BP. . . accountable to no one. Communicates what it wants, when it wants. Informs the public when it is convenient for them.
The ability for the public to witness the oil gushing insanity was not provided by BP's desire to be transparent. Rumors flying that maybe the live feed is looped.
And now this. . .
According to an earlier CNN report, BP informed Representative Markey that it would turn off the live feed during its attempt to shut down the well using the top kill. Here's the information from CNN
According to Twitter activity, BP is walking that back a bit. Thanks to RLMiller's comment:
RT @BP_America: The matter of whether or not we can maintain a live feed during the 'top kill' procedure is under review and a decision ... about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
[retweeting from BP_America] The matter of whether or not we can maintain a live feed during the 'top kill' procedure is under review and a decision has not been made
And CNN has just posted an updated report that gives a bit more detail on the top kill and the will they/won't they on the live feed.
So, a POTENTIAL blackout on the blackout.
As some commenters have pointed out, it might be due to technical difficulties. But those technical difficulties, whatever they might be, don't appear to have been communicated to Markey's office and did not make it into the CNN report. At the time of the CNN report, CNN was contacting BP for comment.
So, yes, I asked: What are they trying to hide? Another botched attempt at a solution? The fact that maybe the live feed isn't so live?
Don't we have a right to see this attempt at a solution to understand what works and what doesn't? Don't we need this type of footage to analyze for future disasters if offshore drilling at such depth isn't stopped?
BP, this is inexcusable.
I think we should contact Markey's office to encourage him to demand that BP continue the live feed during the top kill. Why is BP calling the shots here?
Many informative comments below on just what the federal government can do under the OPA. It is my thought that we do need an independent, third-party camera in the vicinity as a check on BP's information dissemination efforts, which have been sorely lacking up to now.
Continue. . .