oil spill oh nooooooo

[Tactinius]

Well, it's official, the oil in the gulf coast has finally made it's way dangerously close to my living area, and has arrived at the beaches of Pensacola, Florida. I can't cite this, but I was told that there were confirmed beached animals drenched in the stuff, including several dolphins. Also, Louisiana has already received oil rain.

I'm more afraid of hurricane season than I've ever been. Storms of the gunk are going to render the farms of the southeast completely defunct, and commercial agriculture in the US is going to experience some radical changes.

Personally I think far too much effort is being put into blaming someone and too little is being put into trying to stop any more damage, aside from local beach cleaning. I haven't heard jack ever since they tried shooting trash into the leaking tube.

What does everyone else think?

[FaustWolf]

It would be awesome if you kept a journal of how the oil is affecting your area. This is a precious opportunity for those of us living far away from the spill to see it and appreciate it through the eyes of somebody on the ground.

[Tactinius]

Very interesting idea, I just might. A record from the frontlines, for the people of the future, too.

[GenesisOne]

One thing I personally hate about the whole oil spill (besides it actually happening and hurting the environment it's artificially situated in) is that people blame our president for not doing anything about it. I mean, how messed up do you have to be to find such an easy scapegoat?

Where's the blame for the architects for not designing a better pipe system? Where's the blame for the contractors for not providing more funding for the pipe system? Where's the blame for the manufacturers for providing the materials that constitute the pipe system? Where's the blame for the construction workers for assembling the pipe system incorrectly? Where's the blame for the civil engineers for not inspecting it more closely for wear, tear, rust, corrosion, etc. and working to repair damages?

No, those people get to stay off the radar. If an underwater pipeline breaks, we can always blame the president because that's what he's there for. What a bunch of finger-pointing cowards.

[Tactinius]

Seconded, GenesisOne. I'm really concerned that people are far too occupied with trying to blame someone, regardless of who it is, rather than putting that effort into finding a solution. To look down upon the CEO of BP is one thing, and rather understandable as he was seen enjoying a yacht race just recently and has shown little efforts to take responsibility for his company's mistakes, however I hear people calling this incident Mr. Obama's "Katrina", which is nothing but grasping to blame a head of authority who was completely uninvolved, but has expressed his concern and has attempted to take action towards the crisis. Meanwhile, we hear nigh a peep from Tony Hayward other than "I wasn't involved in decision making".

There's a rush of anger over the world about this incident and I hope it calms down while we still have a chance to do something constructive, as a global community.

[Lord J Esq]

I originally held Halliburton (i.e., Cheney, Inc.) accountable for this, since they did the casing work, but as more information comes out it's looking as though British Petroleum itself was the major perpetrator. Well, that's corner-cost-cutting for you! I wonder how many of their pinched pennies are going to go up in smoke on this one.

[Sajainta]

One thing I personally hate about the whole oil spill (besides it actually happening and hurting the environment it's artificially situated in) is that people blame our president for not doing anything about it. I mean, how messed up do you have to be to find such an easy scapegoat?

This.  ^^^

Agree wholeheartedly.

[Thought]

Envrionmentalists, apparently, are another favorite scapegoat of some people (lead by Sarah Palin), because their strict shallow water regulations made BP move far enough off shore so as to not be affected by them. In comparison, blaming President Obama almost seems reasonable.

In the words of Prof. Farnsworth, these people are "half mad, half insane fools!"