So Much for Drill Baby Drill

I thought they had remote cutoff systems:

As work crews try to contain an oil well that is pumping thousands of barrels of crude oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, many businesses are bracing for the worst.

Much is at stake. BP [BP 51.58 -0.98 (-1.86%)], owner of operator of the well, has already had its image dented by recent accidents. This event will likely cause its image further harm—not to mention the millions in costs associated with containing the spill and drilling a new well.

But the fallout stretches well beyond that. The oil industry is fresh from a victory over President Obama's decision to open up parts of the Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore drilling.

How can "Drill Baby Drill" go ahead, when government doesn't require the industry to use the most modern safety equipment available:

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., sent President Obama a letter Thursday reminding him that in 2000 the Interior Department insisted "oil companies have 'reliable backup systems' in the event of a rig blowout."

By 2003, the plan was scrapped.

"This could be one of the world's greatest nightmare scenarios of an oil gusher," Nelson said.

The backup systems are supposed to act when an oil rig fails and starts leaking. Then, a valve deep under the water where the drill pipe meets the ocean floor is supposed to choke off the flow of oil. In the case of BP's platform, either the valve wasn't activated or didn't work, possibly because of the explosion.

But there is another line of defense this oil platform did not have, a so-called acoustic switch. It can be activated by remote control sending acoustic pulses through the water to trigger the blowout preventer even if the rig is damaged or evacuated.

Acoustic switches are used in Norway and Brazil after those oil producing countries suffered spills. The U.S. considered requiring them, but drilling companies questioned the $500,000 cost and whether the devices even work.