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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 23, 2010 at 5:43pm

What lies beneath
A vibrant ecosystem thrives on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, and scientists are not quite sure what the effects of the oil spill - and the oil dispersants - will be to the creatures encountering it up close.

From The Washington Post.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 24, 2010 at 6:48pm

Investigator Warned MMS in 2009 About Deepwater Gas Blowouts in Gulf of Mexico

A sixty-page memorandum addressed to Renee Orr, the chief of the leasing division of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), was sent in September 2009 by an environmental investigator, warning of potential disaster in offshore drilling operations and the particular dangers posed by gas hydrates.

It was written as a public comment to the federal government's proposed rule for oil and gas leasing between 2010 and 2015 on the outer continental shelf, and offers a wide-ranging compilation and analysis, based on meticulously documented scientific, industry and government sources, of many accidents little known to the general public.

This is a long article, but well worth reading. Read the rest on SolveClimate.com.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 24, 2010 at 7:08pm

Nature Conservancy faces potential backlash from ties with BP
In the days after the immensity of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico became clear, some Nature Conservancy supporters took to the organization's Web site to vent their anger.

Read the rest on The Washington Post.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 24, 2010 at 7:45pm

From the Washington Post website. Too small to read here, but click link for bigger version.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 25, 2010 at 1:46pm

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 27, 2010 at 10:14am

Thanks for that video. I need to see their original documentary.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 29, 2010 at 5:21pm

Black Water Rising
The flow of oil may soon end, but the political and environmental fallout is just getting started.

The blowout preventer looks like a five-story fire hydrant. It weighs 325 tons and costs $18 million. At the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, it sits on the ocean floor, a mile deep, reachable only by robotic submarines in the murky and freezing currents. By a complex series of valves and gaskets, the massive device is supposed to keep oil and gas from rocketing toward the surface and blowing up the oil rig and its crew of 126, which float on the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. But the blowout preventer was breaking down.

Read the rest on the Newsweek website.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on May 30, 2010 at 10:52pm

Check these facts out:

A FEW FACTS ABOUT USED MOTOR OIL

■ It takes 42 gallons of crude oil to produce 2.5 quarts of motor oil, but only one gallon of used motor oil to be re-refined into the same amount of reusable motor oil.
■ It only takes one cup of used motor oil to put an oil sheen on a one acre pond.
■ The United States produces 1.3 billion gallons of waste oil each year, of which 800 million gallons are recycled.
■ If all the waste oil in the United States where recycled in a single year, we would save half the output of the Alaska Pipeline for the same period.

Permalink Reply by Sydni Moser on June 3, 2010 at 8:22am

Wow... unbelievable stuff. The horror of it all. Thanks Dallas

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on June 2, 2010 at 7:38pm

Permalink Reply by Sydni Moser on June 3, 2010 at 9:01am

BREAKING: New Gulf Coast Drilling Approved While BP Oil Spill Continues To Grow

posted by: Beth Buczynski
June 3, 2010

Crude oil from the former Deepwater Horizon drilling platform has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for over a month, and many hoped that this disaster would help to prevent a resurgence of offshore drilling.

Although President Obama issued a moratorium on offshore drilling until the government and BP could get a handle on the current crisis, the Mineral Management Service (MMS) has found a loophole allowing some projects to continue.

Just days after the moratorium on wells in deep water (like the Deepwater Horizon) was extended, the president quietly lifted a brief ban on drilling in shallow water just last week.

Despite the launch of a full criminal and civil investigation by the Department of Justice, the MMS decided today to grant the permit, allowing Bandon Oil and Gas to start drilling just 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

"The new permit allows drilling in a water depth of 115 feet. Bandon Oil and Gas first sought the permit in April, shortly after the Deepwater Horizon operated by BP exploded and sank," reports NOLA.com.

While many would like to believe the President's assertion that "the first and foremost goal of the entire government is stopping the leak, containing and cleaning up the oil, and helping the people in this region get back on their feet and return to their normal lives," this clandestine decision only marks him for increased criticism.


SIGN THE PETITIONS!

* Hold Oil Companies Accountable for their Spills
* Stop Another Disaster: Shut Down BP Atlantis

http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/federal-government-app...

Permalink Reply by Sydni Moser on June 3, 2010 at 9:21am

BP's Dispersant Could Cause Toxic Rain All Over East Coast

posted by: Beth Buczynski
June 2, 2010

Yesterday, Care2's Erin Polgreen posted a useful article about the true nature of chemical dispersants being used in the Gulf "clean-up" efforts, and how they could affect the environment for years to come.

From the article: According to Popular Science, "Dispersants have never been applied on this scale, leaving environmental scientists guessing about the consequences. Corexit may have caused seven cleanup workers to be admitted to the hospital with shortness of breath and nausea."

Of course there are also concerns regarding the impact of dispersants on wildlife and undersea plants. According to this study, when applied in small amounts to Mallard eggs, Corexit is as fatal as raw crude oil.

Many have focused their concerns about Corexit (the dispersant BP continues to use despite an EPA order to stop) on what it's doing under the water. But as we know, the oceans are part of a larger precipitation cycle, and scientists are worried that soon the consequences of using dispersants could be falling from the sky.

A report prepared for prepared for President Medvedev by Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources warns that "a greater danger involving Corexit 9500...is that with its 2.61ppm toxicity level, and when combined with the heating Gulf of Mexico waters, its molecules will be able to "phase transition" from their present liquid to a gaseous state allowing them to be absorbed into clouds and allowing their release as "toxic rain" upon all of Eastern North America (European Union Times).

Note: It has since been alleged that the European Union Times is a less than credible news source. To support the concepts suggested by the EUT, here is a quote from Dr. Remata Reddy, who studies and teaches tropical meteorology at Jackson State University:

Tropical storms usually form in the far eastern Atlantic early in the season. But as the Gulf heats and the oil continues to spill into the open waters, that concern and storm potential will grow together, Reddy said.As oil evaporates and comes into contact with a tropical storm, the chances of acid rain falling within the storm are possible, Reddy said.

This toxic rain could be fatal for all species- from the microbial level up- no matter where it falls, essentially collapsing the environment from the bottom up. The devastation of a hurricane with these chemicals dispersed in it would multiply the effects and hazards.

SIGN THESE PETITIONS TOO!

* Prevent Another Oil Spill: Rethink Offshore Drilling
* Tell President Obama to Stop Offshore Drilling!

http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/bps-dispersants-could-...

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