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Gulf of Mexico oil spill

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    A new oil rush endangers the Gulf of Mexico and the planet

    The oil spill viewed from NASA’s Terra satellite on May 17.Photo: NASA’s Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team Cross-posted from TomDispatch. Yes, the oil spewing up from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in staggering quantities could prove one of the great ecological disasters of human history. Think of it, though, as just the […]

    Michael T. Klare Technology

  • 10 ways MMS makes FEMA look good

    1. You got a problem with paper towels?  One big reason the means of cleaning up oil spills have barely changed since the Exxon Valdez spill is that the Minerals Management Service’s budget for oil-spill research has been stuck at roughly $6 million a year since 1990. That’s one-tenth of a penny for every dollar […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • Shell moves forward with Arctic drilling without a backup plan

    We’ve all seen the horrifying footage of the oil leaking, leaking and still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. And we’ve watched as BP’s CEO Tony Hayward has made such ludicrous statements as the Gulf is a big place, there really isn’t that much oil if you compare it to all that water. What’s more, […]

    Emilie Karrick Surrusco Politics

  • Obama to establish presidential commission to investigate Gulf oil spill

    As hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil continue to gush from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico four weeks after the tragic BP disaster, AP reports that: President Barack Obama will establish the commission by executive order. It will be similar to panels created to investigate the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the […]

    Daniel J. Weiss Politics

  • The real trouble from the oil spill is brewing deep under the sea

    It’s been almost a month since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  But it’s not your typical oil spill; because of its depth and distance from shore, it has so far brought no images of fouled beaches or blackened, dead sea birds. Whatever damage is being done by […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • MMS goes under the spotlight

    Last week, execs from BP, Transocean, and Halliburton took their Capitol Hill beatdown.  This week, federal regulators will be led into the ring.  With Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the front of the line, they’ll appear before three Senate committees tomorrow and then a House committee on Wednesday, at which members of Congress […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • Oil now threatening Gulf’s cradles of biodiversity, its reefs

    As corals are particularly susceptible to oil detergents and dispersed oil, the results of these assays rules out the use of any oil dispersant in coral reefs and in their vicinity.–From a 2007 paper by Israeli researchers, published in The Journal of Environmental Science (USGS photo)After reading those words a few days ago, I became […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Obama’s unconvincing ‘anger’ at BP and lax regulators

    Obama giving his “angry” speechPresident Obama has so far declined to give voice to the connection between the massive, stomach-churning fossil-fuel disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the massive, stomach-turning damage that fossil fuels wreak every day. He hasn’t used his bully pulpit to highlight the opportunities to use energy more intelligently and gather […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Politics

  • Top 10 countries ruining the planet — and more news from around the world

    We’re #2! We’re #2! Sure enough, here’s a new study out of the University of Adelaide in Australia, naming the Top 10 Countries Ruining the Planet, and the U.S. isn’t even the leader.  It ranks second behind Brazil, followed by China, Indonesia, and Japan.  The research focused solely on environmental impact, using seven indicators of […]

    Randy Rieland Climate & Energy