I don’t care what Costner’s politics are. The guy has proven that he’s acting out of conviction, and gets the job done.
Kevin Costner spent 15 years and $20 million to bring about effective oil spill cleanup technology. The device produced by this research was patented in 1993.
although the machines are quite effective, they can still leave trace amounts of oil in the treated water that exceeds current environmental regulations. Because of that regulatory hurdle, he said, he had great difficulty getting oil industry giants interested without first having the approval of the federal government.
BP has been testing the machine with trial runs and has now ordered 32 centrifuges to aid the Gulf oil cleanup. A few are already getting the job done and the rest will be in within 60 days.
Now contemplate that timeline.
The reason the machines were not in service prior to the spill is that,
though wildly effective, the trace amounts of oil left in the water processed by Costner’s invention exceed federal regulations. In other words, better the water stay 100% contaminated than give the okay to an amazing idea that doesn’t turn it into Perrier
Now, 60+ days into the spill we come to the realization that private enterprise creates a privately-funded, privately-researched technology that yes, gets the work done. And government is right there taking on a role as an obstacle to progress.
Yes, just another example of an obscenely arrogant system populated by obscenely arrogant bureaucrats willing — at the expense of the people they are charged with protecting — to kill the good in pursuit of the perfect. But when your agenda involves destroying the oil industry it only makes sense that the last thing you want is a device that takes away a crisis you don’t want to waste.
And these are the same people who were just put in charge of our health care.
God help us.
Amen.