I don’t have a television in my home, by choice, so I do not have any regular source of mainstream news in my home, other than what I get from the radio and internet. But since first hearing about the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, my thoughts turned to the people, and the environment of the Southern gulf states. And my heart began to hurt. I like many of you have watched the “BP Live feed” and their feeble attempts at stopping the unstoppable. And my heart continued to hurt. I have watched and waited to see the overwhelming response from the Federal Government in Washington, DC. And my heart continues to hurt. Where are our leaders?
Today, my hurt turned to disbelief and then next to anger. It would appear that we are being lied to by British Petroleum and by the Federal Government about the nature and scope of the leak at the ocean floor. I have been reading some headlines across the spectrum of news media on the internet, read some disturbing articles, and watched some very disturbing news videos relating to what is going on down on our beloved coastline and out into the Gulf itself. There hasn’t been much coverage of the environmental impact that is happening on the coast, and it would appear the BP or someone is censoring what can be shown on television and print.
After reading the article about the small Alabama community that is taking things into their own hands to protect their shoreline from the oil, I began to wonder why there are not more Southerners rising up? Why aren’t the good people of the South storming their state houses, demanding swift and immediate action. Why is the Governor of Mississippi more concerned about about news stories affecting tourism, than taking action to protect his state’s coastline? Why aren’t we demanding action? Why aren’t WE taking action? Where are our leaders? I don’t mean our political leaders…I’m talking about Southern people, that know when it’s time to stand up, and take action! Why is there not a call to arms, no rally cry and a march to the shoreline?! Do we not quite fully understand the ramifications of this disaster? What it is going to do to the water, the wetlands, the beaches, the marine life, the economy, the livelihood of countless people along the coast?
As of June 11, 2010 the estimates are as follows:
- 840,000 gallons/day (Best case scenario)
- 1,050,000 gallons/day
- 2,252,000 gallons/day (BP’s worst case)
- 4,200,000 gallons/day (Expert’s worst case)
Flowing unimpeded into the waters of the Gulf so far:
- 39,000,000+ gallons (Best case)
- 219,000,000+ gallons (Worst case)
Either way you wash it, it’s millions of gallons too much!
Now the experts are saying that it appears that the well casing has been damaged. This means that oil is escaping outside of the well casing and flowing at tremendous pressures into “formations” or fissures in the sea floor, which has resulted in more places that the oil is escaping.
Even more interesting is the fact that the UNITED STATES is apparently preventing the states from cleaning up oil that has entered into the states environmentally sensative areas. I believe it was yesterday, that it was reported that the UNITED STATES COAST GUARD intercepted LA cleanup barrages and ordered them to stop all cleanup efforts in the LA marshes.
Something does not make sense in all of this. The US is refusing help from nations offering ships and equipment as well. Almost makes one think that there is some hidden agenda going on.
Thanks Jackson for joining in this discussion.
That refusal of help from other nations is the thing that really sticks in my craw as well. America has a long history of “sending in the troops” whenever some other nation has a major disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami, yet when we face something that is beyond our capability, we turn away help from others who have both the experience and the equipment. Something is clearly churning beneath the muddy waters of government.
Just an update on the BP Oil Spill…
No significant progress has been made in the oil cleanup efforts. The federal government still refuses to accept help from other nations in the cleanup efforts. BP still continues to spray hundreds of gallons of Corexit onto the Gulf. Corexit which is a dispersant is toxic 2.61 PPM which is significantly higher than crude oil which is toxic at 11 PPM. Corexit does nothing to rid the ocean of the spilled oil; it can only hide it from view and as a dispersant prevents barrages from removing it from the Gulf.
In addition, Corexit is known to cause upper respiratory disorders, nausea, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, rashes, esposure may cause dizziness and one to pass out, other ingredients in it have been known to cause kidney and liver damage and it also contains known carcinogens.
One must wonder if the federal government has seen the writing on the wall and plans to abandon the Gulf States after they have wasted the land and waters. The USSR engaged in similar tactics against eastern European countries before they broke free.
In greater news, according to our Florida governor, the beaches are perfectly safe to swim in.
Yes…it’s a nightmare. A couple of days ago I was reading articles and watched a video about how the clean up along the beaches are “just for show”. A female citizen on the Alabama coast that signed up to help in the cleanup, told about how BP or Unified Command officials were instructing clean up crews not to dig deep into the sand. They were only picking up tar balls on or near the surface. Only two crew members allowed under the sunshade tents for breaks at a time, so that media could not take pictures of crews not working, etc. etc.
You can view the video here.
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/former-oil-worker-says-cleanup-just-for-show/899852/Jun-24-2010_8-46-pm/
There is also news about the incredibly high amounts of methane and other highly toxic gases like benzene that are building up over the gulf. Most of these gases are lethal to humans and animals, and in small amounts can cause serious illness and can lead to death.
You can read about that in the following articles.
http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/Government-Insiders-Get-Ready-for-the-Gulf-Dead-Zone.html
and
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65L6IA20100622
I was even reading articles about a possible evacuation of the Gulf States. I’ll look around and see if I can find the articles again, but the above articles alone were enough to make me sick to my stomach. Thanks for the update Jackson.
AP is now reporting that our “Hope and Change” President is finally accepting some offers of help from other countries – or, rather, they are probably having meetings to discuss who does what and making sure that Obama gets all the credit if things go well and escapes all blame if they continue to go badly.