Finally a Glimmer of Hope For the Disaster in the Gulf? No, Not Really!!

                  28 Days in to the Worst Man-Made Ecological Disaster in History,
                                 (The BP/DeepwaterHorizon/Halliburton Oil Spill)
                                    BP Has Announced Its First (meager) Success.

But Is It Too Little - Too Late?

BP workers have managed to fit a slightly smaller pipe into the larger damaged pipe at the Deepwater Horizon/Halliburton Oil Spill in the "Gulf of Cheney".  They finally, it seems have begun to capture some of the spewing oil.  "Approximately 1,000 barrels a day" BP officials said proudly. "That's about 1/5 or 20%" they gloated.

Now wait just a minute here - I think we need to take a look at that math!
 
1,000 barrels would equal 20%.  If the spill were, as BP continues to claim, only 5,000 barrels a day.  Unfortunately however, All Independent Scientific Sources estimate that the broken well is actually spilling, somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 Barrels a Day.  So if my math is correct.  They may be only siphoning off as little as 1% of the current spill.

This at a time, when according to the Miami Herald, Scientists are saying the already-spilled oil may be getting closer to South Florida.

Satellite images taken Sunday by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory show that the oil may have already entered the Gulf Loop Current.  Which could pull it through the Florida Keys in about 7 to 10 days.  And, eventually into South Florida according to an analysis by Mitch Roffer, a Florida-based Oceanographer. 

I think it's worth noting that once in South Florida.  The oil becomes a part of the Gulf Stream, which of course runs up almost the entire East Coast of the United States.

I'm sorry BP, but using the equivalent of a "Mile-Long Straw" to suck up a relatively insignificant amount of oil is hardly what I would call a solution.

  Just Thinking


Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word "Comments" if the panel is not open). Or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.  And don't forget to check out my new blog   Agnostic Thinking  found at the following address...    http://www.AgnosticThinking.BlogSpot.Com/  Dedicated just to Agnostic/Atheism, Rational Thinking, Gay Subculture And Related Topics.

Drill Baby Drill! Drill Baby Drill! Drill Baby Drill!

At the 2008 Republican National Convention John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Republican National Committee all assured us that it was perfectly safe to open up more of our Coastal Waters and even some of our National Parks to additional oil drilling.   Drill baby Drill was the chant as the crowd went absolutely wild and big oil executives smiled! 

Which is why I suppose environmentalists everywhere cheered when the Republicans lost the election later that same year.  Their victory was short-lived, however, as it was later to be revealed that big oil may have actually won anyway. 

On March 31 of this year President Obama  announced  his own plans to expand offshore oil drilling.  A position he had adamantly opposed during the presidential campaign.  But now viewed as a Safe and Viable Option. 

President Bush had tried for years and years to expand oil drilling off the coast of Florida. 

President Obama seems to have accomplished it in less than 15 months. 

And now less than three weeks after President Obama's announcement,  This Happens...

That's Right,  "Tragedy in the Gulf"  - when 11 Men Die in an Oil Rig Explosion off the Coasts of Louisiana and Florida.  This as we were being assured that modern technology had made such drilling Virtually Safe and Risk Free.

As the oil rig eventually sinks.  BP officials, the US Coast Guard, and the administration are all once again assuring us that despite the unfortunate loss of life an environmental disaster has been averted because no oil is leaking from the sunken rig.

Then just a few days later, this happens...

Officials reveal that last week’s oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has created a Catastrophic Oil Spill. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig is now leaking an average of a 42,000 gallons of crude oil per day. BP, which leased Deepwater Horizon from Transocean LTD, is working to clean up the mess, which poses a major threat to the fragile Gulf ecosystem.  An area that is used as a source for over 40% of America's seafood.

Not to mention the fact that the spill is just days away from coming ashore on the Florida and Louisiana coastlines.

In light of this and the recent West Virginia coal mine disaster, it should be clear that we need to find a way to end our dependency on fossil fuels.  Drill Baby Drill Is Obviously Not the Answer!

Did you know that China is actually the world leader in researching Wind, Solar, Hydrogen and Other Alternative Energy Resources. 

  Just Thinking 

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word "Comments" if the panel is not open). Or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.  And don't forget to check out my new blog   Agnostic Thinking  found at the following address...    http://www.AgnosticThinking.BlogSpot.Com/  Dedicated just to Agnostic/Atheism, Rational Thinking, Gay Subculture And Related Topics.