It is far worse than Chernobyl. This whole sensitive ecological area is full of inlets, coves, swamps, and tiny islands. A huge number of beautiful and rare creatures are going to be sacrificed to incompetence.
Looking through the conservative blogs, the overwhelming theory is that this was a job done by a left wing terrorist to stop off shore drilling. BP isn't culpable in any way, nor are they holding them responsible. Using Republican logic, this should be Bobby Jindals fault shouldn't it? Remember when everything was Mayor Ray Nagin's fault?
No one blamed W for the hurricane - that 's a partisan canard, employed to hide what W was actually blamed for: his poor executive management of FEMA and other federal agencies, filling their upper management with the incapable and the incompetent, and organizing them into huge and unresponsive bureaucratic morasses for partisan political gain. and his bizarrely inappropriate personal responses to the death and destruction brought about by the failure of his executive tenure. The federal agencies charged with responding to large oil spills and the like have not been reorganized and screwed up by Obama recently, or staffed with Party loyalists and campaign contributors. He hasn't been filmed standing on a balcony overlooking the spill and making jokes about his experiences changing the oil in his car. So he doesn't get the kind of blame W got.
If history is gentle to the USA, the reign of the bushes will go down in history as the modern black ages.
Regarding Chernobyl. Read this: It contains some of the most contaminated land in the world, yet it has become a haven for wildlife - a nature reserve in all but name. Przewalski's horses are breeding in the zone (Picture: Sergey Gaschak) The exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power station is teeming with life. As humans were evacuated from the area 20 years ago, animals moved in. Existing populations multiplied and species not seen for decades, such as the lynx and eagle owl, began to return. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4923342.stm
More images, via DoE Talking Points Memo has some scenes from the Deepwater Horizon disaster: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Damn. Catastrophic. I mean, gawd damn. It seems difficult to use such a word, but only eleven dead? ____________________ Notes: "Fire In The Gulf: New Pictures Of The Deepwater Horizon". Talking Points Memo. May, 2010. TalkingPointsMemo.com. May 3, 2010. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ga...ulf-new-pictures-of-the-deepwater-horizon.php Photo Credits: United States Department of Energy
I believe good progress is being made. One of the leaks has been sealed. They are moving in a huge funnel in an attempt to extract some of the escaping oil from another of the leaks. This method has not been tested in such depths before, so may not work. Good luck with that. Plus. they are using a simple and low tech method to reduce ecological damage. Barriers of Sand on beaches to mop up the oil, which can later be removed.
Here's hoping it works well. By the way, I started a related thread over in Earth Science, in hopes of further scientific discussion: Deepwater Horizon / Gulf of Mexico Oil Mess
Cosmic has a similar thread, and I'm afraid it has a better title than yours. No offence intended, but "Ways to fix the Oil well" is self explanatory. That's often the key to how successful a thread will be. I hope it works well too. The Exxon disaster was worsened by neglect and an unwillingness to spend money. Let's hope BP can do better.
Thanks for pointing that out CK- it's worth a short procedural aside here: Open Government : Weaving Parallel Threads Some related threads in no particular order below, and I encourage people to visit the link above- I'm seeking ways to avoid duplication and obscuration of threads. I'll edit in some links to threads related to this one below. Please don't bump several related threads into parallel activity, without considering what I tried to convey in the link above. Offshore drilling: Pros & Cons . Obama to Unveil New Offshore Drilling Plan . Deepwater Horizon
lol so far detached from reality.. sandy.. katrina could have been avoided to stressed out today to look for it anymore but there was a show on discovery i believe, years before katrina hit that predicted what would happen but fell on a deaf ear.. thing is the show was damn near 100% accurate on what happned im not sure what caused the oil rig explosion but if it was an accident im not sure what more could have been done "puts on flame suit for the "THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED TOO" comments"
explained before but maybe because experts said that New Orleans levees were going to break if nothing was done to reinforce then so people pointed fingers at bush becuase he could have taken action but didnt! not sure why you hate obama so much its quite funny he has done nothing wrong/bad to you yet you if it rains out you shouting OBAMA MADE IT RAIN.. omg earthquake OBAMA DID IT!
Seriously, this is Bobby Jindals fault. It's being reported on Fox News that several of the states shipping vessels are sitting idly in the shipyard, and not being used to assist in the relief effort . Since Governor Jindal failed to deploy these resources the local fishing industry has been paralyzed as a result.
Everyone who uses petroleum products should be punished. In punishment I propose a steepening curve of fossil-fuel costs, and a steepening decline in human affluence and population, starting right now So Help me, God (You too, Gaia).
Assuming you're correct, if he did do something, you'd complain he was trying to take over the oil industry.
What could have been done was legislating the mandatory use of remote aucoustic shutoff valves, which may have made a difference.
