Conservatives Echo McCain’s False Claim That Katrina Caused No Oil Spill Damage
Conservatives Echo McCain’s False Claim That Katrina Caused No Oil Spill Damage
In a Tuesday speech delivered before an audience of oil executives, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pushed to overturn the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. McCain claimed drilling is so “safe” that “not even Hurricane Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston.” Watch it:
Picking up McCain’s talking points, a growing chorus of conservatives have repeated this claim as justification for expanded drilling:
– George Will: “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged hundreds of drilling rigs without causing a large spill.”
– Wall Street Journal editorial: “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita flattened terminals across the Gulf of Mexico but didn’t cause a single oil spill.”
– Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne: “When Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast where we have about 4,000 oil and gas platforms, 3,000 were in the direct line of the storms - the most significant storms we’ve seen ever - and 3,000 of those had to be shut down. We had no significant oil spill. The system worked.”
– Fox News’ Dick Morris: “And by the way, the safety concerns, Hurricane Katrina didn’t cause any leakage or any spill in the Gulf of Mexico oil wells.”
The truth is that Hurricane Katrina caused oil spillage so significant it was clearly visible from space. It also wreaked environmental havoc near the scale of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson explains the disastrous extent of Katrina’s wreckage of Gulf oil facilities.
– Lee Fang
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37 Responses to “Conservatives Echo McCain’s False Claim That Katrina Caused No Oil Spill Damage”
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Can someone get John McCain, George Will, The Wall Street Journal, Dirk Kempthorne, and Dick Morris to explain where they got this "factoid"? Well, we know Dick Morris got it where he gets all his facts - his ass. But what about the rest?
June 19th, 2008 at 7:43 pm“Conservatives Echo McCain’s False Claim That Katrina Caused No Oil Spill Damage”
In what alternative universe was this supposed to have happened?
June 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pmYa know, this is all well and good for us to hear this information. But it does need to get out to the general public in ways other than blogs. The huge majority of us bloggers and computer-literate already are in Obama's camp. We need to get MSM and the ads to tell the story for the rest of the less literate to hear.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pmYou know, the bottom line with this story and all those like it where McCain and other republicans simply tell bald face lies is, the general public doesn't read Think Progress. They get fed these lies from Fox, CNN, MSNBC and NPR. These organizations don't do any fact checking, they just pass it on.
As long as this system continues as it is, expect more of the same; the republicans doing whatever the hell they want, lying about it, and the American public is none the wiser.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:54 pmDon't let facts and reality stand in the way of a good reich-wing rant.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:57 pmThe truth is that Hurricane Katrina caused oil spillage so significant it was clearly visible from space.
- - And of course, Air Force One too, eh George?
June 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pmupside99 Says:
Ya know, this is all well and good for us to hear this information. But it does need to get out to the general public in ways other than blogs. The huge majority of us bloggers and computer-literate already are in Obama’s camp. We need to get MSM and the ads to tell the story for the rest of the less literate to hear.
I can't believe how similar our comments are. I never read them before I post my own reaction to the article.
I believe people need to be informed, but if the MSM is actively working against real information getting to them, it's hard to blame the public for not being informed.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:00 pmThe sparkle box of intentional ignorance will repeat this fibb without question.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:06 pmupside99 & Namtillaku - agreed. How?
Keith Olbermann & Dan Abrams [when he's not actively engaging in stoking fights between repubs & non-repubs on his show] are the only 2 I know of on prime-time TV that actually carry NEWS. KO is pulling in the viewers, but doesn't cover a tenth of the news folks need to hear.
Free Speech TV is great for some news, but still - so much "stuff" and not enough coverage of the many important ISSUES - especially during the last few months before Nov. 2.
Who needs to hear every minute detail of the Hillary vs Obama campaign or the orgy-fest over russert ???
June 19th, 2008 at 8:13 pmBlast from the past.
Well, MSNBC did report it back in 2005.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:19 pmObviously the memo went out because instantly all the wingnuts are chanting the same words like the Zombie nation. It's a bullshit policy that does nothing but ruin our coasts and make oilmen richer.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:24 pmBut greedy sheep seem amenable to being lied to before getting screwed. They are "all in" on this strategy, that is selling America that the GOP will deliver cheap oil and all it'll cost is their shorelines and National Parks. No biggy.
If the average citizen is stupid enough to buy this, then they deserve the consequences.
Look out for the typical neocon: release two closely related lies simultaneously (Katrina didn't spill oil AND China is drilling off Florida).
Now do you spend your time debunking the first or the second lie ?
June 19th, 2008 at 8:27 pmOrwells Zombie Sheeple
Ignorance is strength until the shearing comes.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:28 pmHaving lived near Surfside Beach for over five years, I'm well aware of oil blobs on Texas beaches. East coast beaches have nowhere near the fouling of their Gulf Coast counterparts. China and the U.S. race to the lowest common denominator. Only cheap matters with no concern for the long term or total costs.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:32 pmMake sure the first rigs go up off the Hamptons, Hilton Head, Palm Beach, and Naples.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:33 pmIt's true because McCain pulled it out of his ass.
That's how submissive authoritarian Repukes "think." As in they DO NOT "think" -- they submit.
It doesn't matter if it's wrong, or completely factless -- someone they perceive to be in authority over them SAID IT.
It must be true!
Ok, now I'm sick. I hate understanding how these idiots think...
June 19th, 2008 at 8:46 pmKennebunkport is my choice.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:46 pmmoondancer Said:
If the average citizen is stupid enough to buy this, then they deserve the consequences.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:57 pmWe've paid the price of the stupidness of ~half the voting public for 7.5 years (if not over the past 30 years). Don't count on it changing anytime soon.
It also wreaked environmental havock
- - Ahem, havoc.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:06 pmwe have always been at war with eurasia
June 19th, 2008 at 9:13 pmKira Says;
Who needs to hear every minute detail of the Hillary vs Obama campaign or the orgy-fest over russert ???
And to this day, neither Faux, MSNBC, or CNN have said word one about their part in the pentagon propaganda program. It's not hard to understand why, but it just goes to show you that the media/government/corporation only want the public to hear what they decide.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:15 pmI've had enough....With the exception of a few all polatician's are worse than whore's...At least a whore is honest, sex for money..This bunch on both side's of the isle is as palouted as the scum in a septic tank....Lie's and selling out our country for power...What this country need's is a good old fashioned revolution..Blessings
June 19th, 2008 at 9:15 pmin addition the chinese are drilling for oil off the coast of florida.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
– Joseph Goebbels
*
June 19th, 2008 at 9:23 pmHere is a quote from the Minerals Management Service report that assessed the damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (link in article above):
"As a result of both storms, 124 spills were reported with
June 19th, 2008 at 9:40 pma total volume of roughly 17,700 barrels of total petroleum products,"
How do you know a Conservative is lying? They open up their mouths and their lips and jaws start moving and the lies start spilling out.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:44 pmCharles Boustany (LA-07) was on Washington Journal on C-span this morning spreading this lie as well.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:49 pmThe interviewer (Susan) didn't question his assertion that there were no spills in the Gulf after Katrina and Rita.
As the Congressman from Lake Charles, Lafayette and two counties bordering the Gulf, he should know better.
Maybe I'm asking too much from a Republican.
Looks like the GOP echo-chamber is in full throttle.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:55 pmHey, they needed a new lie now that they can't use the one about the Chinese drilling for oil off Cuba and Florida anymore.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:06 pmWhat the hell is wrong with George Will these days? First the remarks about China drilling off Cuba, now this? He is really going out of his way to propagate these lies!
http://thelieshavenotimproved.blogspot.com/
June 19th, 2008 at 10:57 pmTracy5 Says:
"Some have even compared the total amount of oil released — estimated at 9 million gallons — to the tragedy of Exxon Valdez.”
June 19th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Thanks Tracy, you dumb shit. Do you even read what you post?
June 20th, 2008 at 12:23 amAH, the NOBLE LIE at it`s best(worst).To think that no significant BIG OIL spilled is mind numbing at best."If you keep telling a lie long enough you will believe it`s the truth".As far as I`m concerned old man Johnny is "a lying sack of of dirty rotten stinking CRAP".
June 20th, 2008 at 12:50 amHow come the MSM did not let the public know about this one teensy weensy little factoid??????????
June 20th, 2008 at 12:51 amDude looks older every time I see him.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:11 amJust because it was SPREAD out does not mean that it was any less of an environmental disaster...
June 20th, 2008 at 5:12 amConservatives are feasting over Newt’s ‘Drill Here, Drill Now’ Movement, on Youtube. Don’t try to point out some facts, that just triggers their attack reflex. sad
June 21st, 2008 at 2:46 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXAFY9d_MpU
I believe there were likely significant offshore spills, but am having trouble verifying what is posted about the offshore spills reported in Wonk Room.
For instance:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused Six Offshore Spills Of 42,000 Gallons Or Greater. The largest of these was 152,250 gallons, well over the 100,000 gallon threshhold considered a “major spill.” [MMS, 5/1/06]
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused 124 Offshore Spills For A Total Of 743,700 Gallons. 554,400 gallons were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 189,000 gallons were refined products from platforms and rigs. [MMS, 1/22/07]
I went to the link for MMS regarding both of these statements. The document dated 5/01/2006 doesn’t say anything like this. I searched and searched in the document dated 1/22/07 and could find nothing about 743,700 Gallons.
Something is not right.
If someone else has looked at these sources and found the info, I would appreciate some help here. Or if you know of another source.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:18 pmI grew up in Louisiana and remember having to bring a gallon of gas with us to Grand Isle when we went swimming to get the tar off of us from the offshore rigs. Now I live on the East coast of Florida and have seen actual blue water for the first time in my life. It scares the hell out of me to think it could happen here if the RepubliCONs have their way and "drill, baby, drill" here.
October 4th, 2008 at 1:17 am