The one good thing that might come from all this recent misery is that America may finally wake up to the reality that oil is running out or at least going to get more difficult to come by and that we have absolutely no national leadership to help us deal with that looming disaster.

From Yahoo News:

At least 20 oil rigs and platforms are missing in the Gulf of Mexico and a ruptured gas pipeline is on fire after Hurricane Katrina tore through the region, a US Coast Guard official said.
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“We have confirmed at least 20 rigs or platforms missing, either sunk or adrift, and one confirmed fire where a rig was,” Petty Officer Robert Reed of the Louisiana Coast Guard told AFP.

All of the missing rigs were in the Gulf of Mexico, Reed said citing Coast Guard overflights of the area and information from oil companies.

From the OilDrum:

There are MANY production platforms missing (as in not visible from the air). This means they have been totally lost. I am talking about 10’s of platforms, not single digit numbers. Each platform can have from 4 to 100+ wells on it. Most larger ones have 20-30 wells in this area, with numerous caisson wells. They are on their sides, on the bottom of the gulf - they will likely be left as reef material, provided we can get permission. MMS regulations require us to plug each of the wells that were on these platforms - HUGE cost now, as the platforms are gone… Hopefully, MMS will grant `abandon in place’ status for these wiped out structures.
…

In short, the Gulf area hit by the storm is basically in about the same shape as Biloxi. The damage numbers you have gotten from the government and analysts are, in my opinion, much too low. We are looking at YEARS to return to the production levels we had prior to the storm. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is primarily oil production…

Loss of the MARS platform alone cost us 95,000 barrels a day for a year or maybe more.

YEARS, people. I know what this means - hope everyone else gets it too…

I think we’re talking about a short term clusterfuck, which happens to be the name of James Kunstler’s site. Kunstler’s a reknowned Gloomy Gus whose best advice on the energy front is to start loving the idea of living in a 19th century post-apocalypse hellscape. If you want an alternative, check out the Happy Hannahs over at the Apollo Alliance. Pick your future. The only horse I know we shouldn’t be betting on is BushCo’s.

Links via Stand Strong’s dKos diary.

A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. “All ready?” he called. “Now, I’ll read the names — heads of families first — and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?” …

A growing number of righteous blogs are turning on their master and pointedly de-linking from the Blogfather himself, the Instapundit, because he proved to be downright mushy about those Activists of Evil at the “ay-cee-ell-you” in this recent post. They’ve even begun an “I’m Not Linked To Glenn Reynolds List” for those joining their boycott, which seems to be very inclusive, since “If you have never linked to Glenn for whatever reason, we will add you to the list as well.” How could one pass up such a chance to help expose the feet of clay of the mighty? Count me in, because Insty is even worse than they think.

Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. “Come on,” she said. “Hurry up.” …

Notice that in his post about those litigious enablers of depravity, he says he has worked with them in the past, and offers an article he wrote supporting their opposition to new federal laws against rave paraphernalia (an innovative idea heavily backed by possible Democratic Presidential sacrifice fly Joe Biden). Therein Glenn says:

Will the drug war serve as a model for the war on terrorism? Some within the federal bureaucracy seem to think it should, and it’s easy to understand why: The drug war may have been a disaster for America, but it has been a three-decade gravy train for bureaucrats. …
Not being a bureaucrat, I think the drug war is a terrible model.

There you have it; the (perhaps soon formerly) most-linked blogger on the “right” is objectively pro-terrorist.

Remember, when glow sticks are outlawed, our best inquisitors will have to intimidate captured prisoners by finding some new tool which they can threaten to convert into suppositories. Never link to Insty again, I say!

Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. “It isn’t fair,” she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. …
“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.
–Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”, 1948

My kids went back to school today so I’m thinking like a teacher. Here’s the assignment, read BushCo’s first public statement devoted to the devestation on the Gulf Coast since it became a national concern three days ago and share your favorite part. I have two but they come from the same paragraph:

The Department of Energy is approving loans from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to limit disruptions in crude supplies for refineries. A lot of crude production has been shut down because of the storm. I instructed Secretary Bodman to work with refiners, people who need crude oil, to alleviate any shortage through loans. The Environmental Protection Agency has granted a nationwide waiver for fuel blends to make more gasoline and diesel fuel available throughout the country. This will help take some pressure off of gas price. But our citizens must understand this storm has disrupted the capacity to make gasoline and distribute gasoline.

Translation: Citizens, you must understand the gouging for it is right and good in my sight. Record profits for the oil industry are no reason to call for any sacrifice during a time of national tragedy. If I don’t expect any sacrifice during the war waged on their behalf, and I don’t, then seriously, people do you expect a catastrophic act of god to cut any ice?

Bonus points to Dear Leader for slapping nature in the face with the fuel blend thing. That’ll show her who’s boss - until the next hurricane sails off the 90-degree Gulf of Mexico and slams back into our coast.