Lowest estimate: Twice the amount of Exxon Valdez has been gushed.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html?ref=us

(Sorry that I keep posting this same link, but some may not know it yet)

The corporate media loves to make comparissons with the flimsiest of information and pretext. There's a big difference between this disaster and that of the Exxon-Valdez. The bad is that the ship ran aground in shallow waters and right off shore that concentrated the oil, but also kept it inside Prince William Sound. Also, there was a finite amount of oil in that tanker...there was an "end" as to where the oil stopped spilling and the clean-up could begin.

This catastrophe is out in open water...following shore currents and trade winds that will spread the oil over a far greater area. Some will linger out in the deep waters that will "dilute" with the ocean currents over time. The ugly side of this situation is that there is no clear "end" as long as the oil flows and people are screaming for a clean-up while the oil still flows. It's a disaster in slow motion and a scope far bigger with greater impact than the Exxon-Valdez ever had.

I've been heart-sick since I learned that the oil rig fire and explosion was the prelude to what is turning into the worst oil spill started in US waters. Nevertheless, I don't believe that BP's spill is the worst in the Gulf of Mexico; I think I remember that PEMEX's Ixtoc no. 1 oil spill was much worse.

How does the Ixtoc spill compare to BP's current disaster? Does anyone know?

:cry:

:hurts:

:argh: