Just in case you've forgotten, there was a fairly catastrophic oil spill about seven months ago. I know. So much has happened since then that you can't help but put the situation on, pardon the pun, the back burner. We need to look forward and not dwell on problems that occurred in the past. Like, for example, the republicans who want to eliminate the EPA and any other government regulators concerned with the air we breathe, the water we drink and the ground we plant our crops in. They continue to show their transparent allegiance to big business at any and all cost.
Google "BP Oil Spill" and the first thing that comes up are the BP sponsored sites, throwing the same line of crap that they did last May. Only now, it rings a little more hollow, if that's possible.
A little piece ran in yesterday's Oregonian, tucked away on page 7 or something. A link to the full article is below. The headline read, "Oil stuck at bottom of Gulf, scientist says."
"Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a scientist's video and slides that demonstrate the oil isn't degrading as hoped and has decimated life on parts of the sea floor.
At a science conference in Washington, marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia aired early results of her December submarine dives around the BP spill site. She went to places she had visited in the summer and expected the oil and residue from oil-munching microbes would be gone by then. It wasn't.
At a science conference in Washington, marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia aired early results of her December submarine dives around the BP spill site. She went to places she had visited in the summer and expected the oil and residue from oil-munching microbes would be gone by then. It wasn't.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco told reporters Saturday that "it's not a contradiction to say that although most of the oil is gone, there still remains oil out there."
Earlier this month, Kenneth Feinberg, the government's oil compensation fund czar, said based on research he commissioned he figured the Gulf of Mexico would almost fully recover by 2012 — something Joye and Lubchenco said isn't right.
"I've been to the bottom. I've seen what it looks like with my own eyes. It's not going to be fine by 2012," Joye told The Associated Press. "You see what the bottom looks like, you have a different opinion."
NOAA chief Lubchenco said "even though the oil degraded relatively rapidly and is now mostly but not all gone, damage done to a variety of species may not become obvious for years to come."
Semantics. Mind games. Smoke and mirrors. This is a shameful situation all around. Shameful that a greedy company was allowed to drill in an unsafe location with an unproven procedure. Shameful that those who are to blame are not being held accountable--the claims against BP continue to drag on. Shameful for a government to have tried to gloss over the issue, gave insufficient initial response and too little follow-up. Shameful that one of the most important areas on the planet for sea life, fish, sea birds etc etc. has been destroyed.
And what about the clean-up after Katrina? Is that completely off the table now?
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