I fail to follow what climate change and hurricanes have to do with the BP cleanup? Having pointed that out it's no surprise that there are 'freekouts' going on here. OF COURSE there's still oil there!! This isn't a McDonalds drive through, it's LIFE! These things take time...mostly - because nobody can clean up every single drop of oil out there - so just cool your jets.

Heading off another sure to follow subject: JUST BECAUSE YOU DRIVE A PRIUS OR ELECTRIC CAR DOEN'T MEAN YOU DON'T NEED OIL!! Packaging, paving, fertilizers, batteries (yup), cosmetics, foodstuffs, plastics of all types all need oil - as well as the trucks that tend, harvest, and transport BIO-FUELS (arguably taking up more oil than the bio-fuel saves!) and bikes. I've seen videos of eco-nuts out on boats made of (primarily) oil derivatives floating along and pointing out cigarette butts in the water (long gone after the boat decays in a land-fill for 30-50 years).

While I'm on a roll - BP creates jobs WITHOUT taking my tax money to do it!! If you've EVER driven a car - you've left oil on pavement and/or grass at one time or another AND that oil has found it's way into the eco-system. Really, I've had it with hypocrites.

justoneguy, while I agree that we all use oil. . .WE CAN ALL USE LESS!!!

ps. screw the oil jobs (retrain them for solar or nuclear)

Biologists also recovered one oiled, dead Brown Pelican in Pass a Loutre and one oiled, live Killdeer

One! Less than two. Nobody is disputing that there are areas to be cleaned up..........but spewing profanity isn't going to help your cause.

nuclear....ya, good luck with that stspecilk - They just ripped up Trojan here in the Northwest, way before it's expected life "for the fish". Bets here that you're sitting in a room full of products that are light-years from finding another way to manufacture other than petrolium in one form or another. Meanwhile, (not in any way affiliated with them) I see BP (maybe not as much as you'd like) paying taxes and employing hard-working professionals while the Feds literally lay-off rocket scientists at NASA.

Common ground: We CAN all TRY to use less.

Simply amazing that people believe corporations will be better "community citizens" will do better without regulations?????

I haven't read such a comment above this AL-1735815.....

There is no try about it. Either we start using less petroleum or aggressively research alternatives.

The time of saying good luck finding another resource are over. That's the mindset that keeps us completely dependant on this resource.

There are already natural renewable materials that can replace petroleum in the manufacturing of plasitcs. let's start using them. That takes care of over 5000 products that use petroleum.

But that would take away tens of millions worth of political "contributions" every year, wouldn't it? Until D.C. gets serious about alternatives, we will remain pawns to oil.

justoneguy pull your head out why don't you? We've been hearing the same old s hit forever. Exxon pulled this crap on the Valdez spill and if you dig on any beach in Cordova Alaska right now guess what you'll find? Oil.

As far as the products you list. They might be petroleum based products, but they don't have to be. Almost every one of these products can be produced using alternative ingredients.

BP creates jobs WITHOUT taking my tax money to do it

So the hell what ? So does pornography but that doesn't mean we should let them break the law or trash our damned country. Why don't you think before you post this crap ?

Really, I've had it with hypocrites.

Really, I've had it with idiots!!!

Sorry if I hit a nerve there Mr. "Greenvine"..... hee hee

You didn't hit a nerve Gomer. I just don't like to read intellectually bankrupt posts. Maybe when you get out of middle school, you'll get a clue.

heeeeeeeeee

Exactly the response I expected. Thanks for making my point.

Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you'd had enough oxygen at birth?

Later.

They all did a great job of trying to stop the oil from getting into the marshes; there was not enough equipment to be had, ; it is now seeping up Thur the sands and the marsh beds; there is nothing anyone can do, it is a wait and see as to how much it will destroy the marsh beds and breding grounds; it would have never happened if the regulators did their job !

BP probably does get money from the government, your hard earned tax dollars, because there are all kinds of subsides and incentives that republicans put in place during eight years of Cheney love for the oil industry, that President Obama probably doesn't even know about.

In something like this in a million years you can go down there and find evidence that there was a spill.. After all the Republican leader Rush said it was ll natural any way. Sarc

I am not sure why this oil leak thing is such a big deal. I once saw a movie where they said that used motor oil is great for fertilizing your lawn. How bad can it be for the water? Seriously.

"Clearly there is oil here in the marsh but we are working as a team to find a best way to clean it up," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer. "It's a high priority."

8 and a half months does not appear to be 'high priority'. The government is protecting BP, haliburton and transocean. As usual, corporate America is in control of the government and tells then exactly what to do, where to do it, and how to do it. No more taxes for a government that misrepresents me.

"It's like you're in bed with BP," Nungesser told the Coast Guard and NOAA officials.

Like? Without a doubt. And BP stopped its orders for booms ASAP to save money and increase the cover-up, so do not declare that not enough resources were available to continue booming off these areas. It was a decision to NOT protect these areas other than spray dispersants.

And where are all the "the microbes will eat it!" advocates?

Don't worry Bighorn says it's a natural occurrence and there is nothing to be concerned about.

I knew it was being covered up, as soon as they got it capped and suddenly it was "all gone". Yeah, right!! These oil companies play the same game over and over, and are always out to protect their bottom line which is always PROFIT.

The media moves on and the public has a very short memory. Unfortunately for the millions of wildlife deaths, they don't have that luxury, they will continue to suffer in their polluted "protected marshes and land" and nothing will ever get done. This oil that BP spilled will be in that region for the next 100 or more years....contaminating and destroying, while we all go off to more important matters.....Like "Dancing with the stars".

The government and the Public SHOULD hold BP accountable, but it will never ever happen.

Unfortunately for the millions of wildlife deaths,

What data are you using to make this claim or is it something you just pulled out of your $#@? Or maybe it is something you just read someplace else and are passing it along as fact. But hey, if you have a legitimate link to a scientific study to back your claim, I would be happy to read it. Speculation DOES NOT equal fact. Just because you wish there was a Santa Claus doesn't mean there is one. Not saying the oil spill isn't bad, but when people with no background in science start throwing around numbers with no basis, well, the results are predictable

Have you not been paying attention? Or watching the news? Because there have been over 100,000 dead birds alone in the gulf. And, uncounted fish and mammals, turtles, etc.

You obviously have not been paying attention......Check out http://intbirdrescue.blogspot.com/2010/05/dawn-at-gulf-oil-spill-cleaning-up.html The bird rescue that washed all the birds.

A true accounting and number of wildlife deaths will most likely never be known, because fish and mammals most of the time sink to the bottom of the ocean......

And your insults instead of intelligence don't make for a good argument on your part, they just make you look dumb.

And, my background is in Wildlife Rehabilitation, so I have been paying attention because "I wash oiled birds".

"This is the biggest cover-up in the history of America,"

Not even close--we have wars started on manufactured evidence, a government by the people and for the people is $14T in debt, Bush & Cheney's relationship to Big Oil, Haliburton (in their relationship w/ BP & the "no bid" contracts--the list goes on. I would put this one--- say---hum--#74 in cover-ups.

Where, again do we bury all of that nuclear waste?

Where, again do we bury all of that nuclear waste?

I vote to put in George Bush's back yard.

How can it be a cover up if it out there in plain sight for anyone who wants to look at it?

Bp tried to control people from going out in boats and seeing for themselves. They did everything they could to "hide" it, actually. If you stepped on the beach, they had people there to "force" you out. BP hid more than most of us will ever know.

I blame Bush too. The other day, my alarm clock didn't wake me up and I was late to work. When my Boss asked me why I was late, I told him that I had been up all night, blaming all of the world's problems on George Bush, and my alarm hadn't woke me up. Not only did I not get yelled at, I got a raise, and promotion. Thanks Obama, I am now the lead fry guy at Checkers!

Thanks Obama, I am now the lead fry guy at Checkers!

Judging from the intellectual content of your post, I expect you have reached the top of your potential.

sandtrich

I was thinking the same thing, but understand his emotional statement is most likely due to the fact that he has bought into all the other ones you mention.

Remember that Louisiana has a long history of being Big Oil proponents. Getting bitchslapped into the future/present definitely has his head spinning. Give him time. Perhaps he is ready to start learning about the true Hypocrisy of American Corporate Interests.

Peace

Is it? Wait and see what happens in the very near future.

hMMM -- SAFE? --!

Not really -- - it may not have oil on it that you can see, but it may certainly have benzene in it from the spill..!

Do you know how they test that seafood for oil? -- it's called a smell test..! If it smells ok, then it must be ok...

I live 1 hour drive away to the gulf and can get my seafood there dirt cheap, but I am currently buying my shrimp from St. Simons in Georgia and paying extra. My health is more important than being deluded because some yahoo BP PR guy says that the seafood is safe..!

The other thing is this spill will continue to plague the gulf and the beaches for 12-15 years easily. That's the legacy left to us from a group of greedy biz execs who wanted to speed up production over covering safety issues. Oh and the GOP/Tea wants to de-regulate the offshore drilling industry even more as well as cut back on government inspectors.

Gotta love their grand design of destroying the environment.

Derej--I agree. Is Gulf seafood on the Congressional menu in their dining room?

Not so sure about that either.

I lost my job at an oyster house bp paid my co-worker who does the samething as me but the rest of us got nil her first check was 4500 dollars her second was 17000 mind you we all worked for minimum wage plus tips...BP is a sham all the BP station here in the gulf region are being bought out by other companies because people down here won't shop at a BP. I bet they run those BP commercial all over the country except along the Gulf Coast because they know that they can make us not see the bull they are pulling

They can't even get BP on the phone...

BP paid their 20 Billion in a closed door deal. Who knows what was agreed to? Maybe they don't have to answer the phone.

Your right, they wont answer the phone because are goverment still wants they're money not whats right.

BP, Deep Water Horizon & Halliburton should have their US assets frozen until they come up with a plan and come up with the money to deal with the problems caused by the spill.

The OBAMA ADMIN. needs to put together a committee of Independent Academic Scientist that Study and then OK the plans put forward. Until such a group of scientist is satisfied none of these corporations should be pulling a penny from the US markets in any way! It is time for this administration to show a bit more morals than the last administration when it comes to issues such as these!

You shouldn't shoot the messenger. BP was not there to ask. And the reporters contacted BP by phone and got no reply.

Give BP a call---I hear that the calls are patched right through to the EPA--sure. If we don't stop destroying every thing that we can get our hands on, there will be nothing left.

BP put most of the politicians in office, what do you think our government will do? Just like Exxon Valdez, they did not even pay a fine, the last appeal got the case virtually dropped. What is that about the golden rule. Dream on.

if they took full responsibility they would be out of business!

I can't believe the idiotic remarks, BP not doing anything- ODUMBO took $20 Billion from them true it doesn't help taxpayers but he got it from BP. Maybe no one knows what that is. It appears that it was never taught to many,"STUPIDITY" is not a desireable trait, it is to avoided. Thank you public education-dumbing down america, great sucess.

Wayne you are an idiot Bp didn't give the government 20 billion dollars, 30 billion was set a side to pay for damages...I live down here get a clue and take your repugs with you to the la la land you live in...you know where no one pays taxes, and big multinational corporations are your friends and have you best interest at heart ...p.s. Everyone can't afford private schools, and home schooling is a joke just ask any freshmen in college...you can tell the difference, home schoolers are completely lost from day one on just about everything.

Not to mention, while you insult Obama, don't forget it is the lack of "evil" regulation that allows this to occur in the first place. Soooo... yes the target of citizen annoyance should absolutely be BP. The annoyance that involves the government should be in the area of not allowing them to do whatever they want anymore. As for responsibility to clean it up, nobody should have ever expected the government to in the first place. BP should be expected to.

If they do that our gas prices will go even higher.. do you want that? If you have a Prius like I do, then there is little fear, but most of the US population use SUVs and trucks. We can't have both, a clean marsh AND cheap gas, we need to choose: marshes or gas. I have a sinking feeling that most people would vote "cheaper gas" than "clean wetlands".

Actually, a clean Gulf Coast environment for the people and wildlife that live there is more important than BP getting off the hook to continue "business as usual". At the outset of the BP spill they "promised" to make things right and I believe that making things right is still BP's responsibility...

Alk, I have no problem paying higher gas prices. Other's need to get on board. I have a hybrid and drive less than 5000 miles a year. People are complaining about gas prices, but we aren't even close to the $4 summer.

If the Oil corporations want to start playing chicken with gas prices, then play hardball. Threaten and mobilize to nationalize our oil fields and refineries. Take the money we are now giving to Oil Corporations in subsidies and drive that money into hybrid & solar technologies. These corporations will not give up the US markets they are to profitable. If the whole group feels threatened they will offer up BP on a platter!

The same with Haliburton if they are not willing to pay their share then freeze their assets and take what is needed to pay their bill. Then ban them from any Government contracts. Do you really think they won't pony up if we decided to play hard ball.

IF we decided to play hardball... IF. But like the TSA boycott it will "go up in flames" literally. People are already crying about gas prices, and it will get worse, as Stspecialk stated. The government will re-new their contract with the oil corporations by bowing to their will in order to placate the masses. In the end they (politicians) will get their campaign funds AND make the masses "happy".

I agree with you Coelacanth, I WISH this would be the truth, that human being are future-viewing creatures, but as I stated before it is MORE likely that they will settle for the short-term relief. It isn't that most Americans are dumb or ignorant, but they look at their bottom line, and if it is in the red, they will try to get out of the red as quickly as possible, even at the expense of their children's (or children's children) future.

Yes, I do remember that they promised to clean the marshes, but Exxon also "promised" to clean up after the Valdez, oil is STILL there.

Well if the attitude ceased to be screw it anyway, it won't happen... and simply changed among the general population to ACTUALLY not putting up with corporate BS... then I think you'd see some startling changes. Saying we cannot do anything because it'll hurt the economy (when this is blatantly saying it will only hurt BPs quarterly profit in reality) is obviously not going to help. We should expect corporations to be responsible or make no profit at all... period. This is the only way to produce change. We could indeed play hardball without giving up and saying screw it. Not only can we... we should.

People, people, people... When the oil companies are punished, they just pass it along to the consumer (did you fill up today?). Now, if the corporate leaders of these companies were held to higher standards (unlimited civil and criminal penalties) then you might see a higher level of corporate responsibility and respect.

TPaine is right. But I've been saying this for 30 years & nothing's happened. We need to put S&L bandits, wall street bandits, enron, tyco, world com theives, oil and chemical company life destroyers and countless others in the state pen, along with their brothers under the skin: car jackers, stick up artists, muggers, murderers, arsonists, etc., etc.

But we won't. We will give them tax breaks instead. Conclusion: we vote for people they have already bought and paid for; they run the country.

We love to talk about the corruption in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, and the whole of Africa. We also love to ignore the simple fact that the US Government/Business establishment is corrupt through and through.

Anybody remember the the no bid contracts in Iraq that led to soldiers being electrocuted in the shower? Along with the theft of 10's of billions of dollars? Anybody in jail yet?

TPaine, I have no problem paying higher gas prices. Other's need to get on board. I have a hybrid and drive less than 5000 miles a year. People are complaining about gas prices, but we aren't even close to the $4 summer.

stspe---most of us do have a problem with higher prices--we're busy trying to figure out how to make the mortgage payment on 1 income--as, the other was lost. Stop about your fu**ing hybrid--we can't afford one of those either.

The oil gushing from the well was just naturally occurring seepage?

I can tell someone's been brainwashed to believe the BS that's coming out of the Federal Government and BP....

Are you really that far out to lunch?

Then one day he was shooten at some food and up through the ground come a bubblin crude.. Oil that is.. Black gold... Texas tea..

Bighorn, you know nothing, and obviously care about no one but your own gas tank. You are a big part of the problem. Bet you drive a monster truck, too.

Isn't it funny when oil guys come in here and hand us blatantly stupid, implausable explanations for their mess? I love it. BTW, it's not that hard to chemically link the oil to the leak. They've been doing that all along.

You're a real jackoff Bighorn!

How much BP stock do you own @!$%#

Ya I have fished all allong the gulf coast and I have never seen oil like that. PERIOD. so sixty million gallons from seeps. Who is bp to add 140 to 200 million more gallons. What is your point with the 60 million? The math itself kinda proves it.

Ironically, (sure)--major oil companies continue to report record profits.

Are you acting? or are you really this stupid and obtuse?

Yet, Louisiana's politics don't support regulating big business like BP.

They may rethink that stance.

As the price at the pump continues to escalate the Government seems to back down from big oil, hoping that Big Oil will do the right thing, it won't. Look at what happen with the Exon Vadis, it took over twenty years to work that mess through the courts; and, in the end Exon received just a slap on the wrist; and there are still issues that have been long forgotten.

TPaine, whine whine whine about gas prices. . . we pay virtually nothing. Remember the $4 summer? Do you know what they pay for gas in Europe? We are spoiled and allowing that greed to destroy our own coasts.

Tpaine,

As I said above Freeze some assets and threaten to Nationalize the oil fields and refineries and see how fast the parties at hand decide to DO what's right! If the OBAMA admin decided to play hard ball the Oil Corporations would fall in line. They have to much to lose if they mess with the USA market. That is if we had an administration in office with the Balls and were with all to actually do what was needed.

SNAPPA, the Gulf had been tarnished long before the spill. Huge dead zones are present from contaminated run off from factories, refineries and prharmacutical companies.

This spill just added insult to something that was already injured.

Stspecialk, Yes Europe has higher petro prices, but their cars are WAY more fuel efficient than American vehicles, Also, they "usually" don't have to travel far to get to where they are going. The US is, geographically, is dramatically different. We have larger roads, people often drive long distances to get to work, and on vacation some even travel across the country. If we were to take this into account, we would probably see marginal difference between the cost/Liter of petro to price/Gallon of gas, given geography.

They also have a public transportation system the allows for people to get from place to place easily and cheaply. We could have followed their lead but instead we have massive amounts of paved highway.

There are several companies that work on shoreline restoration. Clean it up first, then restore it. It's poisoning the bottom of the food chain.

Patience is a long disused virtue in America. In many ways, the damage that's been done will only be fixed by time, but we live in the right now generation, and there just has to be a way to fix everything. This is why our political will fluxuates like a manic-depressive off his meds. Your post is a good one, but it's probably lost on the people that live along the Gulf.

Mike-837143,

Attempting to clean environmentally fragile areas can cause more harm than good -- in effect, destroying the ecosystem in an attempt to save it. Sometimes mother nature is better at cleaning these areas than we are;...

I'm also skeptical that the best thing for the marshes would be a human-managed cleanup. Unintended and worse consequences may result. Perhaps the microbes in the marshes will do the cleanup in the long term.

If cleanup is indeed initiated in the marshes, it will be interesting to see what tools are used, and with what results.

The dispersants ARE bad mojo and one of the reasons I've made the decision to stay away from seafood. Worse, many of the barrels of chemicals that were disposed of in the gulf in the 40's and 50's are now leaking...

- I have eaten seafood daily for thirty years with no side effects at all; except my feet are always red and the reddness rises up my legs towards my waist when it gets warm out, sort of like an old fashioned thermometer.

I'm sure he apoligizes regularly, quietly. Big oil is the reason he has a job, after all, so he has to keep his nose to the crack to stay employed.

You can't blame the unions for the Katrina mess still being around. Blame the last administration for lifting the Davis-Bacon Act to save a buck. I guess they felt the average wage for clean up work in the area at the time (which was only $9.00 an hour) was too much to ask contractors to pay American workers.

Let the ships do what work? They were not kept out, the diperants dept the oil from reaching the surface where it could be more readily collected on calm weather days only.

Narrow minded and fact free response off of some News Channel, perhaps?

Hmm. That actually sounds like something Iran would do. I'm sure we can come up with a more civilized solution. This is the U.S.

OK. We give him a fair trial before we execute him.

Plus that is way too humane. I think he should be covered in oil up to his eyeballs and left to rot. Make his demise slow and painful just like the wildlife. Corporations run our government and have insulated themselves from any and all accountability.

How about we freeze their US Assets and threaten to Nationalize the oil fields and refineries if the rest of the Oil Corporations try and jack up Gas prices in retaliation. These Companies should not be pulling a single penny of profit from the US Markets until this mess is taken Care of.

No worries spg... the US Markets won't be worth anything after we're finished with total de-industrialization to save the environment. They'll go somewhere else anyway.

JustOG,

Why do you right wingers always want to go all or nothing. Is it to hard for you people to actually think and compromise.

Total destruction of our industrial base is not necessary. Policing it and reforming the problem areas is a must if we want to have a country worth inhabiting!

Corporations are not leaving the USA because of Environmental laws they are going overseas for cheap labor. It is a bonus that many of these other countries are run by totalitarian governments that couldn't care less if these corporations are poisoning there citizens.

We should not be trading with any countries that do not have the same environmental standards or labor laws that we do.

Honestly spg... for my information, can you name a few of those countries right now? That is countries with a GNP of any significance?

I can China, India, Mexico

Hey andrae.... I misunderstand your list. You're trying to say that China HAS or DOESN'T HAVE the same enviremental standards as mentioned in 15.6 above? If you want to quit trading with China (they 100% DON'T have our standards) then all the power to you though. I'm on board.

I lay half the blame at the feet of the former MMS. When you allow oil execs to be part of the agency and then shift back to being an oil exec, you are knowingly asking for problems.

The other half lies with big oil for knowingly reducing regulations and not conducting proper tests to garner more profits.

Willful ignorance is still ignorance. Too bad our government wont punish itself.

Unfortunatly, we can't go tromping around the marshes digging up swaths of earth. If we did, we might as well just destroy it all.

As sad as it is, the fragile state of the marshes even before the spill, requires nature to clean it up or destroy it forever by having man manhandle it.

Jindal's advisors have told him to steer clear.

The little weasel.

The last I heard, Louisiana was STILL part of the U.S. In fact, LA ranks 4th in crude oil production in the U.S. Remove LA oil off the market and see how much YOU pay at the pump. THAT's sweat equity - you jack-wagon!!!

"Jack-wagon; sometimes 'jackwagon' or 'jacks wagon'- a carriage built for carrying the necessary tools and wheels for the rapid changing and repair of wagons during the military campaigns of the U.S. Civil War. The carriages obtained their name from soldier's descriptions of the large timber jacks, used to lift disabled wagons, which were held on racks above the bed of the carriage. Used by both sides during the war they fell out of fashion with the development the railroads and better roads." ... and I love Louisiana, as it is one of the few remaining places with real locals who still have a distinct culture. The world would be a sadder place without homestyle Louisina cooking. This is diminishing rapidly with the continued homogenization of the world. Also; this is still the United States and we are all in this together, to much accepting the suffering of our fellow citizens already; geesh. Who will stand up for me or you when our turn comes?

You mean you don't trust the official government sniff testers????? :)

I wish they'd put up some correxit stuff and really let folks know. let them know what bp is really doing to those poor folks.

It doesn't matter if it's Bush, Obama, or whomever you choose to blame. The problem needs fixing, now. Blame get's us nowhere.

Why should we have a say in anything? We are so busy attacking each other over politics that we make our elected officals look like saints.

Let's get our own personal acountability in check befor we ask others to do so.

I would argue that 'others', in this case Politicians, have set the tone and we react like good little sheep and join in the fray, except that theirs is a well-orchestrated drama in order to obfuscate the reality of Complicity by Both Parties in creating the Plutocracy which has enveloped us all.

*rolls eyes*

go try to hijack something else mkw....

try a plane.....

a TSO cavity search might "clear your head".....

We should all live so long.

Micky, NY,

I agree. Bringing the responsible individuals and companies to justice would be a good incentive for other companies and government regulators to do the right thing in the future. Right now, with just a hand slap and a fine, it's just part of "business as usual" for the multinationals and the politicians they support.