4/29 NASA satellite view of the oil slick
So by now everyone who doesn’t live in a cave has heard about the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Since the April 20th explosion of the offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, an estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil
per day has been released into the waters off the coast of Louisiana. So far the slick has traveled mostly north and west, hitting Freemason Island, a Louisiana bird sanctuary, on Thursday. According to
NOAA projections, oil could hit
hundreds of miles of coastline from Louisiana to Florida, even traveling out into the Atlantic. There was recently an attempt to cap and funnel the leak. The attempt was not a success. Plan B includes drilling a
“relief well” that could literally take months to complete.
The following media frenzy has been distressing to watch, and frustratingly shallow on facts. Media responses range across the board, from John Stewart’s Daily Show brilliant simulation of the failure to cap the oil leak, to Rush Limbaugh’s statement that the oil is as “natural” as the ocean water it’s polluting and therefore should be left alone. › Continue reading
Tags: Energy, Environmental Awareness, Environmentally Responsible, Gulf of Mexico, oil, oil spill, pollution
