Your reaction to US oil spillage disaster

[RSS News]

Barack Obama has described a sprawling oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico as a "potentially unprecedented" environmental disaster. What is your reaction?

(Feed provided by BBC News | Have your Say (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/talking_point/default.stm))

[Stand Your Ground]

Just more capitalists destroying the environment and not caring.

[chegitz guevara]

We live in an industrial society dependent on oil, and there are going to be accidents. At this time, I'm not sure what could have been done differently.

[x371322]

I admittedly don't know very much about this situation, so feel free to correct me if I'm a bit off base. But one thing that annoy's me is how I've heard all over the news that this is "Obama's Katrina." Really? I mean sure, this is a disaster, but to compare it to the effects of Hurricane Katrina is just insane. It would be like saying the NY city car bomb is "Obama's 9/11." They're just not the same. What the shit is wrong with people?

[Sendo]

much could have been done differently. Industrial accidents are a hallmark of capitalism. I agree that yes, an oil-based society should not be surprised by accidents like these, but a socialist oil-based society could presumably put more priority on safety features.

[son of man]

Yeah. Oil is pretty neat stuff if you want to live in a city these days. Can't really live without it.

[bobroberts]

It's a result of powerful companies putting profit over safety, and being able to buy influence within the government to prevent proper oversight. You know, the usual.

[mlgb]

I admittedly don't know very much about this situation, so feel free to correct me if I'm a bit off base. But one thing that annoy's me is how I've heard all over the news that this is "Obama's Katrina." Really? I mean sure, this is a disaster, but to compare it to the effects of Hurricane Katrina is just insane. It would be like saying the NY city car bomb is "Obama's 9/11." They're just not the same. What the shit is wrong with people?

i think you are badly underestimating how bad this is.


this still isn't Obama's katrina though because Obama isn't a bumbling moron.

[La Comédie Noire]

This highlights the dire need to switch to alternatives, but the corporate media is still trying to make this out as though we have two choices.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/04/news/economy/oil_drilling/index.htm?hpt=T2

[x371322]

i think you are badly underestimating how bad this is.

I believe I pointed out I didn't know much about the severity of the spill. But that wasn't even my point. My point was this is in no way as bad as hurricane katrina, and to imply such would be asinine. :rolleyes:

[x371322]

this still isn't Obama's katrina though because Obama isn't a bumbling moron.

Well, at least not to the extent that Bush was. :laugh:

He's still just a corporate puppet though.

[mlgb]

I believe I pointed out I didn't know much about the severity of the spill. But that wasn't even my point. My point was this is in no way as bad as hurricane katrina, and to imply such would be asinine. :rolleyes:

economically and environmentally it is worse the katrina. potentially far far worse.

the cost in human lives is much harder to quantify, aside from the 11 who perished in the initial accident.

the global food supply is substantially diminished, and will be damaged even more when every other major fishery gets overfished even more severely then they are now to meet demand. something like a billion people depend on the ocean to live day-to-day. if they stave because they've been edged out of the market or because there are simply no more fish are they any less dead then if they'd drowned?

many places count on substantial foreign aid to keep society functional. economic disruption in the US and redirection of aid from the far to the near means less of that to go around. if someone starves because an epidemic went out of control rather then being contained are they any less dead because it took a year rather then a day?

they comparison may turn out to be unjustified, but it is not asinine by any stretch.





He's still just a corporate puppet though.
quite. that makes him an enemy. it doesn't make him stupid.

[The Gallant Gallstone]

They take your car when you crash it into someone.

I saw we take their facilities.

[x371322]

economically and environmentally it is worse the katrina. potentially far far worse.

the cost in human lives is much harder to quantify, aside from the 11 who perished in the initial accident.

the global food supply is substantially diminished, and will be damaged even more when every other major fishery gets overfished even more severely then they are now to meet demand. something like a billion people depend on the ocean to live day-to-day. if they stave because they've been edged out of the market or because there are simply no more fish are they any less dead then if they'd drowned?

many places count on substantial foreign aid to keep society functional. economic disruption in the US and redirection of aid from the far to the near means less of that to go around. if someone starves because an epidemic went out of control rather then being contained are they any less dead because it took a year rather then a day?

they comparison may turn out to be unjustified, but it is not asinine by any stretch.

That's all true I guess. Like I said though I haven't exactly been keeping up with the situation. It sounds like it's a lot worse than I had imagined though.



quite. that makes him an enemy. it doesn't make him stupid.

Oh not at all. I agree entirely. I joke around a lot (I guess because I miss making fun of Bush), but Obama's clearly an intelligent man. Dangerous yes, but not stupid.

[here for the revolution]

Newsflash, somebody decided collecting the spillage with a funnel would be better than letting it freely drift into the open sea...I mean shit, how long did that take to work out?

BP is already trying to palm off the blame to the contractor behind the pipeline too.

[Mumbles]

I'm worried about what effect it will have on the ecosystem and I'm pretty pissed that, if this could have been avoided, it wasn't.

I worry if some species of sea plant won't be getting enough photosynthesis to feed fish to feed larger fish to feed bigger fish and birds and whatnot to keep the system going.

I'm very much motivated to go help with clean-up but I know I could never get my school to allow me days off for that and I don't even know which orgs take volunteers.

[Q]

much could have been done differently. Industrial accidents are a hallmark of capitalism. I agree that yes, an oil-based society should not be surprised by accidents like these, but a socialist oil-based society could presumably put more priority on safety features.

Sorry, but empty phraseology like this gets very tiresome very fast. It's sad that much of the far left "analysis" doesn't go much further than this.

[SocialismOrBarbarism]

much could have been done differently. Industrial accidents are a hallmark of capitalism. I agree that yes, an oil-based society should not be surprised by accidents like these, but a socialist oil-based society could presumably put more priority on safety features.

This was entirely preventable:


It has also been revealed that the Obama administration had buckled before BP and oil industry pressure, failing to implement new safety and environmental regulations under consideration last fall. A BP executive wrote a letter to the administration stating that self-regulation was adequate.

Among the regulations that BP and other oil concerns were able to block was the inclusion on all oil rigs of a device called an acoustic switch—commonly used in other oil-producing nations—that sends impulses through the water that can trigger an underwater valve to shut down the well in the event of a blowback. BP found the costs of these units, about $500,000, excessive.

The oil giant reported $5.598 billion in profits for the first three months of 2010.


http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/oilr-m03.shtml

[TheSultan]

Until we adopt an alternative energy source as our primary we will continue to be reliant on oil, and accidents like this are bound to happen. Am I condoning or diminishing in magnitude what happened? No. But it's something that people have to realize will continue happening and if anything it will push our development of these alternative "green" energy sources a little faster.

[The Red Next Door]

Reactionaries killing mother earth for profit.

[Buffalo Souljah]

http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/national_world/stories/2010/05/05/oil-worst-case-scenario-art0-gi58e3iu-10505oil-spill-map-eps.jpg

Can anyone find a better image than this of the damage?

[Buffalo Souljah]

Another prediction, based on what happened in Alaska, is that once the oil starts to devastate commercial marine livelihoods, you'll see tree-hugger conversions among redneck resource workers more dramatic than that of Saul on the road to Damascus.A bit of humor in light of all the mess... (http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/05/exxon_valdez_reporter_on_gulf.php#)
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/redneck%20horseshoes.jpg

Caption: Lafayette latest Sierra Club Member

[Buffalo Souljah]

Does anyone have any updates on this situation? There was an interesting-looking article on Marxists.org (http://www.marxist.com/usa-deepwater-horizon-disaster-out-of-hand.htm) that I am not able to access from where I am now. I will try crawling Google News for more updates. Been away for a few days.

[bailey_187]

I heard on the news earlier that many of the Scandanavian countries with offshore drilling have shut of valves or something in case of a leak, while the USA does not require this, making it worse. So in Communism i am assuming shut off valves would be present.

[Foldered]

It made me physically ill. This sort of shit has got to stop.

[Os Cangaceiros]

A lot has been said about the environmental impact of this spill, but not much about the devastating impact that it's had on the commercial fishing communities of the Gulf states.

[Fidelo Rosalito]

I've heard suggestions that the North Sea will be the next "target".

Then US Refineries! :thumbup1:

No, seriously, do you think that the rest of the human population APPRECIATES the USA using over 30% of the worlds' precious fossil fuels?

Do you think that the other people (outside the borders patrolled by the Tea Party) have as little regard for their youth and children as the entitled slobs who joy ride (personal transportation in their opulent ostentations) to the tune of 15 million barrels a day?

Do you think the whole planet is full of gluttonous leaders and murderous hedonistic sheeple who blindly worship the irrational allocations of precious fuel resources based on the ignorant and self-serving exhortations of invisible handed greed bag idiots?

Do you think the entire planet is full of morons who live by the creed, "to each his own" and don't care that such a creed will soon be "to each his own nothing"?

Do you think that the core of the earth is light sweet crude?

Do you think that bigger, costlier oil recovery projects can be completed by such a race of drunken, speed and power crazed fools, as now populates the USA?

Do you think that the rest of the world should just sit back in awe while the USA attempts to complete its WMD (World Manifest Destiny) drunken, oil bathed orgy? :D:confused::mad::(

[Ocean Seal]

I'm disgusted at the fact that the capitalists allowed this to happen and even more disgusted that the are taking so damn long to deal with it. Bastards only care about themselves.

[praxis1966]

I suppose since I'm from the Panhandle of Florida (lived there from the age until the age of 4 until the age of 29, and just moved away a little over two years ago) and still have a bunch of friends and family who live there I should weigh in here.

To anyone who doubts the impact of this thing: My hometown basically has no industry in terms of what most people think of when they hear the word (fabrication, assembly, etc). I'd say a good 60% of its economy is dependent on tourism, tourism which is directly related to its beaches (http://danherron.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/panama-city-beach-pier1.jpg). The place is quite literally a poor man's Caribbean. Another 20% of its economy is probably dependent on commercial fishing. The other 20% is in one way or another directly dependent revenue from the first two. In other words, there is no possible way to overestimate the destructive magnitude of this spill in economic terms. That's an economy of 200,000 people potentially gone with the wind in but just one of a huge number of counties which rest on the Gulf Coast of the state.

Further, I've spoken to people (like my mother) who have sensitive respiratory systems. They all say the same thing; the fumes from this thing are already having an adverse health effect.

This is all with saying nothing of the long term environmental catastrophe, which I'm sure most of us have probably already recognized. To say that this is Obama's Katrina is quite accurate, at least in terms of how his handling it will affect his re-electability where in the eyes of the citizens of the Gulf states. He can probably write off Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but he carried Florida. I don't think if he intends on running again he can afford to give that up.

[eyedrop]

3 crew members of some of the first Norwegian boats to the oil platform said to Dagbladet (http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/05/28/nyheter/deepwater_horizon/utenriks/11888617/) that to them it appeared as BP and the American Coastguard consciously attempted to downplay the seriousness of the leakage. "BP acted with direct lies and propaganda," said one of them.

Plus that Bp refused to release the underwater footage that could have helped tremendously in estimating the danger of the leak.

[Red Saxon]

BP should be fucking dismantled.

[leftace53]

This is ridiculous. I don't know the technical details of what exactly went wrong, but surely there could have been more precautions taken. The blowout protector that BP used was not fitted with a remote device for shut off incase of accidents, which are mandated in places like Norway, and I'm sure that could have contributed to this mess. Ref. Article Here (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704423504575212031417936798.html)

Even after the spill, they could have stepped up the clean up efforts. I don't give a rats ass about these higher ups doing press conferences, while their brain child is destroying the planet. They should have supplied more clean up equipment, and supplied more people (like the higher up fat cats). I don't understand how it has gone on for over a month now, as far as I can tell, they take up time finding cost effective ways to fix this, when they should be finding the most effective way. They need to plan ahead, and not say "oh if this effort doesn't work, then we will think about another way" (which was the case before implementing the top kill effort, and the dome thing), they need to get on it, plan the next step while the current is playing out, let independent scientists in to fully measure the devastating efforts so that we can have accurate information about more clean up issues:

BP has resisted entreaties from scientists that they be allowed to use sophisticated instruments at the ocean floor that would give a far more accurate picture of how much oil is really gushing from the well.
“The answer is no to that,” a BP spokesman, Tom Mueller, said on Saturday. “We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s not relevant to the response effort, and it might even detract from the response effort.” Source Article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/us/16oil.html)


On top of that, there are people who depended on this gulf for thier living. According to Anderson Cooper (and lowly CNN), BP has said that they will compensate these people, but they haven't. Claims of 20-30 thousand dollars go answered by hundreds of dollars.

[Ocean Seal]

BP should be fucking dismantled.

For this mess absolutely any man who believes in justice would agree. The probability that the company will be dismantled: very slim. A few fancy lawyers will get them out of this one. To the revolution my friend.

[leftace53]

I thought this internet finding to be amusing:


http://www.mattbors.com/strips/639.gif

[Hexen]

I'm disgusted at the fact that the capitalists allowed this to happen and even more disgusted that the are taking so damn long to deal with it. Bastards only care about themselves.

That's because that's how capitalism works since it's a individualist based system which is why it's highly dangerous.

This is one of the reasons we need a revolution like NOW...but unfortunately people are ignorant/apathetic due to being brainwashed through generations of Red Scare/McCarthyism/Cold war/Glen Beck propaganda and bourgeoisie pseudosciences ("human nature", evolutionary psychology, biological determinism, etc) which shows we're fucked...as if the capitalists are really clever bastards of keeping themselves in power with those things while their driving us further and further to inevitable destruction due to their broken system..so yes we're pretty much doomed...

Although there's always a way since fatalism/defeatism/determinism is not necessary a healthy worldview to hold.


BP should be fucking dismantled.

BP can only be dismantled in a post-revolutionary society because that's not going to happen under capitalism.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Well, BP has recently announced the failure of the "Top Kill" (lol) procedure.

Next on the agenda? Robotic submarines. That's gonna take a few days to get ready though, so until then the oil volcano will continue to destroy the Gulf. This is pretty much the apocalypse for the shrimp and seafood industry in Lousiana and elsewhere.

[ckaihatsu]

I admittedly don't know very much about this situation, so feel free to correct me if I'm a bit off base. But one thing that annoy's me is how I've heard all over the news that this is "Obama's Katrina." Really? I mean sure, this is a disaster, but to compare it to the effects of Hurricane Katrina is just insane. It would be like saying the NY city car bomb is "Obama's 9/11." They're just not the same. What the shit is wrong with people?


There's a lurking bitter political irony here -- while the liberal soft-left uses this as a vaccination to shore up their forces against right-wing party opportunism, there's a much larger political issue going unaddressed, the lack of legal prosecution against British Petroleum.

The *irony* is that a "Tea Party" exists, yet here the British are, polluting the Gulf by dumping *their own* product into the "harbor", and yet there's hardly a peep calling for monetary damages for the nation.





The case for seizure

By any number of economic, social and moral requirements, the assets of BP should be seized and used to provide comprehensive compensation and relief for those who have lost their jobs and whose livelihoods, homes and communities have been severely harmed or destroyed, and to clean up and restore the environment.

There is also a legal basis underlying a call for seizure.

Under deeply-rooted and long standing legal principles, BP should be responsible for all consequence of damage, not merely direct oil removal costs.

[...]

http://tinyurl.com/38bpx9w

[Tatarin]

The *irony* is that a "Tea Party" exists, yet here the British are, polluting the Gulf by dumping *their own* product into the "harbor", and yet there's hardly a peep calling for monetary damages for the nation.

That's because they are not brown aliens from whatever country lies beneath the UniTead States, and they are not trying to take the jobs.

Funny, I don't think there would be a Venezuela anymore if something like this had happened there.

[ckaihatsu]

Funny, I don't think there would be a Venezuela anymore if something like this had happened there.


Yeah, Haiti had an earthquake, and look what the U.S. did to *Haiti* as a result of *that* "poor planning"...(!) Haiti barely exists as an economic entity at all, or has any sovereignty....

[Revy]

It's another reason why the US needs to abandon fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy. Wind, solar, geothermal, there are lots of options, they even started putting wind turbines underwater to harness the power of the current. The only alternative which isn't sustainable is ethanol.

[Hexen]

It's another reason why the US needs to abandon fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy. Wind, solar, geothermal, there are lots of options, they even started putting wind turbines underwater to harness the power of the current. The only alternative which isn't sustainable is ethanol.

Which sadly the capitalists are not going to give up their oil that easy they'll not stop like Romero Zombies.

[Sendo]

Anyone check out DN! this morning? I really liked the interviews with the Coast Guard--completely devoid of any resources, just "supervises" BP though the Guard's completely emasculated. The Guard man had his ID printed by BP in a facility owned by Shell. Christ.

Then they had small shrimping business runner, Dean Blanchard. The guy knew his stuff his stuff about Exxon in Alaska, how Agent Orange shapes Vietnam today, and detailed how the shrimpers are like farmers and this was like a devastation of your farmland in the Fall. They put all their eggs in one basket, unfortunately. Sorry, but the almighty dollar won't let you rely on anything but the sun rising.....or will they?

[ckaihatsu]

The Guard man had his ID printed by BP in a facility owned by Shell. Christ.


Why don't they just drop the other shoe already and sell off the states *entirely*...?

Instead of 'New York' it should be named 'New York, sponsored by GE', etc.

(Yeesh!)

[The Vegan Marxist]

My reaction!

http://i47.tinypic.com/10zvfuo.jpg

[Ocean Seal]

"potentially unprecedented"
Another one of his weak phrases. Does anyone know what the hell "potentially unprecedented" actually means because I can't figure it out. Something cannot be potentially unprecedented because that would imply that it is also potentially expected. And thus even if the expectation is low we would still have had to opportunity to prepare and thus it was not "potentially unprecedented," but rather an example of capitalists cutting corners for profits.

[leftace53]

This shit is still going on! WTF. Fancy a revolution anyone?

[Os Cangaceiros]

Anyone check out DN! this morning? I really liked the interviews with the Coast Guard--completely devoid of any resources, just "supervises" BP though the Guard's completely emasculated. The Guard man had his ID printed by BP in a facility owned by Shell. Christ.

Then they had small shrimping business runner, Dean Blanchard. The guy knew his stuff his stuff about Exxon in Alaska, how Agent Orange shapes Vietnam today, and detailed how the shrimpers are like farmers and this was like a devastation of your farmland in the Fall. They put all their eggs in one basket, unfortunately. Sorry, but the almighty dollar won't let you rely on anything but the sun rising.....or will they?

The herring industry in the Sound never fully recovered from Exxon-Valdez, even decades after the spill. And EV looks tiny in comparison to this...yes, it did a lot of damage to the fragile ecosystem, but at least there was a finite amount of oil. So I'm not very optimistic about the prospects of the Gulf Coast fishermen at this point...I just hope that they get every penny that's coming to them in the inevitable class action lawsuit.

Incidentally, after the Exxon Valdez spill a program was started in Alaska called SERVS, in which they train members of the fishing fleet (myself included) to be HAZMAT technicians and clean & contain the oil off the surface with fishing vessels immediately after any spill. I don't know why there wasn't a fleet of tankers down there skimming for oil as soon as soon as possible...someone most have thought about the implications of this thing bursting (at least, I hope so), and it would've made sense to at least try and blunt the impact before sealing the leak.

[Le Libérer]

Nah, this oil spill isnt effecting Louisiana fisherman and workers or the health of those who eat seafood from the Gulf.

This was posted on a local Louisiana restaurant wall. We have seen them in the past when there were bacteria scares, but these signs are popping up everywhere.
Possible death? Mmm lets eat! :thumbdown:

[Le Libérer]

This shit is still going on! WTF. Fancy a revolution anyone?

They announced it could be August before they cap it.

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://www.katc.com/news/1/3-of-federal-waters-in-gulf-closing-to-fishing/

[leftace53]

I hear this reached Florida now. I saw pictures of the poor little birdies drenched in oil, it looked so sad. This is going to take years if not decades to clean up, and bring the ecological devastation down.


They announced it could be August before they cap it.
Perfect, just perfect.

I don't even know how to express how upset I am with this.

[Klaatu]

I don't understand how it has gone on for over a month now, as far as I can tell, they take up time finding cost effective ways to fix this, when they should be finding the most effective way. They need to plan ahead, and not say "oh if this effort doesn't work, then we will think about another way"


Well said. They should have used the most effective way to stop the oil, and not been so concerned with cost-effective. They will be paying more in the long run. A lot more. This is called "penny-wise-but-pound-foolish."

[Os Cangaceiros]

I hear this reached Florida now. I saw pictures of the poor little birdies drenched in oil, it looked so sad.

These pictures? (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html)

[leftace53]

These pictures? (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html)

Similar to those, I saw pictures on the news on tv. Anyone know how the clean up efforts are working now, like to what extent have the got people/gear? I also heard for mass clean up on water, they are going to work with some chemical to break down the oil as it is a lesser of two evils, so we will essentially end up trying to clean up for the clean up, but it seems like the most feasible solution.

[praxis1966]

Similar to those, I saw pictures on the news on tv. Anyone know how the clean up efforts are working now, like to what extent have the got people/gear?

Not really. So far BP only has 360 people working in the entire state of Florida. What's worse is that I've talked to old friends from back home who've inquired about employment and not only is BP offering as little as $10/hr for cleanup workers [Source (http://www.workforcecenter.org/au_wb_pc.asp)], but they're being required to purchase their own respirators. As a result, there's been seven cleanup workers in Louisiana already hospitalized due to benzene exposure [Source (http://www.ktvu.com/news/23696914/detail.html)].

To add insult to injury, an early nominee for Asshole of the Year goes to BP rep Randy Prescott, who, in what I'm told was a leaked internal e-mail, actually said, 'Louisiana isn't the only place that has shrimp.' I'd encourage you all to give ol' Randycakes a call and wish him well. His office phone number is 713.323.4093 and his e-mail address is [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Ckaihatsu, you are familiar with GE dumping PCB's into the Hudson River?


No, not *exactly*, but it *does* sound vaguely familiar -- I'm sure I heard about it at one point.





It has taken them years and years (30 years!!) to deal with that mess and stop averting their responsibility. Phase 1 dredging was just completed and phase 2 starts sometime in 2011. it's a little better, but the river is polluted in the area I'm at near the Catskill Mountains -- no one dare go in it or eat the fish.

Can't even imagine how long the oil spill clean up will take. Long ass time, I'm sure


Yup....

[Coelacanth]

I don't even know how to express how upset I am with this.

This. I mean...I am incensed.

[Klaatu]

Did you think oil floats?

Subsea oil plumes found 142 miles from rig
Crude moving under surface could threaten marine life
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37572167/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/

http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/100608-underwater-oil-hmed-8a.h2.jpg
Patches of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill are seen from an
underwater vantage, Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, La.

[bcbm]

My reaction!

http://i47.tinypic.com/10zvfuo.jpg

vote?

[The Fighting_Crusnik]

Considering how bad that the spill has gotten I can understand why people now want criminal inquiry into BP. And in truth, with new bits of into coming out about how BP tried to rush things, they have it totally coming. Also, judging from how many attempts were made to cap the well, I am honestly wondering if BP was screwing up on purpose. However, I doubt that to some extent since I haven't figured out who was meant to benefit... :p All I know, is that this should be more reason and motivation as to why alt. forms of energy need to be developed. And my hope is, is that nuclear fusion and other advancements will do away with the need for oil so that this doesn't happen again.

[ZeroNowhere]

vote?
That is what it says, yes. To be honest, it did not seem all that difficult to read.

[praxis1966]

That is what it says, yes. To be honest, it did not seem all that difficult to read.

I believe he was questioning the logic of communist participation in bourgeois governments.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I can't believe that this shit is still going on.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Oil spill cleanup workers face health risks (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-04-oil-spill-workers_N.htm)

BP has reportedly threatened some cleanup workers with termination if they used respirators.:rolleyes:

[leftace53]

we should just throw BP owners into the ocean :cool: maybe their excess funds will soak up some of the oil

[Os Cangaceiros]

we should just throw BP owners into the ocean :cool: maybe their excess funds will soak up some of the oil

Putting more filth in the water seems pretty counterproductive at this point.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Rising arsenic levels in the seawater surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. (http://www.news.com.au/world/more-bad-news-for-bp-as-arsenic-levels-rise-in-seawater-around-the-gulf-of-mexico/story-e6frfkyi-1225888272667#ixzz0spHERla5)

[DaComm]

For me, the oil spill only bolsters the idea that oil dependency, whether foreign or domestic, should be disbanded. It is clearly harmful to environment when used for it's sole purpose, it makes the environment a living hell when handled incompetently. For me, it is a clear message that we should start to use more environment-friendly energy systems. I personally think solar panels to power cars/planes/human dwellings/etc. would be spectacular! It's always sunny where I am, and you don't get 100 dying pelicans when you break a solar panel. Oil dependency also bolsters bourgeois ideas like Conservatism, when the common idiotic republican has a criteria that consists of "who you would like to have a beer with" and "who lowers gas prices". I am an ultra-enviornmentalist communist so I am prone to freak out over things like that.

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=633_1278713525

In other news: Anyone found in violation of the new laws regarding taking photographes or trespassing in Gulf Coast areas that are "off limits" to journalists will face felony charges.

[bc14theroad]

I am shocked at the amount of people who are still focused on who is to blame for the ‘BP Gulf Oil Spill of 2010’. Who cares right now!!!

What we need is action!!

Sure BP’s reputation is taking a beating, just look at all the employees who posted ‘I told them but they wouldn’t listen to me’ stories on TelOnU.com (Kind of like a Yelp for companies and politicians):

telonu.com/reviews/bp-0

The real questions is simple – how do we clean it up so that the damage to the gulf and it’s communities are reversed and bought back to normal?

It is clear that BP will pay for it, but like the Exxon Alaskan oil spill, it is going to take a long time and a lot of effort for the people hit hardest to see any money.