Gulf of Mexico oil spill
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Oil spill underscores need for Gulf-area economies to diversify
In the best of times, the three states most directly affected by the Gulf oil disaster have pretty fragile economies. Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi all rank among the bottom ten U.S. states in per-capita income. Obviously, the ever-growing oil spill isn’t just wreaking ecological havoc. It also threatens severe economic damage. The commercial fishing and […]
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BP chairman ‘cares about the small people.’ WTF?
BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg must still be learning the finer points of crisis relations — here’s his explanation (before the White House press corps) of why President Obama is so frustrated with his company: [He’s] frustrated because he cares about the small people. And we care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that […]
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Where's the damn pony?
When life gives you lemons … add some lemon dispersant and they’ll disappear from sight. Okay, wrong metaphor. Obama has suggested many times that he aspires to be a transformational leader like President Reagan, the “great communicator.” Tonight, we may well find out to tonight whether Obama is a Reagan or a Carter. Does Obama […]
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The talking points are better than the speech
Here are the key talking points the White House sent around with the speech: This economic and environmental tragedy underscores the urgent need for this nation to embrace a clean energy future. For years, there has been little more than lip service given to the need to end our reliance on fossil fuels. That failure […]
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Daily terror: We’re learning nothing from Gulf spill
The New Republic‘s Bradford Plumer has a post today — Why our reaction to the oil spill absolutely terrifies me — that’s, well, sorta terrifying. It’s about how the body politic seems just plain unable to deal with the Gulf oil leak in any sane way: What’s especially unnerving, though, is that the recklessness that […]
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PR lessons from a 1960 oil trade group [VIDEO]
The oil drilling and oyster industries both extract things from coastal waters, so it’s no surprise they’ve been interacting for decades. Here’s a cheesy 1960 video from the American Petroleum Institute that gives a fun look into that relationship, and the industry-funded science that keeps it humming: I don’t know the full background, but Louisiana […]
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Plan B
Oil spill got you down? Worried that Congress seems utterly incapable of rising to the challenge of climate change? Does the steady stream of big problems and limpid solutions have you seriously worried about the future viability of life on Earth? Well, good news, my friend: scientists have discovered Plan B.
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Buy Freedom Bonds Now
The BP oil disaster is certainly not the first oil spill in US history, but it could be the last. Nor is this the our worst oil spill – – a Chevron refinery leaked over 250 million gallons of oil and refined product into aquifers beneath Los Angeles for decades before it was discovered in […]
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Obama’s Oval Office address on the BP oil spill
Grist gives you choice excerpts from Obama’s Oval Office address, which took place yesterday night. On the immediate crisis: Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it’s not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. […]
