BP finally managed to stop the leak, at least for now. There has been a fair amount of congratulatory babble on the cable news networks, and some speculation that British Petroleum's stock values may begin to rise again. Thank goodness. I noticed though, there was no mention today of the recent imposition by the federal government of$40,000 fines and felony charges for journalists who try to get too close to the clean-up operations or the workers involved in them. I wonder why? Could it be they're trying to keep the public in the dark about the extent of the damage that has been done and is still ongoing? Nah, they'd never do that.
Below are some photos from alexanderhiggins.com. which may go a ways toward explaining why freedom of the press is being curtailed on behalf of BP. It was difficult for me to look at them, and I'm sure there are others who won't want to, so I'll just say;
WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGES
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elegant mistake
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Comments
Ever.
Nobody feels sorrier for the sea life than someone like me who grew up in a town called Gulf Breeze, Florida with a dolphin for a high school mascot. But, as bad as that is, it's nothing compared to the loss of livelihood experienced by those communities fringing the gulf.
My mom and dad, who are in their 70s, will never recover from the loss of property value, opportunity, community capital and environmental resources.
In the days since the oil began to pour into the gulf, my parent's modest home has lost $50,000 of its value - plummeting to just $119,000 for a 3 bedroom home just blocks from the sea. In a few short years when they need the home they've invested in since 1982 to help take care of them, there will be no check forthcoming from BP to "make it right."
If I could set my own car on fire, move to the sticks and never drive again, I would. I hate BP, I hate gasoline, I hate corporations, I hate those motherfuckers running that corporation and I hope they all rot in eternal hell.
The only answer is to develop transportation and energy sources that do not involve fossil fuels. Period.
Oh, and thanks for shutting off the fucking leak, BP.
What a wonder of modern environmental engineering.
Yay.
(thumbified with an extra finger)
I'm not ready to jump up and down and do the happy dance either, though I'm glad for even this tentative good news. I had not heard about fines imposed on media. Pretty sure there will be an attempt to justify restricting the press for safety reasons. Pretty sure I won't buy it.
Watch this video of oil seeping out of the ocean floor that BP refuses to comment on.
Do I have the guts to print them and put them on my dashboard?
I don't know.
angst, sorrow, sadness, dying
souls at heaven's edge.
~shaking head~ Stupid human beings!!!
~wanders off~
BTW, there's a party at my blog.
yup they capped it for now. thing is like most man-made disasters could have been prevented if profit wasn't always the main priority. and yup, again images are disturbing. need to be seen though and felt with the hopes that we don't become de-sensitized like our species has become to most things ...
Ohh, the Oil and the Damage Done ...
And here's another thing to think about. Many of our at-risk ports are faced with the diversion of vital emergency equipment, personnel, and vessels that would ordinarily be ready for deployment should an oil or other hazardous material be released into the environment, leaving countless other areas of our precious coastline and ports at serious risk. Yeah.
If I think about this too much I'll just make myself too sick to breathe.
Lezlie
R
Now that the well is (temporarily only, and it may not hold) capped, I fear it will fade from the news...
I agree with froggy - these pictures should be on billboards all over the country...
Tho I suppose we'd become accustomed to them, the way smokers are to the pictures and warnings on cigarette packages...
I'm going to bed now, perchance to have nightmares...
I've been in the oil and gas business and never want to meet another such crooked and arrogant bunch of buffoons again.
The images above tell a far more honest story about the horrific damage done than BP blather ever could.
Amen to Jody and developing transportation that doesn't need fossil fuels.
AARRRGH!
but excellent post.
I am of the opinion that it is much, much worse than even these pictures show and also that the gov't (and likely BP as well) as well aware of the negative health consequences for those exposed to this constant methane poisoning and they either have no solution or don't care to take the actions involved in the solution (evucation of all coastal / marshland homes in the area).
Can I take a risk on this, to give a balance on the debate, and ask how many seriously thought about the environmental needs of the world before this happened?
BP has more American shareholders than any other national grouping. (I guess there could be an arguement for calling it AP?) Many of the pension funds that are important to each of us are invested in ............... BP. Is this the case of pointing with one finger without realising how many fingers are pointing back? Mabe.
For years the world has been talking about the damage being made on the worlds environment, while American governments through the years would not listen. More oil per head is used in America than any other nation in the world, and every gallon has been used to damage the worlds environment.
For those concerned, has anyone thought about taking a smaller more environmentally friendly car, like the rest of the world has been doing, for example? Will going to another garage do anything better than moving the risk to another company?
Oh and one more thing. Hind sight is a wonerful thing. It always gives us 20/20 vision. Why was it no one, except the oil companies, thought of these kind of risks when governmental decrees determined where the oil must be drilled. Why did they not listen to the oil experts who warned that what is being complained about now could become a reality?
Just a few thoughts to stir the spillage/disaster up a little.
He assured me many class-action suits are in progress, so BP should be brought to its knees and the money should go to the people in need, but this assumes the People win and not the lawyers.
I hope he is right.
I cannot sleep thinking about this.
I do hope people are learning what happens when greed becomes the driving focus of so many at once.
Sow and so will ye reap.
I'm of course glad that they've managed to staunch the flow of oil. But the damage has been done and will continue for decades to come, and that damage is on a scale which we haven't yet begun to comprehend, so it's difficult to feel "happy" about it. Our government - and ultimately, we ourselves - allowed this to happen, so my anger isn't solely directed at BP. Corporations by definition place profit above all other considerations; profit is the reason for their existence. The sin isn't so much that a corporation, while seeking to maximize profit, cut corners and lied about the likelihood of a disaster and their ability to deal with the aftermath. That is only to be expected from an entity whose sole motivation is making money. The real sin, what makes this so egregious, is that we've allowed corporations such power that they now control our government. It doesn't matter if that government is Republican or Democrat, it is a tool of the corporate sector, and it allows them to set the national agenda. By extension, we, with our collective ignorance and apathy, allow the ever-worsening corruption and abdication of responsibility in Washington.
Jonathan says he doesn't see a cover-up. He's right to some extent; the Deepwater Horizon disaster was too massive to be hidden. Nonetheless, the fact that our government has imposed a $40,ooo fine and felony charges against journalists who get too close to the clean-up efforts or the workers involved speaks volumes. They are in effect limiting freedom of the press in the interest of covering the ass of one of their corporate sponsors/masters. Federal and local law enforcement personnel are right now involved in limiting access to the areas worst affected by the leak, they are in fact acting in the interests of British Petroleum and against the interests of informing the public about the worst effects of this catastrophe. This has been apparent from day one. They can't cover up the fact of the spill, and that it is hugely destructive, but they can and are attempting to control the flow of information and the conversation about just how hugely bad it is.
As Delia says, many of the clean-up workers at the Valdez spill have suffered serious health problems, and some have died, and Exxon was able to get out of compensating many of them. The same thing will be true with the Gulf clean-up effort, but it will be many times larger a problem. I suspect that those who worked with and around the dispersants will be hardest hit, and I've no doubt that BP will do all in its power - and be assisted by our government in doing so - to deny compensation to those affected.
Americans are 5% of the world's population, but we consume 24% of the world's resources. In particular, we've hitched the wagon of our economy and our way of life to massive consumption of fossil fuels, we even wage wars for control of them. It's as if for the last century or so we've been enjoying a never-ending, sumptuous feast at the most expensive restaurant in town, but we haven't been worrying about the bill. The waiter's coming our way now though with the check, and the ultimate price of our collective orgy of consumption is going to be more than we can afford to pay.
their disrespect for life and the environment has created a hell on earth for the gulf inhabitants ,human and non human. Mutherfuckers!!!
in accordance with your statistics you gave, does this proposal include those in America who create the pressure for far too much environmentally dangerous oil to be produced.
(Careful with the answer, it may include many of the OS membership ...lol)
A sad, sad reality.
It will be more oil spilt than ever reported; more wildlife lost than ever expected; more economic impact that any recessional country can stomach; and more disasterous than any movie producer could paint.
But sadder yet will be that someday in the future, we will prove that we have not learned from this, and it will happen again.
Greed is a damn hard monster to kill.
r --
I always thought it was the other way around : The US hitched the wagon of its economy to war, and fossil fuels were required to wage them, etc.
I thought your " way of life " was just a by-product, something you were allowed to practise at the expense of wholesale destruction in other countries.
Now the wholesale destruction has come home.
Not so much people, yet, but your wildlife.
People next. Nothing wasted.
True cry.
We all share don't we, the world over. So it is indeed very likely that the 'cap will work, the relief well will save the day' and society will go merrily along on it's way until the next disaster catches us up short, and we'll scream collectively with outrage again.
As usual, 'someone' (else) is going to take care of the problem, if we just scream loud enough.
And boycotting BP only pours more cash over other corps that are doing the same thing on varying scales.
Personally I think the clock is ticking on one of those kinds of 'bombs' that can't be disarmed, but what do I know ;).
Rated for extreme sadness for our insular lifestyle.
The price of convenience is what we are paying. That's all we bought, just convenience, not one thing more. I wonder what it will take for Americans to be willing to be inconvenienced. God I hope this was enough.
Most americans have the attention span of a mosquito high on crack.
-R-
The animal pictures sickened me. People are pretty sick, too. Chernobyl about says it.
http://open.salon.com/blog/spiritmansf/2010/07/08/here_comes_the_sun#comment_1730472
I don't think boycotting BP is the answer either, we need to buy products that rely on renewable energy. Vote with out $$
If comrad obama had listened to the NOAA advisors this would not have happened. But he didn't allow them to attend the meeting. So the candidate who was against drilling, started drilling on rickety rigs in unsafe areas once he became the prez.
I am going to throw up I am crying so much.