Oil Spill Story Getting Larger, Sadder, More Shocking
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source: nytimes.com
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There has been much more news surrounding the leaking oil rig off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials had said the exploded rig's pipeline was leaking 1,000 barrels oil/day, but now that estimate is up to 5,000 barrels/day.
The NY Times also has a sad story about the workers who were injured or killed by the explosion last week, and how that line of work is really all there is for their communities: "In Area With Few Options, Rigs Are Mixed Blessing."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the rig's well "didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills."
BP is certainly in some hot water over this explosion, especially as they just reported first quarter profits were up 135% and that they were part of a group of oil companies that fought safety standards for rigs like these.
Oh, and oddly enough, BP was a finalist to receive a oil drilling safety award from the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), but that ceremony was canceled yesterday.
This whole disaster also now has many government officials either saying "We told you so" about off-shore drilling, or reconsidering their stance on it (including Florida Governor Charlie Crist).
In New Jersey, the first hearing from the MMS on the Obama administration's offshore drilling plan was held Tuesday night and was dominated by off-shore drilling opponents.
More hearings are scheduled this week in Wilmington, DE; Norfolk, VA; and Charleston, SC.
This post originally appeared on Compass, the Sierra Club's blog.
During the Katrina disaster it is alleged that the White House did not react quick enough. The fact that the coast guard reacted immediately at that time did not seem to have anything to do with the White House.
Now we have an oil spill disaster, and again the White house did not react in an expeditious way. In fact, what caused the oil spill? Could it have been sabotage from....the Katrina disaster was a weather occurrence, this is not.
Conclusion:
it's easy to criticize the White House in past instances, but now that Obama is in the White House, no one brings up the slow reaction in this instance. The oil spill will affect many states, but still, I have heard no criticism of the White House's lack of action.
JAH, Allentown, PA
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