With the lifting of the moratorium, oil rich eyes turn back to the Gulf of Mexico and the inevitable question was asked…will British Petroleum go after the remaining oil in the reservoir and tempt fate once again? BP officials wouldn’t comment on this, choosing to remain silent on their plans, but they are thinking about it. C’mon, you know they are… Back on August 6th, BP’s … Continue reading BP Dares You to Care…Re-drilling?
So, here we are… Almost six months after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and the Macondo Well became a petroleum free for all, the Gulf Coast has become a crazy mix of truths, cautions and hopes, a petri dish, much like the aftermath of Katrina where agendas did battle inside the square circle with the winner this time to be given the British Petroleum Federation belt … Continue reading The Government, The Press and The People…
Last week, a co-worker came into my office and noted that I’m still going on about the BP Gulf oil spill. I don’t share this blog with too many people I know personally, and this co-worker was one of the few I had mentioned it to. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by her comment but I did ask anyway… “What do you mean?” “Isn’t it kind … Continue reading If a tree falls in the woods, will the media still be there?
The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, in their released draft report, have found that members of Obama’s administration actively blocked the NOAA from releasing worst-case estimates of the amount of oil blowing out of the Macondo Well. The report also cited the infamous oil spill report which reported 75% of the oil was gone as creating a misleading impression … Continue reading In the Gulf: Commission Releases Information and I Don’t Feel Better
In an article by AP, which spoke with oil industry experts and took a look at the Mineral Management Service, the Bureau of Ocean Management Service, not much has changed and with the drilling moratorium set to expire on November 30th, one might be inclined to question – what was the point of the moratorium in the first place, beyond a press story to give … Continue reading So, What has Big Oil and Obama Learned? Apparently, Not Much
Okay, so maybe they didn’t say that directly, but what else are we to assume if these two agencies, designed to protect and inform the American electorate tells us the water and air in the Gulf of Mexico are safe despite independent testing by Oregon State University that shows this dramatic elevation in PAH’s? And yes, exposure to some of these Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons have … Continue reading NOAA, EPA Says 40 Fold Increase in Gulf Carcinogens is Safe
In perhaps a poor choice of words, Ken Feinberg said yesterday, “No grocery receipts, no documentation, just an allegation of subsistence loss. Four thousand claims where the claim form is exactly the same, including the misspelling. Outrageous! I can’t pay those claims.” So what was he talking about? Apparently Plaquemines Parish Council Chairman, Don M Beshel, frustrated with the slow movement of reparations to the … Continue reading Feinberg says it’s “Outrageous”
When Kenneth Feinberg took over disbursement of the $20 billion dollar fund from BP one month ago, he made the rather startling claim that emergency payments would be underway to people within 24 hours and businesses within a week. One month later, over 40,000 claims remain to be processed. He has been forced to do town hall meetings, to add personnel, then to streamline the claims … Continue reading Feinberg Should Make Amends…
Federal officials and the Obama administration have maintained for well over two months now that all is safe in the gulf: no serious food contamination, no significant risk to air and water quality, no long-term health risks. And all this seems well and good so long as you only ask the government’s scientists. Asking elsewhere, one gets an entirely different story, and from such notable … Continue reading FDA, NOAA Still Not Testing for Heavy Metals or Dispersants in Gulf Seafood
By now many of us have read of British Petroleum’s increased ad spending in the months following the April 20th Deepwater Horizon Explosion. Rep. Kathy Castor was especially upset by this, saying “BP is overdoing it, it’s really making people angry. Every day you get up and see these full-page ads in every newspaper and the TV ads…while BP’s advertising campaign ramped up, businesses and the … Continue reading An Audition: British Petroleum’s Public Relations Department
Drake Toulouse: Photography and Words 