Now we are not going to stop drilling in the Gulf tomorrow, folks. Let’s be realistic. There are 48,000 wells out there. One of them went sour. About 30 percent of our transportation fuel comes from the Gulf. You think Americans are going to suddenly stop driving to work tomorrow? Do you think people are going to stop driving the trucks to deliver the goods to the department stores? Not going to happen.
Sen. John Kerry • Pointing out the ugly truth about the oil spill, which is that, put into perspective, we really need to be offshore drilling to keep up with energy demands. Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it, crazy dreaming environmentalists. That dream of yours? It’s in a pipe. A pipe distributing oil. source
whatA “top kill” is an ambitious method BP plans to use to stop the oil spill. It involves putting heavy fluids, like mud, into the pipe in an attempt to prevent more oil from coming out.
risks It may work, but there’s a chance it’ll just make everything worse by causing the oil to come out at an even faster rate. Still though, it’s a better bet than a robot (maybe). source
Oh man, this whole time we’ve been trying to stop SEAWATER from gushing into our OIL. Stupid Terry was holding the diagram upside down.
A tweet by @BPGlobalPR • Which, in the span of 57 tweets, has managed to capture the imagination of 15,000 Twitter users worldwide with an often hilarious parody of one of the worst oil spills on record, and the major oil company’s inept response. We wish we could be so hilarious that @Alyssa_Milano says that our tweets are awesome. And also so that we’d respond like this: “We’ve been told @Alyssa_Milano loves our tweets. I guess that officially makes us the boss. #bpcares #bpistheboss.” A blog can dream, can’t it? source
sevennew offshore drilling projects have been given the go-ahead since Obama banned new drilling projects
fiveprojects have gotten environmental waivers like the controversial one that leaky oil rig got source
» Oh, and also: There were even more approvals and waivers approved in the period between the April 20th blast that caused the spill and when the Obama administration announced the changes. Oh boy. That doesn’t look good.
It is clear the resources needed to protect our coast are still not here: boom, skimmers, vacuums, jack-up barges are all in short supply. Oil sits and waits for clean-up and every day that it waits for clean-up more and more marsh dies.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal • Criticizing both BP and the government for their massive fail in fixing up the oil spill. The feds are also unhappy with BP and want to take them off the case. Remember that tube the oil company put in to siphon off the leak? Well, it’s only pulling 1,360 barrels a day, way down from 5,000 just a few days ago. In other news, Rand Paul hasn’t said anything stupid today. source
Here’s a shot of the spill from April 17. Google’s been keeping an eye on this disaster using satellite shots like this one. And let’s put it this way: The evolution is scary. source
What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.’ I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business.
Rand Paul • Criticizing Obama for their handling of the BP oil spill, you know, one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the country. Daring to pull out the regulatory dogs is un-American? This comes just days after the Civil Rights Act controversy, and as a result Paul is extending his stay in the Twitter trending topics. Protip: If you win a primary in May, stop talking until September. Will really help your standing. source