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Gulf oil spill crisis | A threat & an opportunity

by Michael J. Evans on June 9, 2010

in Uncategorized

Gulf Oil Spill Crisis: Will President Obama Follow the Lead of Jimmy Carter, or John F. Kennedy?

The Gulf oil spill is a crisis that presents both a threat and an opportunity for President Obama. His success does not depend on exhibiting anger, as some in the media have suggested. He cannot “emote” his way out of this crisis. The outcome will be determined not by words, but by actions. The comparison between President Obama and George W. Bush, and the debate over whether this is Obama’s Katrina, is a false issue. It may provide interesting cable news chatter, but the President should not concern himself with that. The real issue before President Obama is “What can I do, now that I know the full scope of the problem and the unreliability of British Petroleum, to protect the Gulf Coast and the health and financial well-being of its citizens?” [click to continue…]

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Oil Spill Pictures and the Media Blackout

Something is seriously wrong in our country. British Petroleum has thrown  a media blackout over the Gulf Coast, with the apparent complicity of some in our federal and local governments. We are now 51 days into the oil spill disaster, and BP still has such a stranglehold on access to the Gulf that only a few pictures have trickled out of the area. We’ve posted a few pictures of animals in the oil spill, but there haven’t been many of those pictures available for people to see. And the lack of photographs is the direct result of BP’s shutdown of the media. [click to continue…]

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Oil Spill Images June 5, 2010.

You probably don’t want to watch these oil spill pictures with your children. This video contains very graphic oil spill images showing the effects of the Gulf oil spill on wildlife of the area. Associated Press photographers have combined their oil spill images into this video that shows exactly what is happening to the birds of the Gulf. Here’s the oil spill video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJd4EM9vKp0

[click to continue…]

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Oil Spill Video June 4, 2010:

We have the oil spill videos BP doesn’t want you to see – Images of animals coated with oil from the BP oil leak are beginning to appear, and they show the heartbreaking consequences of BP’s gushing leak in the Gulf. These pictures are coming out in spite of a concerted effort by British Petroleum to prevent such images from reaching the American public. You might call these  the “forbidden oil spill videos.” Anderson Cooper released the following video of birds soaked in oil:

The Associated Press released another video of Gulf Coast birds soaked in oil, and it shows what words cannot convey. Watching it makes it clear why British Petroleum was doing everything in its power to keep the media away from the shoreline and the site of the oil spill. A videographer who works for BPOilNews.com was prevented from filming weeks ago by BP security personnel in Venice, Louisiana. Mother Jones has reported that it was barred from taking photographs of dead animals. But slowly, images of oil-soaked birds and dead animals are beginning to leak through the BP wall, and they show Americans what British Petroleum so badly doesn’t want us to see. The statistics on dead animals is already alarming: 444 dead birds, 222 dead sea turtles, and 24 mammals (including dolphins).

Here’s an Associated Press oil spill video of Gulf Coast birds soaked in oil.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9-k9UhAjgY

If you have pictures or video of the oil spill and/or animals affected by the oil, please share them with our readers at the BPOilNews Facebook page. For frequent updates of Gulf oil spill news, follow us on Twitter @BPOilNews. [click to continue…]

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BP oil spill response suggestions updated 6-2-2010.

We’ve had over 800 suggestions for dealing with the oil spill here at BPOilNews.com, and some of them are very interesting. We’re happy that some in positions of authority are following the postings at this site, but we also want to post BP’s oil spill suggestion telephone hotline again so you can call BP and report your idea directly to them. BP’s Deepwater Horizon response hotline number is (281)-366-5511.

We think we’ve gotten some interesting suggestions from our readers, but we want to report some other suggestions we’ve heard in the last couple of days that seem to come straight out of Hollywood: [click to continue…]

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BP Oil Spill Suggestion Box

May 31, 2010 – British Petroleum (BP) has finally opened a telephone hotline to take oil spill suggestions from the public. Whether the suggestions will be seriously considered by BP remains to be seen, but I am happy to report that I had a satisfactory experience when I checked out the Oil Spill Suggestion Hotline. When I called (281)-366-5511, the phone was actually answered by a live person (in my case, after only 2 rings) who was polite and actually seemed to be putting my information into a computer. The operator took my name, city and state of residence, zip code, telephone number, and email address. She then asked for my suggestion, and requested that I speak slowly so she could write it all down. In my case, it was easy to do because I was able to tell her that there were between 300-400 suggestions already written down here at BPOilNews.com. She asked me to repeat the web address twice, and thanked me for the information. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the way the call was handled. I’m not ready to announce that BP is going to using public suggestions, because it may all be a PR ploy, but I am willing to suggest that anyone who has a good suggestion should call the hotline in addition to posting it here. The phone number for the BP Oil Spill Suggestion Hotline is (281)-366-5511.

Oil Spill Claims Update

Update 8-31-2010. Much of the news coverage has turned to the issue of oil spill claims. For current information about oil spill claims, check out our oil spill claims posts.

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Michael J. Evans

Michael J. Evans

Oil Spill Suggestion – Dear President Obama: please take over the oil spill cleanup, and send BP the bill.

Updated oil spill suggestion June 7, 2010: BP has paid only $48 million to 18,000 of the 37,000 who have filed oil spill claims. About 90% of the oil spill claims have been paid to individuals, reported the Wall Street Journal. Compare this to the amount BP television ad campaign, plus an unknown amount being spent on pay-per-click Google ads.

Oil Spill Suggestion Updated June-2-2010 – B.P has been, at best, ineffective in running the Gulf oil spill cleanup, and here at BP Oil News, we’ve published over 800 oil spill suggestions. (As of June 7, 2010, we’ve published over 1,400 oil spill suggestions). We’ve had suggestions for plugging BP’s oil leak, and for reducing damage from the Gulf oil spill. Now I want to make a suggestion of my own. No, I don’t have an idea for plugging the hole. But I do think I have a common-sense suggestion for cleaning it up in a way that also minimizes economic losses to people and businesses on the Gulf Coast.

One of the first things to recognize is that BP has the financial ability, and the legal obligation, to pay the federal government a large amount of money because of this spill. Any money the federal government spends on my plan will be recovered in fines and penalties from BP.  (Calculations are explained in a paragraph at the end of this article).

When oil hits the beach, tourism takes a nosedive. The federal government should rent those vacant hotel rooms (fines and damages from BP should easily cover the cost of the rooms). Then fill those hotel rooms with volunteers and unemployed workers who are willing to travel to the beach to help in the oil spill cleanup effort. Additionally, hire fishermen and other Gulf Coast residents who are out of work due to the oil spill. The government could either rent hotel rooms and hire workers directly, or it could contract with private companies/individuals who would rent hotel rooms and supervise workers. Or, perhaps even better, let the government give the money to state and local governments, and let people like Gov. Bobby Jindal and Billy Nungesser make the decisions about how to deal with BP’s oil spill. [click to continue…]

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Oil Spill Suggestions

Here at BP Oil News we’ve gotten almost two thousand suggestions for ways to plug the Gulf oil leak or mitigate the damage from the Gulf oil spill. Here’s a link to some of your oil spill suggestions. And here’s a link to a page with many more oil spill suggestions. Many of the suggestions are contained in comments, but some oil spill suggestions were sent in using our contact form. Because of the volume of suggestions, we would like to request that future suggestions be submitted via comments to this post. And if you have suggestions about how the President should deal with the oil spill, please post your comments under the article “We need a New Deal for the Gulf Coast.

Here are some oil spill suggestions we’ve already received via the contact form: [click to continue…]

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Deepwater Horizon Response: Is the Medicine (Corexit) Worse Than the Disease?

BP came under criticism weeks ago for using Corexit(R), a highly toxic chemical oil dispersant, in huge amounts to try to break up the oil gushing from its well in the Gulf of Mexico. Some scientists argued that there are less-toxic, more effective dispersants available. Other scientists argued we should use no dispersants, as the damage from the dispersants may do more harm than good. As we reported May 20,2010, Corexit is carcinogenic, mutagenic, and highly toxic, and scientists are concerned about its effect on marine life. Corexit is banned in Great Britain. [click to continue…]

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BP oil spill: Corexit too toxic, says EPA

by Michael J. Evans on May 20, 2010

in BP oil spill

BP Oil Spill: EPA Wants Use of Corexit to Stop

Late Wednesday the EPA gave BP 24 hours to choose a less toxic chemical dispersant to break up the BP oil spill, the Washington Post reported. The decision came hours after Congress heard testimony from company executives and scientists on the high toxicity of Corexit, and the relative ineffectiveness of the chemical against the type of crude leaking into the Gulf. Once the EPA approves the new dispersant, BP will have 72 hours to begin using the new dispersant. [click to continue…]

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