An exceptional, deeply satisfying diary published Monday didn't get many eyeballs, so I'm posting a big chunk of it here in hopes that it will whet your appetite for reading the whole piece. It's Mike Stagg 's analysis of how The Deep Water Moratorium Threatens Two Louisiana Republican Oligarchs. Mike posts at Democratic Louisiana:
Any chance for good cooperation between the federal government and the state of Louisiana in the response to the BP Gulf Gusher died on May 30 when the U.S. Department of the Interior declared a six-month moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the then month-old disaster.
Although the New York Times reported that Governor Bobby Jindal's personal dissatisfaction with the federal response to the disaster had gone public by May 3, the moratorium ratcheted up the pressure in the already tense situation by threatening losses in the industry that had caused the disaster. ...
So, the moratorium looked like the prudent call until the cause of the BP Gulf Gusher could be identified, the well capped, and a new set of safety rules issued based on what was learned from this incident.
But, alarm about the potential impact from the moratorium quickly went up along the coast and from within state government. Tens of thousands of jobs were threatened if the moratorium was allowed to stand. The job loss numbers fluctuated but trended downward in the first weeks after the moratorium was announced.
Jindal assigned his newly minted Lieutenant Governor Scott Angelle the task of heading up the effort to generate public opposition to the moratorium. Angelle formed a coalition and had an online petition created. He traveled across the southern part of the state rallying opposition. He met with federal officials, parroting dire predictions of the impact of the moratorium. He followed Jindal's lead and bashed the President. ...
Still, the moratorium stuck.
Then Hornbeck Offshore Services, LLC, of Covington, announced its intention to file suit challenging the moratorium. It was assigned to Federal District Court Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans and the rest is history. Feldman overturned the moratorium.
Hornbeck was joined in the challenge by 37 other companies in the challenge, giving the impression that a broad swath of the industry opposed the moratorium. The governor's office filed a brief in support of Hornbeck's claim. ...
The involvement of these 37 companies did not constitute a broad industry response. It was, instead, a shriek of anger at the federal government that had thrown into jeopardy the empires of two of the key members of the new Republican oligarchy that has been ascendant in Louisiana politics in recent years. The Bollingers and the Chouests were reliable heavy hitters for the party and its causes. In trying to prevent another blowout in the hazardous deep water environment, President Obama had unwittingly delivered would could prove to be a lethal blow to some of some of the wealthiest arch conservative activists in the state. If the President did not realize the full extent of the in-state political implications of the moratorium, it did not take too long to become evident. |
Click the link. There's much, much more.
• • • • •
Green diary rescue appears Sundays (except for three-day weekends) and Thursdays. Inclusion of a particular diary does not necessarily mean my agreement with it. The rescue begins below and continues in the jump.
• • • • •
Haole in Hawaii posted A Random Hawaiian Photo Diary.
In case you missed the news over the Independence Day weekend, Eclectablog took note that Obama announces $2 BILLION in solar power investments: "This is an industry and an energy source that needs a kick start. Much of the Recovery Act money that has gone into solar power-related projects has ended up going to foreign companies for the very simple reason that there just aren't that many USA companies to invest in.This is a huge commitment to USA-made solar energy equipment and components. Meanwhile, right here in my own backyard, University of Michigan scientists are figuring out how to make plastic solar cells that have a high enough efficiency that they can compete with standard silicon and thin-film cells."
Food, Agriculture & Gardening
Nature Maven took a big whack at a certain ubiquitous product in Still in doubt about the innocence of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?: "I Like my corn fresh, hot and slathered with buttery Earth Balance and doused with a little salt and pepper. I like it yellow, white, bicolor and bumpy. I like it in a husk, ready for shucking out on the deck. I liked it popped, and I like it ground into cornmeal for awesome corn sticks and corn bread. I don't like it sweetening my breakfast cereal, my catsup, my soda, my candy, my cookies, my ice tea or my bread. I don't like it in my salad dressing."
WarrenS elaborated on The ECSTASY of Growing Your Own — A DIY Garden Project: "today I'm just going to brag on my garden a little. Our little household will never be able to get off the food grid entirely (can't grow rice in the Boston suburbs! No room for the spaghetti trees!) but we've been getting better at it every year."
Emmet discussed what not to grow in Passionate Gardening -- The Three Worst Plants Edition: "From the vinca massed on the border, it's a very short step to another list, the list of plants that are an Affront to Gardening. I don't mean weeds, of course. We all have to deal with weeds. And I don't mean vegetables -- they don't have to look nice. I mean plants that people DELIBERATELY plant and DELIBERATELY grow for their alleged beauty. The horticultural equivalent to nails on a chalkboard."
Frankenoid was up with the roosters to post her Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol. 6.19: "... with July comes the hope of a good monsoon season — the forecast is for scattered thundershowers during the upcoming week and cooling down into the 80s. We had a little taste of it yesterday afternoon. Clouds started rolling in about 2:30; we had a few spits of rain; and by 3:30 the clouds had rolled right on out again. Here's hoping we get a real monsoon season this year."
beach babe in fl gave us another installment of Macca's Meatless Monday..."Freedom" from oil...green picnic: Fruit kebobs and vichyssoise.
Water & Conservation
The Natural History Of California And Its Water was Richard Lyon's graphic-heavy look at the subject: "It is interesting to see that the Pacific coasts of North and South America are mirror images of each other in terms of climate. Starting in the north there is the polar arctic, then the wet temperate zone of the Gulf of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Next comes California followed by the Sonora desert and then the equatorial belt of warm wet weather. Below that is the desert of Southern Peru and Northern Chile. Central Chile has a climate and geography that is very similar to California. Then comes a wet temperate belt and finally the polar region of Antarctica."
Energy, Mining & Transportation
xaxnar discussed a problem you may also be having in Gasoline + Ethanol + Small/Older Engine = *!@&*!*&^!*#: " I've got some older lawn and garden tools that were built before ethanol started turning up in everything. And it's not good. Worse, even brand new equipment doesn't seem to be happy burning the stuff. I've been shopping for a new lawn tractor, and fuel turns out to be a problem whenever I ask the salesmen about it. I've been told to try using higher octane gas, or buy a stabilizer additive to mix with the gas."
His usual subject brought terryhallinan forth Light aTiny Candle In The Vast Darkness: "Behind only hydropower and biomass with vastly more potential than all other sources, geothermal remains the Rodney Dangerfield of alternative energy."
yomamaforobama was jazzed by Tesla Motors and South Carolina: Wishes, Hopes and Dreams: "This week our financial markets debuted an initial public offering of shares in Tesla Motors, a spanking-new car company that manufactures electric vehicles (EVs) using a lithium-ion cell as its power source. Just plug in the car and Voila! it recharges. On one hand, this Tesla IPO represents good old American ingenuity. Paired with the ever-present wishes, hopes and dreams that fuel the values of shares, this issue gained 40% in its first day of trading. On the other hand, I wonder how well thought-out this product really is and therefore, it may also represent good old American consumerism and greed."
Those aren't the dreams, wishes and hopes of K S LaVida, as we learned in I don't want an electric car: "But when I put on my practical hat, and look at what solves my actual needs, I am unlikely to want an all-electric car. At least not for the forseeable future. All-electric cars like the relatively affordable Nissan Leaf, or the upscale Teslas, are special-purpose vehicles. I'm a relatively friendly user, a fan of small, economical cars, not SUVs or high-performance machines. If it isn't going to work for me, it's not going to work for more than a modest niche market."
Junkyard Dem warned that Hydrofracking may endanger New York's water supply: "A battle is brewing between the energy industry and environmentalists about the dangers of removing natural gas from the shale using a process called hydrofracking. There have been reports of exploding houses, poisoned water supplies, and serious health problems as a result of the injection of chemicals, many of them toxic, into rock about a mile below the surface. These compounds can seep into underground and surface water supplies. As we don't even know what ingredients the energy industry is using to extract methane gas, we can only guess as to the long term ramifications of this process."
Reverend Billy found the latest culprits financing a certain kind of coal mining in There Are Mountains and There Are Mountains: "Who is financing Mountaintop Removal now that Chase got out of the business? Our answer came from Rainforest Action Network. Two banks, mostly, PNC Bank of Philadelphia and UBS Bank of Switzerland."
Energy Independence Day Postponed In Sunshine State - Again lamented dantilson: "On June 30th, Florida's solar rebate incentive plan expired because Republicans dominating the legislature refused to renew it for another year. The rebates made it possible for homeowners to recoup up to eighty percent of the cost of installing a full-scale solar electric system. Now they're on their own."
In Event Horizon, worldforallpeopleorg gave us the skinny on Mining copper & gold under the Deep Blue Sea: "If one stands back and looks at the ways of the world, deep water seabed mining is an unstoppable series of events on our horizon. Planning and technologies have been under development and heavily invested in for a long time. A Canadian/multinational company Nautilus Minerals is well ahead of what China is planning, ready to go in Papua New Guinea. And the inevitability of seabed mining can be seen in its own literature: Nautilus Minerals estimates in a September 2009 corporate presentation that 'thousands of underwater sulphide systems exist,' and 'if only half of underwater systems are geographically viable, seafloor production would represent several billion tons of copper per annum.'"
Animals
matching mole fibbed a bit in the headline of the Dawn Chorus Birdblog: Puffins in Kilts!: Perhaps perversely for Independence Day I'm going to blog about birds in the United Kingdom. And I'll come right out and say it - the title is a lie. A shameless ploy to draw in the casual Sunday morning reader with a weakness for comical seabirds and tartan.
toots74 announced that New Zealand Bans Inhumane Kosher Slaughter: "New Zealand has banned shechita, the brutal and inhumane kosher slaughter of animals."
Piggies got in the way of an improved life for puppies, wrote Christian Dem in NC in NC pork industry lobby derails puppy mill bill: "The North Carolina General Assembly tried and failed for the second year in a row to rein in puppy mills. Yet the reason it failed this year is one of the most comical I've seen yet. It was well on its way to passage before it ran into opposition from--wait for it--the state pork industry lobby."
Knucklehead pulled some photos from his archive to illustrate Gulf Coast: "Although many of these specimens imaged are not endemic to the gulf, they are nonetheless part of our planet`s heartbeat, & will ultimately be affected as time goes on, no matter how far our planet`s blood, (the oceans) is pumped to. I post these to impress upon you, the life forms that many will never have the opportunity to ever see in the wilderness of the unseen."
Ellinorianne looked at the importance of Studying the Effects of Oil on Endangered Whales and Those Burning Turtles: "There is no reason why vets, and others cannot rescue these turtles before they light the oil on fire, (in of itself a questionable practice). But we know that the oil is doing such horrific harm, and it just keeps spewing into the Gulf. As for the study, it's important to understand what kind of effect the oil is having on endangered whale species, such as the sperm whale."
As dedicated as people engaged in the process are, tedM said, it won't do much good to "Clean" Oiled Birds: "The Prestige spill killed 250,000 birds. Of the thousands that were cleaned, most died within a few days, and only 600 lived and were able to be released into the wild. According to a British study of the spill, the median lifespan of a bird that was cleaned and released was only seven days."
You could almost hear the sigh from juliewolf in her diary, Scenes from a whale watch: "I haven't written much about the oil spill in the gulf. I can't. It's not that I have nothing to say about it. It's that it is so far beyond the scope of anything that makes sense to me that I am paralyzed by it. If you know me, you know that for me to be unable to talk about something is pretty serious. I go out on this boat and look out on the ocean, and think how completely beautiful it is, but also knowing how much work we, as a world, are putting into things that are destroying it."
Forests & the Great Outdoors
Richard Lyon told a story of aWild River - The Smith: "The effort to preserve wild and scenic rivers in California and elsewhere has been a major environmental battle for many years. In California the Smith River which drains the northwest corner of the Klamath Mountains is the only river that has entirely escaped being dammed. It really is wild and very scenic."
ban nock told a story of a remote trek in The Trail to Nambo: "The trail to Nambo is a relative superhighway. It is by far the most gradual and fastest trail for hundreds of square miles. Using the cut of the the Nam Long through the mountains the trail steadily gains elevation while never resorting to switchbacks or steep sections. I've walked the trail twice, once back in 06 and more recently in the winter of 09."
Muskegon Critic told the a story about passing along knowledge and stuff to the next generation in %$&k it, Dude. Let's Go Fishin'.: "My nephew caught a large fish tonight. He's in town from the East side of the state and he was very excited to catch and eat the fish. I told him what my uncle told me years ago...if you kill it, you have to eat it. He's five. We did the age old 'clean the fish' gag on him where he thinks we wash it off with water. The Boy and I sang 'fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads...' My nephew ate the fish gladly."
In her Hike On! series, RLMiller told the story of how two Senators are trying to preserve A Valles Caldera National Park At Long Last?: "Valles Caldera, in New Mexico's high country, is a huge dormant field of volcanoes high in the Jemez Mountains west of Santa Fe. Within the collapsed supervolcano are sparkling streams, miles of hiking, unusual geological features, and herds of wild turkey and elk. Thanks to Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Tom Udall (D-NM), it may finally take its place among the crown jewels of the country as a national park. And it'll be a sharp poke in the eye to conservative, free market ideology."
Pollution & Hazardous Materials
stonehenge warned about Cell Phone Health Hazards: Better Safe Than Sorry: "Who should have the burden of proof on the health hazards of cell phones: the industry or the individual user? Assuming for argument's sake that the scientific evidence is insufficient, inconclusive or uncertain, if there are reasonable scientific grounds for concern about the potentially dangerous effects on the environment, human, animal or plant health, the burden should shift to the industry. After all, a drug cannot be sold without proof that it is safe, nor can a food be launched without prior approval. Yet, we can use mobile telephony, including masts, and introduce WiFi and cell phones, without restrictions around our children, a double-standard gone insane."
Round-ups, Wrap-ups & Digests
mwmwm: One year, two years ago in ecocollapse.
eKos: the 1st ekos independence earthship: "Seems like we're all shaking this year with shock and awe. Not much to celebrate. Even if you are heading out to some nearby beach to catch some waves, chances are there's no way to wash the images of the Gulf from your mind's hypervigilant eye."
Eco-Philosophy, Eco-Policy & Eco-Action
olmanwillow linked two controversial subjects in one diary in Big Oil/Coal caused it all :(: "Pollution and overpopulation seem to be our major problems. Overpopulation leads to large resource needs. Large amounts of food, shelter, fresh water, etc. Pollution limits the supply of fresh water etc, but the energy produced by the polluting agents is what made the transportation of these supplies possible. The world finds itself in a desperate situation. If the energy problems are not solved then we either pollute ourselves to death or stop using the pollutants killing billions."
jamess took the metaphorical approach in The Asteroid called Us ... is on a collision course: Musings on the Sixth Extinction and what humans are doing to hasten their own demise.
rb137 looked at the Congo again in EcoJustice: "What I do" and What it Means to be Ruined.: "T y interest is in conflict resolution, and when I can, I volunteer my skills as an analyst and writer to help bloody circumstances in Democratic Republic of Congo. I've been writing about it a lot lately, because conflict minerals are getting some action in congress. This is an EcoJustice issue because mineral rights are at the root of this horrible violence. And it's more than a regional war. It is a looming climate threat. Many ecology groups work to stop the conflict; the Dian Fossey Foundation was one of the first. The heart of Africa's ecology lives in the Congo basin, and it is threatened by the instability. It is our industry empowers the warlords that destablize the country. As we put wealth and technology into their hands, their power to plunder increases."
bogmanoc put a positive spotlight on the same subject in The Green Asteroid: "I have agreed with the basic premise of James's post for some time, that WE are now the game-changer in the evolution of life on the planet. And while life on the planet will surely survive in one form or another, we may be not be around to see it."
CapeTown96 said we should look at the Gulf oil disaster as "terrorist attack": "In many real ways the Gulf Oil disaster is a terrorist attack. It has caused the destruction of an entire sea, the Gulf of Mexico. It has destroyed a massive ecosystem, 40% of US wetlands, 1,500 miles of coastline, thousands of businesses, a million or more jobs, destruction that is still building and will continue for the rest of the century. The terrorism is the terrorism of oil dependence and of the ideology of "anti-government", of no scientific or technological oversight by government for public interest."
Ojibwa told the story of the Dam Indians on the Elwha River: "In 1910 construction began on the Elwha Dam. The construction of the dam ignored both the Klallam people and state law which required fish runs. In 1913 when the dam became operational, the Klallam people watched in horror as thousands of migrating fish died at the base of the 108’ high dam. By blocking the fish passage to their spawning grounds, the dam effectively negated the tribe’s treaty rights."
It seems even a cataclysm won't budge us, Badabing wrote in There is No Such Thing as a 'Tipping Point' - Get Over It: "I've been lurking lately since the endless BP Oil spill continues to perpetuate ecological and financial terrorism at the rate of 2.5 million gallons of oil a day, ruining lives, an entire ecological system that may never survive, and sending Americans into such despair that there are growing numbers of people on the Gulf committing suicide, having lost everything; their way of life, the land and sea they loved, a way to make a living as fishermen/women on seas they revered, with no hope in sight for a future that no longer exists for themselves or their families. I thought, that after the Great Heist of 2008, by Wall Street and the Banks, that perhaps that would be our nation's 'tipping point' as many call it here on DailyKos. But it was not. I'm now believing at this point in time, there is no such thing as a 'Tipping Point' in our nation, because regardless of how monumental the event or catastrophe, Americans (unlike our own ancestors) are not willing to March by the Millions into Washington DC, and make that 'Tipping Point' happen, by suiting up, and showing up."
StevenJoseph had a suggestion for solving two problems at once in Reduce Unemployment While Cleaning Up Oil Spill: "Let's say that President Obama said, 'We have waited and waited for you to clean things up, but it is just taking too long. So we are going to ask Congress for a startup of 10 billion dollars with a renewable option in 10 billion dollar chunks until this mess is cleaned up, and then we are going to present you the bill. We will work to aid the work you are doing. You can continue to do what you have been doing, but we will add our workers to yours to clean things up more quickly.'"
And wilsona had a suggestion for getting rid of pollution and solving another problem at the same time in Building Up Detroit, Bring Down the Incinerator: "In 2009 I arrived in Detroit for my first visit to the city and a Zero Waste Communities Conference. Arriving in the middle of the night, I woke up early the next day to meet other Zero Waste advocates and attend workshops and panels on how to transition cities and towns from places that belch unwanted and used-up materials and pollution, into communities that responsibly reduce waste and reuse resources. We looked, and easily found, opportunities in shutting down trash incinerators and all other types of incinerators. Conference participants imagined operating vibrant recycling and reuse centers that could employ between six to ten times more people than incinerating or landfilling."
Politicians
Southernlib explained that Oil Is Driving the Races in Florida: "The matter began earlier this month when it was revealed Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber's law firm took on BP as a client. Gelber told the Daily Business Review in mid-June that any connection between Akerman Senterfitt and BP was a non-issue in the campaign, but by the end of the month he had resigned from the firm over the whole affair."
Bill Prendergast wrote that, as usual, nuttiness is driving races in Minnesota: Bachmann update: fed govt will handle your health care same way it's handling BP disaster: The Congresswoman from Minnesota's 6th district gets wackier yet.
theworksanddays pointed out that somebody missed the big picture in Bathrooms, Idaho, NYT and BP oil: "The NYT did the story on the lack of adequate review by the Fish and Wildlife staff of the Department of the Interior on the need to protect wildlife in the Gulf when doing the BP deep water drilling. For some reason the NYT story fails to mention that the oversight, theoretical and legal, if not in reality, of the Fish and Wildlife Service was Dirk Kempthorne, former Governor of Idaho and, until now, his biggest embarrassment was the money he spent on a fancy bathroom for himself during the less than two years he spent in the position."
Climate Change
billlaurelMD had the latest data in News from the Arctic: U.S. Independence Day 2010: "The Arctic Basin, where the anomalous high pressure was centered, was pretty much universally above normal in temperature, by as much as 4°C (7.2°F). Colder than normal temperatures were limited to the north Atlantic and adjacent parts of Europe, extending eastward to the seas and adjacent land areas of western Siberia (as much as 3°C or 5.4°F) below normal."
David Brin took some time to make some Clarifications re Climate Skeptics and Deniers: "The denier movement pretends to be about asking honest questions about a scientific matter that is both complex and possibly fraught with systematic errors. I believe that honest skeptics can play an important role there. But denialism is ALSO about preventing the community consensus in atmospheric science from affecting public policy. They insist on a burden of proof that 99%+ of skilled experts in a field are insufficient - and yet a slim majority of science-illiterate politicians (during the Bush Era) and now a 40% minority of science-clueless politicians - should have absolute power to ignore the best scientific advice of the era."
An explanation of a contrarian view was on bob zimway's plate in DeFazio, OR, warns on Carbon cap and trade: "The House pushed the Waxman-Markey climate bill through last week, and many on the left breathed a sigh of relief. But Representative Peter DeFazio, the US Congressman from Southwest Oregon's 4th district, isn't buying it. He voted against the bill, and promptly posted a press release on his website telling why."
Nature Freak had a problem with the way eco-advocates are discussing Global Warming; Our poor or China?: " Even those who believe that climate change must be met with firm action, such as Kyoto-type restrictions on economic activity, must acknowledge the futility of this effort. ... Please, just don't hurt the living standards of middle class and poor people who can't afford it. This effort is a dagger pointed at the lower-class people, something progressives must oppose."
Story-telling, Poems, Snark
Charlotte Lucas had a marvelous travel tale in Elephants Are Big In Thailand And Nepal; 4: "We were hauled to the village but saw few of its inhabitants. The Tharus, a farming people, apparently keep much to themselves, preserving their unique culture and worshiping their own gods. In the sixteenth century some of them had migrated from northern India. They came to escape the Mughal rulers who had brought the religion of Islam from Persian. The immigrants settled in this region. They are self-sufficient, raising their own food, building their simple houses, weaving colorful fabrics for their clothes, and making pottery."
mwmwm posted anothereco-PANIQuiz for week ending July 4: Laughing at danger:
"6. What evidence was discovered about methane gushing along with oil in the Gulf?
a. Adolescent dolphins are enjoying the 'cheap high.'
b. It's almost as bad as all the cows in the US.
c. It's in a 'cage match' with fertilizer runoff from the Mississippi.
d. It's creating huge oxygen-depleted 'dead zones.'
e. It interacts with dispersant to produce CH3E2E."
Bill Wiltrack found something appropriate from the late George Carlin on The Gulf Oil Spill: "I look at it this way... For centuries now, man has done everything he can to destroy, defile, and interfere with nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, destroying wetlands and aquifers... so when nature strikes back, and smacks him on the head and kicks him in the nuts, I enjoy that. I have absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it's natural or man-made, I always hope it gets worse."
The diarist who writes We Want Change told a story about her upbringing and how that has shaped her thinking about environmental issues in Farmworkers exposed to Pesticide? No More Silent Springs: "I am grateful for people like Rachel Carson who alerted us to the dangers of using pesticides in our environment, and for reminding us to respect Mother Earth. I am also grateful to Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers in America for standing up to those who exploit and abuse those who harvest in the hot sun so that we can enjoy the fruits of their labor. We must always ensure that we tell our grandchildren, children, nieces, and nephews about the importance of the environment. I send my nieces and nephew in the U.K. all of my Greenpeace, Defender’s of Wildlife, and even Color of Change petitions. They sign the petitions and then circulate them at school to their friends. They are still at an age where whatever we share with them will be taken in and will have some lasting impact, just as my English teacher impacted me."
Gulf Gusher
matching mole: Waiting for Oil in Apalachee Bay: "This diary is really just a report on the state of booming and biodiversity in the northeastern gulf which is still awaiting its first oil (at least on the surface). No analysis - just a feel for what things are like. Today I visited the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in a month."
RogerShuler: Conditions Go From Bad to Worse Off Alabama Coast: " A low-oxygen dead zone is choking life on the sea floor in places off the Alabama shoreline, according to a report yesterday in the Mobile Press-Register. Also, submerged oil on the seafloor has been documented in state waters. On top of that, a public official says a 15-mile-long oil slick is expected to hit the beaches of Baldwin County today."
RogerShuler:Creator of Oil-Spill Videos Makes Us Proud to be from Alabama: "It's not often that a progressive gets to say, "I'm proud to be from Alabama." But we had an opportunity to feel that way Wednesday night when environmentalist John Wathen appeared on Countdown With Keith Olbermann to discuss his dramatic videos of damage from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
icebergslim: Pensacola official WRONG on re-opening the beaches: "Federal health officials wanted the beach closed, but local officials re-opened Pensacola Beach? What is the authority for the safety of humans? Now these beaches have local authorities on site to keep people out of the water, claiming high tide, surf, but what about some truth telling here."
AdHack had some words on that subject in Govt Crackdown on Media in Gulf for 4th of July: "To me, the way things are playing out in the Gulf go far beyond whether I'm a disillusioned Democrat. I'm a disillusioned AMERICAN. Obama as a PRESIDENT is letting me down. He and his administration say one thing and act one way in public, but they have not been straight with us about the oil leak from the beginning, and I've been tracking it every step of the way -- from the ridiculous low estimates of the leaks, to confirmation of underwater plumes, to allowing media access, on and on and on, we've been lied to and misled. Time and again, scientists and experts say one thing, BP and then the government say another, and slowly the truth leaks out, bit by bit, gradually raising the stakes of exactly how horrible this tragedy is, as if to manage Americans' responses, keep them from panicking."
jamess: About those New EPA Dispersant Tests: "So once again, if EPA had these LC50 readings Why did they ask for new tests to be conducted? Well this appears to be the reason -- they wanted Toxicity testing from 'Independent sources', and not from the Dispersant Manufacturer which was apparently the norm with the previous system."
vets74: BP Oil Disaster v3.2: Pics & Vids & Media Lies: "BP and Halliburton are committing a massive ecocide. And the CNN fable factory came up with a BP-friendly lie that the "Whale" skimmer will extract 21,000,000 gallons of oil a day."
vets74: BP Oil Disaster v. 1.0: Hats On, Patriots!: "Ecocide has been committed. Now we will witness the death throes of animals, plants, and local human cultures. ... There is nothing to be done to stop it. Booms are useless in 3-foot waves. A 10-foot hurricane storm surge has a mechanical power beyond anything productive or nondestructive that humans can even imagine."
vets74: BP Oil Disaster v. 2.1: Sunday Heat, Patriots: "The big damage to the Gulf Coast is already in the water. Wind driven oil will destroy much of the Louisiana littoral. Scenarios with oil driven ashore by hurricanes will see the coast from Mississippi to Florida damaged for 20 years. Worst case is destruction of the lower Everglades, which would be totally inundated if we see a high tide storm surge from a Cat 3, 4, or 5 hurricane."
XOVER: The Lesson of Exxon Valdez: Death from the Gulf?: "Campbell Brown of CNN recently reported that the vast majority of people that worked to clean up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska are now dead. The average life-span of an Exxon Valdez worker has turned out to be 51 years old. Amazing. It doesn't take much to imagine what Exxon Valdez portends for cleanup workers in the Gulf of Mexico."
scorpiorising: Not Just a Media Clampdown on the Gulf: "The addition of a $40,000 fine and felony charges for media caught closer than 65 feet to oil recovery operations, is not just a clampdown on the media, it is also a sign of growing resistance from residents and activists, everywhere."
gjohnsit: BP, government makes Gulf oil spill go away: "If the issue was national security then BP shouldn't have had much of a say in it. However, if the issue was PR, then having the BP representative clear the pictures makes perfect sense. Of course this event doesn't mean much of anything without putting it into context. That context was a Coast Guard ruling created earlier this week."
Vetwife: Suspension of the 1st amendment and the Oil...This is freedom how?: "On this 4th of July, someone is going to have to explain to me why Anderson Cooper is reporting from the gulf about a complete violation of the 1st amendment regarding Freedom of the Press. I do not care who is President. I do not care what company it is. It is our Beaches. It is our country and people had better wake up to the fact that determining just how close you can get to aim a camera is unacceptable."
Gulf watchers: BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 38.
Gulf watchers: BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 39 - Special Guest Edition.
Gulf watchers: BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 40 How To Help Special Holiday Edition.
Gulf watchers: BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 41.
Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #166 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
Lorinda Pike: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #167 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
CindyMax: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #168 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
Gulf Watchers Overnight: Gulf Watchers ROV # 169 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
Yasuragi: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #170 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
David PA: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #171 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
Pam LaPier: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #172 - 4th of July Edition.
khowell: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #173 - Special 4th Of July Crabbing Edition.
Gulf Watchers Overnight: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #174 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
We Want Change: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #175 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.
Tomtech: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #176 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe.