Macondo

The good news is that newly discovered bacteria biodegrade oil in the oceans, and have been chowing down on the oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon  (Earth and Sky, NPR, PBS, SFGATE) and from oil seeps for millions of years. While it’s unexpected and wonderful that bacteria are biodegrading the oil, is begs the question: [...]

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  What BP and the Government Could Have Done and Should Be Doing (updated 10/7/10) The handling of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe is a textbook study of how not to manage a crisis. The government and the Obama Administration seems to have understated the problem and ceded responsibility to BP, which seems to have acted [...]

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“If oil gushes into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 60,000 barrels per day, and it takes 84 days to achieve a capability of “process” the spilled oil at a rate of 30,000 barrels per day, how long does it take to “process” the spilled oil?” It takes two days to process each [...]

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Hurricane Alex has temporarily halted cleanup efforts (Reuters).  Yet the oil continues to gush unabated. Using the Government’s “Improved Estimate,” 2.8 to 4.8 million barrels have gushed into the Gulf in the MONTHS since the April 20 explosion which killed 11 workers. The explosion and spill have destroyed fisheries, tourism, and profoundly disrupted the ecology [...]

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First conclusion of a series that began after Earth Day and includes Fossil Fuels and a Walk on the Moon, Drill Baby Drill or Drill Baby Oops, Magnitude, Part 1, One Month After, The Chernobyl of Fossil Fuel?, and Magnitude, Part 2. ) As I wrote on Earth Day, “In 100 years our descendants will [...]

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