Gulf of Mexico oil spill
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BP chief says catastrophic oil spill really not all that big
“The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” — Tony Hayward, CEO of British Petroleum, attempts to put the now-underestimated Deepwater Horizon oil spill into perspective with that big, blue ocean thing
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The federal MMS: a wholly owned subsidiary of the oil industry
The Deepwater Horizons rig goes boom, killing 11 people and starting a massive and ongoing oil leak. If the Minerals Management Service had been a functional, independent oversight agency, this disaster would likely have never happened. (Photo: U.S. Navy) Has the government surrendered its ability to rein in corporate excess? Yes, says the New York […]
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Spill-rate lowballing reflects badly on government cleanup oversight
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.): “Okay. What is the current spill per day today?”Lamar McKay, President and Chairman of BP America: “The current estimate is 5,000 barrels a day.”— From hearings (PDF) held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Still from a May 11 video of oil and gas streaming […]
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Unheard Voices from the Gulf Coast
The Vietnamese community of greater New Orleans makes up roughly half of the fishing industry in the area. They help to supply more than one-third of the nation’s seafood. As our country faces a potential shortage of Gulf shrimp, crab and fish, these workers face complete economic uncertainty. Low-income communities and communities of color have […]
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Want to phase out a hazardous substance? Dump it in the Gulf!
A U.S. Air Force plane sprays chemical dispersants over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.Photo: Deepwater Horizon ResponseEPA chief Lisa Jackson, along with other EPA officials and representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, gave a press teleconference on use of dispersants in the Gulf Wednesday afternoon. I attended and got in […]
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Poll results on energy, climate, and offshore drilling are all over the map
More evidence that polls are to be taken with a thousand grains of salt: A few days ago, former Obama pollster Joel Benenson released the results of a survey showing that 61 percent of those queried support a comprehensive clean energy bill that would charge energy companies for carbon pollution, and 39 percent said they […]
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[updated] Lisa Murkowski (R-ExxonValdez) opposes forcing oil companies to pay to clean up oil spills
On the Senate floor a few moments ago, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J), and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) asked for unanimous consent to pass their Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act of 2010, which would raise the liability cap on offshore drilling accidents from $75 million to $10 billion. Unanimous consent simply means the […]
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What’s in the air along the Louisiana coast?
Working to clean up the Gulf oil spill Cross-posted from NRDC’s Simple Steps blog. Venice, La. – “You shoulda been out here last evening” said Carey, the shrimp boat captain who took me out to South Pass today. He saw that I was taking air samples with a hand-held monitoring device, and recounted the strong […]
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A quick look back at BP’s pre-spill greenwashing
The BP oil spill in the Gulf is heartbreaking, so is the “It wasn’t our fault” denial. A little walk down memory lane (and not too long of one) should give us good reason to be skeptical of oil giant, BP. In my new book, I talk about the power of skilled corporate greenwashing to […]