EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Energy Emergencies Declared After BP Refinery Fire In Indiana.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has declared a regional emergency for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin after a fire shut down the BP oil refinery in Whiting, Ind., the largest in the Midwest, though there hasn’t been an impact on gas prices so far.

The federal order temporarily lifts restrictions on the maximum working hours for truck drivers in the four states.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) also signed a similar statewide energy emergency order Saturday, saying regulations “will not hinder the delivery of gas and diesel to stations in Michigan.”

It’s not clear when the Whiting refinery, which is the sixth largest in the U.S., will get back online.

435,000. That’s how many barrels of oil are refined at the Whiting facility on an average day.

If we were still producing more of our own energy, there’d be more slack in the system to handle the occasional accident (or even sabotage) without it becoming an crisis.

But never let a crisis go to waste, the shockingly honest Lefty once said — even if you have to create the conditions for one.