I know it's hard to watch but PLEASE watch this video. Don't push this disaster into the back of your mind. We need to face what we are doing to our Earth--NOW. If you are Christian and naively believe we can do anything to Earth and God will save us--think again. What do you think your God would think of what we've done to his green garden of Eden? Do you think he'd like coming back and seeing all the garbage we've dumped into his creation? He might come back--who knows, but I doubt he'd be happy about our actions toward the home he supposed created for us.
The Environmental Protection Agency told British Petroleum to find another chemical dispersant to break up the Gulf oil spill. The EPA has given BP until midnight tonight to find an alternative to Corexit and 72 hours to stop using it, CNN reports. The chemical has been rated less effective and more toxic than many others on the list of 18 EPA-approved dispersants, the story says. Read more about Corexit in a prior Green House post. Of course BP course the most toxic one--probably because yet again they were cutting corners and using the cheapest one.
Green Man: So, this isgood news, bad news. The good news, of course is that we're going to use less toxic dispersant to help clean up the oil mess. The bad news is what many of us worried about--that the dispersants used for the last month were indeed toxic. Great. We have been fighting toxic oil with other toxic chemicals. Yet even the good news is rather bad because breaking up the oil into smaller bits still doesn't remove the oil from the ocean. It just makes it smaller and more likely to get into fish gills, etc.
In the meantime heavy crude is now soaking the Louisiana wetlands, which are like giant sponges that absorb and retain a lot of water until it seeps down into the soil. So, obviously it is going to soak up this oil, which will kill off the grasses that help buffer against hurricanes and other large storms. As well as provide habitats for countless species from insects to birds to amphibians to small mammals. In related news, BP is trying to intimidate citizens and journalists from investigating the damage of this leak to the beaches of Louisiana:
This video is appalling. What is the Coast Guard doing backing up BP wanting to keep reporters away from showing how bad the oil disaster is affecting beaches and wetlands?
No wonder they can't cap this pipe!! This thing looks like one of those natural "smokers" down at the bottom of the ocean. Emphasis (of course) on natural:
Green Man: However, "experts" are saying that there could be problems with this method. REALLY??? What could possibly go wrong from with the tried and true, "Wing-It method" which sounds like it was hatched while a bunch of redneck guys sat around, drank beer and got drunk? What's next? Duct tape? These "scientists" and "engineers" at BP must have received their degrees from the University of Cutting Corners."
From what I've heard, these oil company executives clearly have no clue what to do at those depths. Thanks to years of packing the courts with ringers, these companies haven't had to deal with regulations requiring they be able to get out of those depths as safely and easily as they get into them.
And wouldn't this, "plug" (if it even works) cause pressure to build up until at some later date it blows again??? It sure sounds like it, and I have no faith whatsoever that BP knows what to do to fix this nightmare.
Then you've got Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal who famously trashed government spending/intervention after the Great Bush Recession. This is the same guy who now wants that very same government intervention to pay to clean this all up. Of course the government should help but you can't say the government can't do anything right, and then expect them to come in and fix everything when there's a mess you can't deal with. This just underlines what the adults in the political room have known for awhile--there are some problems that are just too big for one company, state or region to recover from, and that is where government comes into play.
Expecting to live without government intervention is like thinking you don't need the guard dog to protect you while you sleep in the jungle. Therefore, I expect Jindal, and all the other right-wing critics of government to thank the government after this is all over, but I'm not holding my breath in anticipation.
I heard someone refer to the BP Gulf oil spill today as an "American Chernobyl" which I think is an apt comparison given the scope. I sure hope this injects some steroids to finally getting off oil. Our oil addiction is like a combination of doing heroin while playing Russian roulette. Let's use natural gas as the transition fuel to totally green, clean, alternative energy as it is the cleanest fossil fuel. No more dirty energy!! Our Earth and thus, WE, can't take it any longer. It's killing us all.We need to get back to our roots and return to the ways of our Pagan ancestors who were reliant upon nature to a greater degree than now. They knew that to damage Mother Earth was to damage themselves and risk their own destruction but because of technology we've been lulled into believing that somehow we don't need to worry about nature any longer. We sure like to label our ancestors as ignorantly superstitious but their way of living served us well up until the industrial revolution when we began destroying nature in the pursuit of materialism.We sometimes think that our ancestors lived during a bleak time but their lack of possessions seemed to serve them better than all of our toys do. We have all kinds of gadgets, money and status but without a planet to live on it's all just literally shiny trash. They knew that not all that glitters is gold and they were on to something because when you really absorb nature you begin to see it as pretty damn cool.It's offers better visuals than any computer game as well as having just as good precious art as the best museums. The neighbors (animals) are more exciting and unique than those at the best cocktail party. And the best part is that if we protect it--all that beauty, wonder, heritage, art and richness is free. As a final note, check out this ironic BP commercial about how much they care about the environment:
LAST PHOTO: Arenal volcano in Costa Rica. Picture taken by Green Man.
Just returned from paradise in Costa Rica where they take "green living" seriously and it shows. Their country is spotless and raking in the tourist dollars from it. They have pristine coastlines and rain forests. So, to return to the shocking horror of our own beautiful Gulf Coast being awash in oil is sickening. Do you see what happens when we drill off shore Obama?
Why is that government sucks until we need it -- like how BP's oil slick needs to be cleaned up. No one wants to regulate business but then government (that everyone hates) is expected to go in an clean it all up and make it better.
Well, it can't be made better that easy and now the fishing industry in the delta is crushed already during a time of great recession. As Bill Maher said, I hope that the "Drill, Baby, Drill" crowd is required to go down to the Gulf Coast and report for clean-up. They want the cheap gas but they don't want to deal with the bad aspects of fossil fuels.
~The Green Man has Spoken~
PHOTO CREDIT: This satellite photo, taken on Thursday, shows the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico as it moves towards Louisiana's fragile islands and barrier marshes, threatening migrating birds, nesting pelicans, river otters and mink. Photo: AP, NASA
I know it's hard to watch but PLEASE watch this video. Don't push this disaster into the back of your mind. We need to face what we are doing to our Earth--NOW. If you are Christian and naively believe we can do anything to Earth and God will save us--think again. What do you think your God would think of what we've done to his green garden of Eden? Do you think he'd like coming back and seeing all the garbage we've dumped into his creation? He might come back--who knows, but I doubt he'd be happy about our actions toward the home he supposed created for us. 
And wouldn't this, "plug" (if it even works) cause pressure to build up until at some later date it blows again??? It sure sounds like it, and I have no faith whatsoever that BP knows what to do to fix this nightmare.
Then you've got Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal who famously trashed government spending/intervention after the Great Bush Recession. This is the same guy who now wants that very same government intervention to pay to clean this all up. Of course the government should help but you can't say the government can't do anything right, and then expect them to come in and fix everything when there's a mess you can't deal with. This just underlines what the adults in the political room have known for awhile--there are some problems that are just too big for one company, state or region to recover from, and that is where government comes into play.
Expecting to live without government intervention is like thinking you don't need the guard dog to protect you while you sleep in the jungle. Therefore, I expect Jindal, and all the other right-wing critics of government to thank the government after this is all over, but I'm not holding my breath in anticipation.