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tomder55 · May 25, 2010, 10:25 AM

An environmental calamity WAS the catalyst for ALL the extinctions we know about.

You need to amend that to mass extinction. Individual species have gone down for a number of reasons.

tomder55 · May 25, 2010, 10:49 AM

Flashback 2005:

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness are coordinating with other federal, state and local agencies to clean up and reduce the environmental impact of the oil spills in Louisiana. Just two months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spilled more than nine million gallons of oil, the oil recovery effort is now 95 percent complete according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has led the oil recovery effort. To date they have recovered 3,888,808 gallons of oil. More than four million gallons of oil has either evaporated or dissipated naturally. Additionally, 403,578 gallons of oil, or five percent of the total oil spilled, remains to be removed. The USCG has nearly completed waterway oil recovery and is working closely with the Louisiana DEQ to complete the recovery.

While the overall environmental impact of the oil spills remains unknown, Environmental Protection Agency and Louisiana DEQ have damage assessment teams throughout the area evaluating the impact of the spill.

With more than nine million gallons of oil spilled in Louisiana, this disaster approaches the magnitude of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1992, when an oil tanker ran aground in Alaska, releasing approximately 11 million gallons of oil.

https://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=20320

speechlesstx · May 25, 2010, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by tomder55

you need to amend that to mass extinction. Individual species have gone down for a number of reasons.

Yeah, and if we protect many more Delta Smelts from extinction it just might be us that suffers that fate. But then this is about the fifth time I've raised this issue and Chicken little doesn't seem to think it's a problem if we turn central California into a dust bowl while keeping all those illegals out of those jobs we Americans won't do.

excon · May 25, 2010, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by speechlesstx

But then this is about the fifth time I've raised this issue and Chicken little doesn't seem to think it's a problem if we turn central California into a dust bowl

Hello again, Nero:

There are environmentalists who are nuts, and there are environmentalists who aren't. It takes wisdom to know the difference. Yours appears lacking.

Since we're counting, for the fifth time, what makes you think that WE are immune from extinction? If, like all the other MASS extinctions we know about, an environmental disaster CAUSED it, what about THIS environmental disaster makes you sleep well at night? You don't think losing our fisheries might do it??

So, what is it, Nero? Do you think it'll BE solved shortly?? What, in your primitive right wing brain, would give you THAT idea? Or if it isn't solved shortly, do you, like Rush Limprod and that idiot Brit Hume, think that the oceans can absorb this oil, and it ain't nothing to get my liberal pants into a bunch about?? Is THAT what you think?? Just like the trash we throw into the air can be absorbed?? Really?? Dude!

excon

speechlesstx · May 25, 2010, 11:28 AM

Chicken Little, you can keep chasing this rabbit all you want, but after all the stuff I've personally gone through this year, this certainly doesn't keep me up at night and I'm OK with letting you chase it on your own.

thisisit · May 25, 2010, 01:21 PM

I wonder where all the dead fish and other marine life is going to wash ashore?

Wondergirl · May 25, 2010, 01:29 PM

I saw a heartbreaking clip on last night's news of an island full of cranes that had gotten covered with oil while diving for fish, were hopping around trying to fly, but couldn't, were weighted down by the oil. Multiply that by a million more stories and you might begin to get an idea of what this disaster has done, is doing, will continue to do.

thisisit · May 25, 2010, 01:59 PM

That is so sad! I can remember when I was a child there was a big oil spill at a refinery, I think in Oregon OH, maybe Toledo. I remember my dad bringing home ducks covered in oil and we washed them as good as we could. I don't remember what happened to them after that.

Lucky098 · May 26, 2010, 08:17 AM

Actually, speechless.. I don't rely on Obly for anything. I just thought what he stated was kind of interesting.

Honestly, I would take a hit in the high gas prices to have this fixed. What needs to happen for humans to realize that we are killing the Earth? Does every animal have to be stuffed in a museum or locked away in a zoo? Is that really what human kind wants to do to Earths creatures?

Not only are we killing the wildlife, but we're also wrecking Ma & Pa fishery businesses, the coastline, peoples boats, vacation money that is collected throughout the summer by travelers. The entire coast industry is threatened. But hey, WE HAVE GAS!!

I see very few BP gas stations in my area. I'm not sure if this is a very popular company in the US. This company should be raked over the coals. News media scolding them and Obama thinking about how to fix it is just not working.

This is not right. You can lecture me all you want about what the economy needs... this is still not right. I, for one, do not care if gas prices go up. In fact, if gas prices need to go up so that BP can focus on saving the ocean, so be it. Itd be money well spent in my mind.

This just isn't right. I just don't care about what the economy needs. Maybe the economy needs to think about what is right instead of what benefits them. You know darn well the only reason BP executives are upset about this issue is because they're losing billions of dollars worth of oil to the sea. They could care less about the coral reefs that take YEARS to grow, the whales that swim that way to breed and have their babies, the colorful fish that call that place home... They don't care about that. That's useless to them. So are the worker on the oil rigs...

tomder55 · May 26, 2010, 09:32 AM

I think humans should go back to being hunter/gatherers and live in home made grass and mud yurts.

Wondergirl · May 26, 2010, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by tomder55

I think humans should go back to being hunter/gatherers

We still are, but we pay illegal immigrants cash to gather our farm crops, and instead of going out and hunting, we put the animals in inhumane conditions and then slaughter them after we've fattened them up with chemicals.

and live in home made grass and mud yurts.

They were made of branches covered with animal skins. Yurts are in Mongolia.

speechlesstx · May 26, 2010, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

We still are, but we pay illegal immigrants cash to gather our farm crops

Except when we're cutting the water supply off from the most productive areas of the country and turning them into dust bowls to save the smelt.

They were made of branches covered with animal skins. Yurts are in Mongolia.

Even the yurt has been modernized and manufactured in Oregon for decades.

tomder55 · May 26, 2010, 10:37 AM

The point is that everything is the economy. I consider this the unintended consequences of denying coastal and inland drilling . Like it or not ,our economy is fueled by oil .

paraclete · May 26, 2010, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by tomder55

I think humans should go back to being hunter/gatherers and live in home made grass and mud yurts.

Like that is a solution to anything, such a lifestyle is possible for few million people but not billions, you would quickly have the "mongol" hordes raoming the Earth. Tom we don't need trogladite solutions here

tomder55 · May 26, 2010, 05:59 PM

doh !!!.... forgot to activate the sarcasm font!!!.

paraclete · May 26, 2010, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by tomder55

doh !!!.... forgot to activate the sarcasm font!!!.

Yes I suppose you did, I had my sarcasm detector turned off too but don't worry, even though this affects many people in the Gulf, it only affects a very small proportion of the world's population so it really is a small scale disaster and needs to be seen for what it really is, an inconvenience

tomder55 · May 27, 2010, 06:16 AM

The top kill appears to have succeeded . But it's not in the clear yet .
'Top kill' effort succeeds in blocking oil leak, Coast Guard admiral says - latimes.com

There is still some pressure coming out of the well ;and that has to be reduced to zero before they attempt to put a cement cap on the well.

tomder55 · May 27, 2010, 06:30 AM

This top kill method was the same one used last year to plug a leak in the Timor Sea . The West Atlas rig had spilled 100s of thousand gallons for a 3-4 month period before the top kill attempt was made there also.
My guess would be that future SOP would say that should be the 1st attempt made in these situations.

tomder55 · May 27, 2010, 06:36 AM

even though this affects many people in the Gulf, it only affects a very small proportion of the world's population so it really is a small scale disaster and needs to be seen for what it really is, an inconvenience

Just like the difference between recession and depression...
Recession is when your neighbor looses a job. Depression is when you do.

speechlesstx · May 27, 2010, 08:40 AM

So, Obama's "just plug the damn hole" solution seems to be working, and tomorrow he can show up in LA and take credit for being so smart and on top of things.

He apparently threw his head of MMS under the bus as the sacrificial lamb. So far, so good at least. I've been watching a bit of the live feed and see no signs of the gusher that was there.