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The SpaceX mission
A privately owned unmanned rocket blasts off on a mission to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. Slideshow
Factbox: Developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
(Reuters) - Here are developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest in U.S. history:
SPILL CONTAINMENT EFFORTS
* After BP Plc said the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well had failed on Saturday, it is moving to the next option -- the lower marine riser package cap, which will capture oil from the well rather than plug it.
* The company will know by the end of the week whether the new containment effort has worked, BP Managing Director Robert Dudley said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
* Government scientists estimated that cutting the riser pipe coming out of the blowout preventer to prepare for the next containment option could result in a temporary oil flow increase of up to 20 percent.
POLITICS
* President Barack Obama, in Chicago for the Memorial Day weekend, called the oil spill "as enraging as it is heartbreaking" after the top kill failed.
* Democratic lawmakers stepped up their calls for action. Congressman Ed Markey called the spill an "environmental crime" and Senator Mary Landrieu demanded BP invest $1 billion in wetlands protection.
* On Sunday, the president ordered government and contractor clean-up resources in areas affected by oil be tripled.
COMPANY NEWS
* Dudley said that he does not think BP CEO Tony Hayward, who has faced heavy criticism, should resign.
* BP's total financial cost of the response to the disaster now stands at $930 million.
MARKETS
* Markets in the United States and the United Kingdom are closed Monday for the long holiday weekend. BP shares traded in London and New York could see a hit on Tuesday with the failure of the top kill. London-traded shares fell 5 percent on Friday on perceived delays in the top kill.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
* "This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country," top White House energy adviser Carol Browner told "Meet the Press."
(Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by Eric Beech)
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Lets Get Rid of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Lawmakers are examining the leadership of the Minerals Management Service, a bureau of the Department of the Interior. The Interior Department is charged with enforcing environmental and safety rules for energy exploration.
On April 28 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced his decision at a joint Massachusetts State House news conference with Gov. Deval Patrick voting to go forward with the Nantucket wind turbine project. The same day of this decision, more than 5,000 barrels of oil had poured into the Gulf of Mexico. (One barrel equals 42 gallons.)
An internal investigation found that in 2008 many at the Minerals Management Service were involved with substance abuse. It was stated that workers accepted gifts and trips.
Salazar decided to make a decision on the Nantucket ocean wind project himself. The decision was to go forward with the first ocean wind project the very day of the Gulf oil spill!
Salazar has now decided to split the MMS into two agencies on the heels of going forward with the wind turbine project. We have to question the regulatory breakdowns happening at Minerals Management.
Every resident of Massachusetts should question the judgment of the Mineral Management Service ocean wind turbine decision before any more projects approved by MMS go forward! Did the MMS since 2009 put too much emphasis on wind and other renewable energy sources?
Those most familiar with the MMS review of Cape Wind recognize that the weight of the project draft and final Environmental Statements is not relevant, but the lacking quality of the content is. MMS has ignored and sanitized the testimony provided on the Cape Wind project indicating this conclusion by Salazar was foregone and politically motivated. Cape Wind is not about public interest. Cape Wind threatens public interests that include environmental and economic interests.
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