OMG! Anyone listening to the vacuous excuses and finger pointing from last week's senate hearings would come away scratching their head... wondering just who is really at fault for the Deepwater Horizon explosion and disaster in the Gulf.
Early reports from BP and our government suggested approximately 5,000 gallons per day were leaking into the gulf. This figure was challenged by scientists who have theorized that nearly 10 times the initial figure are now spilling into the gulf. A staggering figure; one that would have enormous, catastrophic repercussions on the economy and the environment for a very long time.
And, quite possibly, the numbers of wildlife dying as a result of this spill will never be fully counted. Roger Helm with the US Fish and Wildlife Service remarked, “If birds are impacted by oil and they die there, they sink.” Manatees, dolphins and whales may succumb to oil many miles out at sea, leaving little evidence. Some oil-soaked turtles have washed ashore... Steve Murawski, chief science advisor of NOAA Fisheries Service, said 156 turtles have died, most of them a protected species; Kemp's Ridley turtles. But the sheer numbers of wildlife expected to succumb will probably never be known.
And to make a bad situation even worse, BP tossed approximately 200,000 gallons of the chemical dispersant, Corexit 9500 into the gulf in an attempt to stem the damage caused by the spill. There is, however a problem as this chemical is detrimental to the environment and also extremely toxic to wildlife. Chemical dispersants such as Corexit also enhance oil's toxicity in the dispersion process.
So, to recount... from whichever place you stand, this is a monstrous environmental disaster.
BP failed to create a failsafe system for removing oil from a mile down... Transocean blamed the catastrophe on Haliburton, Haliburton blamed the problem on BP. And the dance played out for all who wished to watch. Bottom line, no one wants responsibility, no one wants to pay for the privilege of destroying a very sensitive environment.
But they'll take your money, won’t they!
Meanwhile, the slick from the underwater gusher is so huge, it’s visible from space.
Oh, one more thing... to those buffoons who want to drill indiscriminately... please get a clue. This destruction of the gulf is only the tip of the iceberg if you proceed without forethought or planning. Or, perhaps this was really good planning... kill the environment... kill the wildlife... destroy civilization as we know it... but then, what?
Photo was shot on May 17, 2010 by MODIS instrument aboard NASA's TERRA satellite. NASA Goddard / Rob Gutro http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/20100517_spill.html
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