used and leaks go undetected. On the other hand, there are plenty of examples of gasoline driven vehicles bursting into flames in highway accidents. Nothing is 100% full proof but we are still left with the problem of our dependency on oil and our need to look into other options.

@John H
I was reading that compressed gas driven autos are very popular & successfully used in some underdeveloped & oil starved countries like Pakistan.
This option can surly be explored.

@ Smith in Oregon

Thank you for the information regarding non oil burning cars, as my next car will NOT be using oil. You are correct, China has a line of non oil burning cars. In a couple of years, this technology will be perfected. Perfect time to purchase a new car.

@Sherron McDonald June 15th, 2010 9:21 pm ET

You bring up an excellent point and one that is rather scary.

@Smith in Oregon,
I very much agree with you that T. Boone Pickens' ideas warrant serious consideration. He is very well informed on various energy sources and knows what he's talking about!

@David D,
As my opinion above states, T. Boone Pickens understands the energy business. It's irrelevant how much money he has and doesn't have. If one wants to make it relevant, then the question would be would we expect someone living in poverty to be more likely to take us in a different direction. Possible but highly unlikely. We need to be open to ideas from all sources.

The steel plug would be many times longer.. As
steel plug moves into the heavy oil stream there
would be a point at witch the plug would be stopped
by the oil pressure. At that point the steel plug
would be drawn down tight bye come along’s or what
ever.. the oil pipe would fair out like in plumbing. Like in
a plumbing seal.... I have drawings but can not send them??
How can I send them? bob-evermon@dccnet.com

@Nana Brown

You said it. Greed for wealth,lust for power,intoxication of dominance. Wars ,oppression, Corporations now wearing the mantle of dictatorship – there is no end.
The Gulf Oil disaster is just one example.
All power to B'tselem, BAT Shalom, Gush Shalom in Israel & Jewish Voice for Peace & JStreet in America. Courageous people all.

There is no such thing as too tough on BP.

We will have abundant, clean, renewal alternative energy when the politicians (Dems and Reps) can figure out how to make more on abundant, clean, renewal alternative energy than they make on oil.

Watching the aggressive and in some instances abussive conduct of some of the members of the congressional committee towards BP does the US's credibility no good whatsoever.
Without question, BP have made an absolute mess not only of the Gulf of Mexico through the oil spill, but their handling of the resulting spill and its ridiculous PR. None the less, the committee are behaving like school yard bullies. Rather than "slicing and dicing" and looking for someones ass to chew, they should be leading from the front in ressolving the problem instead of jockeying for position with their home electorate by taking such an aggressive and hardline stance. I re-iterate, what is not in question is that BP have made a huge mistake, however, when the boot is on the other foot i.e. Union Carbide in India and the Bhopal disaster, the US didnt give a toss. 25 years later, toxic chemicals left by Union Carbide continue to leak into the local environment.

The then CEO was summoned to appear before the Indian courts, the company said that it did not fall under Indian jurisdiction... One rule for one and one for the US....

UC's total compensation paid was..... just over $100m. Pails into insignificance with the $20bln demanded by Obama.

Double standards in all its glory, it is a disgrace.

3 urgent 3
A method to stop the Oil Well leak
PLEASE CALL ME ANYTIME DAY or NIGHT
Regarding the oil spill in the Gulf
I am retired.
I have a higher education and am self-taught in many skills.
I have thought of a method to stop and also contain the oil leak in the Gulf.
I would like to talk to someone ( AN ENGINEER WITH KNOWLEDGE OF OIL WELL DRILLING ) very soon, because I believe I have a solution and am very concerned about the environment.
One of my ideas:

Using a 20 foot length of hollow pipe case hardened, capable of cutting threads into the existing deep well pipe casing, like a thread cutting tap.
At the end of the pipe rigged and made to accept and connect to the drilling rig have three hollow pipes radiating out from the 20 to 30 foot pipe, with gate valves attached and opened so to allow the gas and oil to pass through, while tapping into the deep well head casing.
After cutting and threading into the deep well pipe casing, far enough to withstand the gas and oil pressures of the well, the gate valves can be closed to stop the deep well oil leak.
A pipe can be attached to the ends of the gate valves to allow gas and oil to flow again when wanted.

Sincerely yours,
Henry