Nobody seems to get what a catastrophic event this is for the Gulf states. This leak started on April 20th. That was 37 days ago. 37 days of continuous oil filling the Gulf. 37 days of chemical dispersant being added to the mix. 37 days of inept handling of the situation.
During the press conference, when asked about the Federal Government dragging its heels about giving Jindal permission to create barrier islands to protect the Louisiana marshlands, Obama sad that the government and its experts were evaluating what was the most cost-effective way to handle the situation.
Cost effective.
Hello People!! This is not a time for cost-effectiveness. This is a time for urgent action. It doesn't matter how "cost effective" the solution is if it comes so freaking late that it isn't any help. What is the cost effectiveness of a dead Gulf of Mexico? What is the cost effectiveness of oil moving beyond the outer marshlands and further into the state of Louisiana? What is the cost effectiveness of the oil being picked up by the loop current and sliming the Keys and the eastern coast of the Untied States with crude?
BP has waited over a month to try a solution that will simply clog up this pipe or cover it over. Its first two attempts at dealing with this problem coincidentally happened to include a way to siphon some of this oil into a waiting tanker. How nice of them to be sure to get at least some oil for themselves from this disaster.
What is happening is completely insane. In an effort to keep the possibility open of eventually profiting from this rich deposit of oil, BP did not take the most direct approach to stopping this leak. The goal from the very beginning should have been to completely bury this pipe rather than trying to temporarily stop the flow, or redirect it to oil tankers on the surface of the water.
There doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency or panic running through BP or the government. It's almost as if they don't realize how bad things really are and what's going to happen very soon. The summer is coming and the Gulf of Mexico in the summer is plagued not only with the occasional hurricane, but with almost daily severe thunderstorms. A Gulf thunderstorm is not like a regular rainstorm. They generally are loaded with lightning, are very turbulent and have high winds. Once those start, cleanup will come to a standstill on the surface and that oil is going to be carried far and wide.
We haven't even begun to see what is going to happen to the wildlife in the Gulf.
This problem has got to be solved....and soon.
1 comment:
I'm going to bet there is urgency at BP, but they were simply unprepared for what they should have expected was a catastrophe of at least some possibility.
The government seems to be urgent about how it plays in the press.
Post a Comment