Oil Spill

Okay. This has been a long time coming. I'm surprised no one else has started a rant about it, so allow me because I pretty much rant about it all the time anyway. So let's start off with the explosion of the rig on April 20th that led to the damaging of a pipe that is now spewing millions of gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. Now, I can understand that no one was expecting one of those things to explode, but seriously? They should have had a plan ready in case one of the pipes was damaged. They did have some mechanism to stop it, but it either wouldn't function or they decided not to use it. I forget which one was the reason. Regardless, it's deplorable.

So, the oil keeps leaking and leaking and leaking into the gulf. BP said it was "actually not a big deal" and that "it's not as much as you think it is." And they're wrong. It's MORE than we think it is. They say thousands while professionals say millions. I'm not really in the mood to trust BP at the moment and I'm sure there are plenty of others who feel the same way.

It's June 2, 2010 which is over A MONTH since this whole fiasco started and IT'S STILL GOING! That oil is STILL pouring nonstop into the gulf with no intent of stopping. I must give it to them; BP did try to stop it, but some ideas were ridiculous. Seriously? "Maybe if we shoot some garbage into the water, it'll clog up the pipes." Genius. The gulf is already full of oil, so why not add some trash to it as well? That didn't work, by the way. The dome idea was pretty good, but apparently it won't work because these magical "natural gas crystals" keep screwing it up because of the depth. Maybe if they had thought about that BEFORE it happened, they wouldn't have to deal with that and the problem would be fixed.

But no. It's still going and the oil keeps spreading. It's hit the coast, you know. Louisiana is complaining about the damage to its wetlands and with good reason. The oil is screwing up the ecosystem, and it's not just in Louisiana. All of the states bordering the gulf are sure to experience trauma. If the oil keeps gushing, what's stopping it from reaching around Florida and up the East Coast? Nothing, that's what. If that oil hits the right current, it could pretty much wind up anywhere.

So where does that leave us? We've got a gulf full of oil which has put a complete stop to fishing and shrimping in that area. Boats can't travel over the gulf (sans those in the relief effort) so that has put a damper on those importers who use the Mississippi River to get goods into our country. They have to find alternate routes now that will undoubtedly raise the prices of imports. Tourism is going down in places like Florida. Who wants to go to a beach covered in disgusting crude oil? Not me. And apparently not anyone else. I'm worried about North Carolina because tourism is our biggest industry. If that oil reaches here somehow, it's going to be tough. We haven't even been impacted, yet I feel for states like Louisiana and Mississippi who are taking a direct hit from BP's mistake. And not just BP. TransOcean and Halliburton are a part of this, too, and all they can do is blame each other...like pre-school kids. Ridiculous.

I guess that's about it. Post comments to this horrid predicament here.

You're just like my dad was, I swear...

Luckily, he realized(after 30+ years) that he couldn't do anything about it. Yes, the entire damned Gulf is gonna be damaged, and our economy's getting messed up, and the states near it are taking hits from various directions. But if you aren't in a position to do anything about it, it's healthier on the mind not to worry.
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In my opinion, they should just contain the oil spill in some way, even if the spill has spread further than estimated, they'll be containing some of the oil. After encircling it, they can make maybe some kind of barrier to stop the spread. After that, they can find a way to use the barriers to concentrate the oil in a smaller area, and light it on fire. Not good for the ecosystem, but there'll be time to worry about that when the spill is dealt with.

Note:If they've already tried containing it in some way or are, forgive me, I don't give a -bleep!- about the news.

I'm sorry Proxzki, but it's thinking like "Oh, there's nothing I can do about it." that has caused so many problems in the first place. Forgive me, all of you who like Obama (I'm still having trouble understanding that one), but he's a dumbass. He went down to Louisiana to 'look at the damage'. What the fuck is he gonna do? He's the president, he should be in the office doing his job, not down there seeing it for himself.

And he wouldn't be doing this if a bunch of people who thought "Oh, he's gonna be president anyway, there's nothing I can do about it." would have voted not in his favor, instead not voting at all. I don't blame him for starting all this stuff with the economy, but he's certainly not helping. His ideas are too radical for this time, America is just not ready for him yet. All these ideas he's throwing around that are getting put into motion are much too soon. We and the world are no where near stable enough for that.

This giant oil spill I believe is the icing on the cake. Right now, not only do we have so much corruption in the federal government, but in state and local as well. Most of them all just want money for themselves and for their friends. Big companies such as BP are very bad about this, and cover it with a thin veil. But what do people do about it? Nothing. Why? Because all these legalities that have been put into place allow companies and individuals like them to get away with things right in the people's face. It keeps happening because no one does anything about it. I just turned 18 last week, finally old enough to vote. I wish my vote counted for more, that I had more say, but I am not the only other person in this country of people who seem to have no voices because they choose not to use them.

(Trying to get back to the point) BP is not doing anything about this because it will put them through a lawsuit that will probably cost them billions of dollars if they accept responsibility. What a bunch of assholes, hm?

And please don't get me started on these idiots who are 'trying to come up with some solutions' that will stop the oil spill. Throwing trash at spilled milk in a bucket of water doesn't really sound like the 'top-notch expertise' they have at their disposal. I mean, I'm glad they're thinking outside the box and all, but damn. Just how stupid do I have to be so that I can be an expert too?

WOAH WOAH WOAAAAH!

I do NOT like Obama! >,>

But please, if people think that they can do anything, they are welcome to. But I'm looking at it from a logical standpoint. If you're willing to do the research, and march down to the spill and fix it, please do so.

And I really don't care about anything, since the worst thing that can happen is death, and we've all gotta die someday. ^ ^

Ah see, now you change your point. You said anything, anything at all. I said I was going to do something, though you thought it was something that most people do not know how to do. I will help in the ways that I can, and others with the knowledge should be helping the way they can.

And I never said that you liked Obama, I was speaking in general to the people on this forum.

Oh...well, the Obama thing seemed weakly related to the paragraph's first sentence, so I just thought you were insinuating that anyone who didn't care about things were Obama supporters or something. >,>

Anyway, I don't have a solid stance on this. I don't care if people think they can do something, or prefer to do nothing at all. If they wanna waste money to have an idea rejected, they can.

I'm just saying the more logical mindset at our age would know there's nothing they can do about it unless they have an incredible talent that can be utilized to aid in the spill.

Oil spills are cool. ^-^

Well, maybe the first paragraph should've been paired with the second, but they were related.

And I happen to disagree with you entirely entirely on thinking that logically. It's far too passive in my opinion, even though I'm so lazy I don't know what I would do (hypocrisy in the making). I have yet to discover just what exactly it is that I'm capable of doing that could help . . . the world I guess, but there are those that have these capabilities--who are not doing anything.

It's amazing how oil spills are just starting to hit beaches in Florida, I have been to several beaches in the last month, and living in Florida , it's just starting to reach the coast... But, before this nothing was really done to prevent this... It's sad...you can find many fishies and etc, dead... It's like red tide but much worse...

I envy your bluntness Xeno. >.< That's exactly what I was thinking, except there are a whole lot of other things that factor into the causes for this. We really have been doing ourselves in for the longest time, when you think about it.

Well, we won't lose the entire water ecosystem....just 2/3 of it....the Pacific would still be fine.

Isn't the Pacific shrinking or something?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100919/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

Congrats, BP. You successfully plugged the nearly-dead oil well, forever stopping the oil spill.

And how long did it take?

5 months?

How much oil was lost? 206 million gallons?

Really? After all this . . . really?! We'd nearly forgotten about it by now, and only now have they fixed it. Wow. Just . . . wow.