Tough to grease the generator bearings up there, to say nothing of putting the fire out.
The picture is worth more than any further words can possibly add, I think. However, readers, er viewers, are encouraged to supply a caption of their own – if they can add some humor to the subject, say Wind Spill!
Free Laughs!
Oh look,a coal fired wind turbine!
Earth Wind & Fire!
Coal-fired fan used to dry the 14th green at Buffalo Flats Golf and Country Club, Nebraska.
Is this part of the huge complex in Ubly, Mich.?
In an effort to improve its image, coal power plants convert smoke stakes into inoperable wind turbines.
This windmill is having sympathy pains for the Gulf region.
If that’s the case, are they burning off the extra power??
Oh no! Disaster at a wind farm! Quick, we need a six-month moratorium on all wind energy production! Send in the DOJ lawyers, and let’s appoint a blue-ribbon panel to investigate the problem.
Smoldering gear oil, copper and fiberglass-Yummy!
In the first wind turbine race, mill No. 34592 crashed on the first turn. Mill No. 23459, pictured right, blew by to take the victory.
Wind turbine doubles as wind sock
another wind turbine will be in operation by late August and should extinguish this leak.
It appears to be the worst wind turbine accident in U.S. history.
With all the fun I’m having with this one, it’s not meant to be disrespectful to the people in the gulf. My heart goes out to everyone affected.Hopefully what will come out of this is a worldwide respect for the environment and a new drive towards energy reduction, clean energy sources (present company excluded), and a heightened sense of the need for a regimented plan of attack for these situations.
Len: A tip of the Zino hat (Detroit Tigers) to you regarding the Gulf disaster. I’m sure that none of our readers and commentators on this picture have anything but sympathy for the victims. For an Administration whose rhetoric claims to be environmentalist, the responses thus far are inadequate. Let’s hope we learn from this and, better yet, improve things going forward. – editor
The Exxon Valdez was the first was the first “in our face” accident that should have told every President, Congressmen,and oil executive of what can go wrong and the environmental impact it can have.
Is BP at fault? Most certainly but, every one of those congressional wind bags who are wasting time pointing fingers have something to do with our lack of a coordinated attack plan for these catastrophes.
I’m not a big fan of the current administration however, you can blame all of the administrations since the Valdez for this lack of foresight.
Unfortunately it’s always about dollars and not common sense.
We’ll now that you got me fired up on a what’s suppose to be a funny site, did you happen to notice that the first blob of smoke has the obscure appearance of a gas pump nozzle feeding the turbine????
BP statement on escrow fund. The views expressed are BP’s. – Ken Zino, editor
Following a meeting with the President of the United States, the BP Board announces an agreed package of measures to meet its obligations as a responsible party arising from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Agreement was reached to create a $20bn claims fund over the next three and a half years on the following basis:
* BP will initially make payments of $3bn in Q3 of 2010 and $2bn in Q4 of 2010. These will be followed by a payment of $1.25bn per quarter until a total of $20bn has been paid in.
* While the fund is building, BP’s commitments will be assured by the setting aside of U.S. assets with a value of $20bn. The intention is that this level of assets will decline as cash contributions are made to the fund.
* The fund will be available to satisfy legitimate claims including natural resource damages and state and local response costs. Fines and penalties will be excluded from the fund and paid separately. Payments from the fund will be made as they are adjudicated, whether by the Independent Claims Facility (ICF) referred to below, or by a court, or as agreed by BP.
* The ICF will be administered by Ken Feinberg. The ICF will adjudicate on all Oil Pollution Act and tort claims excluding all federal and state claims.
* Any money left in the fund once all legitimate claims have been resolved and paid will revert to BP.
The fund does not represent a cap on BP liabilities, but will be available to satisfy legitimate claims. Further and more detailed terms regarding the establishment and operation of the claims fund and the ICF will be finalized and announced as soon as possible.
As a consequence of this agreement, the BP Board has reviewed its dividend policy. Notwithstanding BP’s strong financial and asset position, the current circumstances require the Board to be prudent and it has therefore decided to cancel the previously declared first quarter dividend scheduled for payment on 21st June, and that no interim dividends will be declared in respect of the second and third quarters of 2010.
The Board remains strongly committed to the payment of future dividends and delivering long term value to shareholders. The Board will consider resumption of dividend payments in 2011 at the time of issuance of the fourth quarter 2010 results, by which time it expects to have a clearer picture of the longer term impact of the Deepwater Horizon incident.
The Board believes that it is right and prudent to take a conservative financial position given the current uncertainty over the extent and timing of costs and liabilities relating to the spill. BP’s businesses continue to perform well, with cash flows from operations expected to exceed $30bn in 2010 at current prices and margins before taking into consideration costs related to the Deepwater Horizon spill. BP’s gearing level remains at the bottom of its targeted band of 20-30 per cent. In addition, the Company has over $10bn of committed banking facilities. To further increase the Company’s available cash resources, the Board intends to implement a significant reduction in organic capital spending and to increase planned divestments to approximately $10bn over the next twelve months.
Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: “We appreciated the constructive meeting conducted by the President and his senior advisers and are confident that the agreement announced today will provide greater comfort to the citizens of the Gulf coast and greater clarity to BP and its shareholders. We welcome the administration’s statements acknowledging that BP is a strong company and that the administration has no interest in undermining the financial stability of BP. This agreement is a very significant step in clarifying and confirming our commitment to meet our obligations. We regret the cancellation and suspension of the dividends, but we concluded it was in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.”
Chief Executive Tony Hayward said: “From the outset we have said that we fully accepted our obligations as a responsible party. This agreement reaffirms our commitment to do the right thing. The President made it clear and we agree that our top priority is to contain the spill, clean up the oil and mitigate the damage to the Gulf coast community. We will not rest until the job is done.”
Thanks Ken; In MY perfect world, two or three international sites would be set up in strategic areas to cover offshore oil spills and land based spills. They would be stock equipment (already constructed)for the job.
THERE WOULD BE A PLAN of action and regular deployment exercises would be held. Personnel at these sites would take charge of logistics,working with the oil companies and local governments.
It would be paid for by every country and company involved with oil production.
So I want to here what they are going to do to prevent this in the future.We are going to be feeling this one for years.We don’t need to find blame WE JUST NEED A COORDINATED PLAN!
Just once let’s learn something from a tragedy and stop saying it’ll cost too much to correct.I cant imagine doing something right would cost more than this will.