We Are the Endangered Species

There is no viable solution insight for the out of control oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. The stunning failure of British Petroleum (BP) raises the question - are these oil giants too big to exist? Are they too dangerous to function in our presence? BP has four permanent deep water structures and 28 boreholes operating at a water depth of greater than 5000 feet in the Gulf of Mexico. What's next?

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The failed site is gushing between 200,000 and one million gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. The Center for Biological Diversity reported that the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the federal agency that approved drilling, routinely ignored Federal biologists by issuing waivers that failed to take in to account the impact of drilling on endangered species.
Adding humans as an endangered species might be a timely move. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) produced a document on April 28 indicating the leak could reach over two million gallons of oil a day. In addition to ravaging the Gulf of Mexico, the damage caused by oil may extend to the Florida straits and the Atlantic coast of the United States.
While BP estimates that it can contain the gusher within a week, Admiral Thad Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard is planning for the event to become a full scale catastrophe. His candid admission that half a million gallons of the toxic oil dispersant have been released above and below the gulf indicates the current level of desperation to contain the accumulating mess.

Too Big to Exist


BP is a $250 billion company, one of the six largest oil and natural gas exploration and marketing companies in the world. It's the largest corporation in the United Kingdom.
A look at its public safety record over the past five years raises questions about the ability of the company to function safely. In 2005, BP's Texas refinery had a series of explosions that killed 15 and injured 170 more people. Residents near the refinery were confined to their homes to limit toxic exposure. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board issued a thorough report laying responsibility at BP's doorstep. The company's poor maintenance of the Alaska pipeline at Prudhoe Bay due to "draconian cuts" in maintenance resulted in a major oil spill in 2006.
CNN conducted a major review of BP's challenges in light of these two disasters in 2006. Presented with evidence showing neglect of pipeline corrosion at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska the BP executive in charge claimed, "We were blindsided by the recent leaks." At congressional hearings, one BP officials invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid "self incrimination." BP senior management promised to take the steps necessary to moderate the company's obsession with the bottom line at the expense of safety.
Despite promising to remedy the problems it created in both disasters, BP had a poor track record of keeping its promises prior to the current catastrophe.

After being chastised by President Barack Obama for creating a "ridiculous spectacle" in the midst of the crisis, BP's CEO Tony Howard tried to diminish the scope of the problem. The CEO insisted that deep sea oil drilling will continue. He's right. BP has 32 Gulf of Mexico oil operations at greater than 5000 feet.



BP's Other Deep Operations in the Gulf:





Additional Drilling Leases Approved Since the BP Disaster:




http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/we-are-endangered-species



Petition to Seize BP, here:

http://www.seizebp.org/



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Obama takes tougher line on oil spill


The Obama administration directed more fire against BP last night, ordering it to provide daily updates on its efforts to contain the spill and to stop the use of a toxic chemical dispersant to break up the slick.
The White House said it expected the oil company to post daily updates on its website. "We think that is what the company owes, again, both us and the American people, as we work through our response and as the public has questions about their operations," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
The toughening line on BP comes as the Obama administration has faced heavy criticism for downplaying the scale of the disaster, despite evidence the spill could be caught up in currents that would drag it along the Atlantic coast. Last night it was reported that oil had washed into the marshes at the mouth of the Mississippi, coating the grasses of Louisiana's wetlands, home to rare birds, mammals and a rich variety of marine life.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it was ordering BP to stop the use of two forms of Corexit because of the high toxicity and relative ineffectiveness against the type of crude now polluting the gulf. The two versions of the chemical are banned in the UK because they are damaging to sea life.
More than 600,000 gallons of chemicals have been sprayed on the surface of the gulf, with another 55,000 injected directly into the oil billowing out of the ocean floor.
"Because of its use in unprecedented volumes and because much is unknown about the underwater use of dispersants, EPA wants to ensure BP is using the least toxic product authorised for use," the agency said in a statement.
The heavy reliance on chemical dispersants to break up the spill has raised concern among scientists and environmentalists.
......But they are carcinogenic, mutagenic and highly toxic, and it is unclear how much damage they are causing to marine life in deep water – a risk acknowledged by Jackson.

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Scientific agencies such as the EPA are now in the line of fire, as is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), which is in charge of oceans.
Much of that pressure revolves around the refusal of BP and the administration to give a reliable estimate for the amount of oil gushing from the ocean floor.
Congress as well as independent scientists have been demanding for days that the government agencies or BP update their estimate for the spill.

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The NOAA chief, Jane Lubchenco, has also tried to brush aside demands to produce an estimate for how much oil has now entered the gulf, and where it might be headed.
"At this point, it would not be appropriate to speculate on what that estimate is," she told a conference call with reporters last night.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/21/oil-spill-deepwater-horizon-obama

Oh, bite me, Jane. Typical ducking-the-issue bullshit. I'm so sick of it.

http://www.seizebp.org/

K&R

If we are 'endangered' it is only because of our own arrogance and ignorance.

We are the most equipped species on the planet in terms of our capacity to comprehend complexities. Instead of being dedicated shepherds, tending to the well being of what we deem simpler forms of life, we've allowed petty whims of wealth and war to corrupt the cause of us. Through the loss of those many forms we have sewn sight of our own end.

Expropriate the bastards.