What appeared to be a leak by BP in the Gulf of Mexico is now probably the worst ecological disaster of our lifetime! Unfortunately, there appears to be no immediate solution to stop it. The only way to stop it is to drill a relief well, which may take several months to drill, as it may have to down as much as 13,000 feet to intercept the existing well. In the meantime, it is estimated that between 250,000 to 1,000,000 gallons of oil a day is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. What have we let loose?
Let’s see how we’ve been doing lately, aside from the BP disaster. Unless you’re been lying in a coma for the past few years, you’ve seen how greed destroyed out financial system to the point of being the worst Recession since the Crash of 1929. Even with the evidence fresh in our minds, Congress has done absolutely nothing about placing serious controls on what Wall Street can and cannot do. In the meantime, Wall Street and the Banks continue "business as usual", waiting to see if the ball will fall on them. Our engagement in Afghanistan continues to deepen our engagement without dealing with the whole picture. That picture is Pakistan and until we succeed in Pakistan’s commitment to fight the Taliban on their soil, we’re going nowhere. The "War On Drugs" has become a fiasco, and always was, but this time, the problem is much closer to the United States than Colombia was a decade ago. It’s Mexico, the country with which we have an open border that stretches 1,969 miles. What was once a problem with illegal aliens has become an open wound in which drug gangs, similar to Colombia, are flooding the market with drugs. America has a real taste for them, so much so that we’re supplying them guns while they bring in the drugs. At least this isn’t an American problem as it has spread to Japan where Toyota has had to recall over 10 million cars and trucks going back to 2006 up to the present. To make this worse, Toyota knew of the problem and tried to pass it off, endangering the lives of anyone who drives their vehicles.
That list should make even the most optimistic individual want to throw up! To make things worse, all of them could have been avoided or corrected. On top of this, we now face the worst ecological disaster, caused by man. You can look back in history and everything pales in comparison to what what BP has done in the Gulf of Mexico, which now threatens the Florida Keys and possibly the East Coast of the United States. In fact, it could be even worse if the oil spill ends up in the Atlantic and into the Sargasso Sea and the Gulf Stream. The present size of the oil spill is about the size of the state of Maryland and growing. Two weeks ago, it was the size of Rhode Island. Now, they have found that there are giant oil plumes in the Gulf that re 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick. This creates even a greater danger than to shore line or shrimp and oyster beds. It will effect any fish or any form of sea life that comes in contact with it, as it is absorbed, making it toxic. Besides that, these plumes are beginning to absorb absorb 30 percent of the oxygen from the sea itself. The impact may be felt from the Louisiana shores east to the other Gulf States, the Florida Keys and up the East Coast as far as the shores of North Carolina. Having grown in size, this ecological monster is approaching the "Loop Current" in the Gulf, that will provide its travel through the Keys, into the Caribbean, and up the East Coast, eventually landing into the Gulf Stream! What the F..K!
The big question is why this has remained a BP problem and a BP solution? It may have started out as one and it may end up in the Courts as one but it’s time to bring everyone who has any handle as to how to deal with it. BP is now considering blowing golf balls into the hole and cementing it up. I have no idea what golf balls and other assorted junk can do with dealing with the pressure that is pumping out that oil! Their first dome didn’t work, nor did the second. Now they have inserted a 6 inch pipe into the 21 inch pipe, which is spewing the oil to remove some of the oil that continues to gush into the Gulf. They are months away from drilling a relief well to stop the oil. That’s going to really help! Last week, the head of the oil companies involved appeared before Congress and all they did was to blame each other. It looked like a Three Stooges act! BP, Transocean and Halliburton became Larry, Curley and Moe! It’s time to have the Government take over this disaster as a matter of national security! If the U.S. Government is reluctant to take this over, then turn it over to someone who will. You can’t tell me that no one out there in either the oil industry or academia doesn’t have an idea how to stop it! For some reason, the Obama Administration has continued to play second fiddle to BP, while this ecological disaster grows expedientially! Will someone please step up to the plate?
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Tom C.