Are President Obama and BP inhibiting efforts to cap the Gulf of Mexico oil rig blowout and mitigate the effects of the spill? 

Maximization of the effects of the crisis could be used in an effort to stampede the public and win Senate passage of the Cap and Trade Carbon Tax--from which BP stands to profit.  

LA TIMES mocks Obama’s oval office speech: 'There's a pipe spewing a gazillion gobs of oil into the gulf, so let's build more windmills!

VIDEO: Sen. McConnell: Obama 'Holding The Gulf Hostage'

ClimateProgress: Gore on BP disaster: “This is a consciousness-shifting event.”

The New Republic: “The Crisis Comes Ashore:  Why the oil spill could change everything.”

Some efforts being blocked:

• Djou calls for Jones Act waiver to aid oil cleanup
• ‎La. Governor Not Waiting For Fed. Approval on sand barriers
• EPA orders BP to use less toxic oil dispersant in gulf
• (After 57 days) Kevin Costner's Oil Centrifuges (finally allowed to be) Deployed to Gulf 

WE: Enamored with wind, Obama ignored drilling risks

WE: Why the BP-CAP-White House axis matters

WE: EPA regulation of emissions = profit for energy companies 

WE: Once a government pet, BP now a capitalist tool

While BP has resisted some government interventions, it has lobbied for tax hikes, greenhouse gas restraints, the stimulus bill, the Wall Street bailout, and subsidies for oil pipelines, solar panels, natural gas and biofuels.

BP CEO: “…our financial strength will also allow us to come through the other side of this crisis, both financially secure and stronger….”

BP Execs: Meeting with Obama “very productive”

CBS: Argument Aboard Oil Rig, Hours Before Explosion

WSJ: Big Spat on Rig Preceded Explosion

Douglas H. Brown, Transocean's chief mechanic on the Deepwater Horizon rig, said key representatives from both companies had a "skirmish" during an 11 a.m. meeting on April 20. Less than 11 hours later, the well had a blowout, an uncontrolled release of oil and gas, killing 11 workers.

Mr. Brown said Transocean's crew leaders—including the rig operator's top manager, Jimmy W. Harrell—strongly objected to a decision by BP's top representative, or "company man," over how to start removing heavy drilling fluid and replacing it with lighter seawater from a riser pipe connected to the well head. Such pipes act as conduits between the rig and the wellhead at the ocean floor, and carry drilling fluid in and out of the well.

Removing heavy drilling fluid prior to temporarily sealing up a well and abandoning it is normal, but questions have emerged about whether the crew started the process without taking other precautionary measures against gas rising into the pipe.

It wasn't clear what Mr. Harrell objected to specifically about BP's instructions, but the rig's primary driller, Dewey Revette, and tool pusher, Miles Randall Ezell, both of Transocean, also disagreed with BP, Mr. Brown said. However, BP was in charge of the operation and the BP representative prevailed, Mr. Brown said.

"The company man was basically saying, 'This is how it's gonna be,' " said Mr. Brown, who didn't recall the name of the BP representative in question.

Mr. Brown said he didn't normally pay close attention to drilling discussions during the 11 a.m. meetings, which detailed all events on the rig that day. But he said he recalled the dispute, and the cynical reaction of Mr. Harrell as he walked away afterward, in light of the April 20 accident.

Mr. Harrell "pretty much grumbled in his manner, 'I guess that is what we have those pinchers for,' " Mr. Brown testified. He said it was a reference to the shear rams on the drilling operation's blowout preventer, which are supposed to sever the main pipe in case of a disaster.

The blowout preventer failed to stop gas from rising to the surface, causing the explosion, BP has said.