What Great Timing
As Rick Outzen reports on BP’s gift for Florida’s media buy:
BP is giving Florida $25 million for advertising —the same amount it gave the state to help local governments fund their preparations for the BP Oil Spill. Am I the only one who sees the games being played here?
The ads will minimize the risks and help BP in its defense against government fines and lawsuits. It won’t help counties that are depleting their cash reserves.
Before the state’s tourism machine starts buying those ads, they should check the news, because the Coast Guard News [not officially associated with the US Coast Guard] reports Coast Guard Responds to tar balls in Key West. I checked and the major news organizations have confirmed the report.
The surface oil may have just reached the Loop, but it looks like some of the mass of oil that is below the surface has been in the Loop for days. Of course these tar balls could be from any of thousands of wells in the Gulf or a crude oil tanker, as readily as from the Well from Hell that is spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf every day, which is why we have to wait on tests.
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Speaking of tar balls, a peculiar comment was made on the MSNBC news site:
Monday night the U.S. Coast Guard said 20 tar balls were found off Florida’s Key West, but the agency stopped short of saying whether they came from the massive oil spill.
Now, Bryan, I’m curious. Are tar balls in the habit of dropping out of the skies in Florida?
Good grief. If this is the level of transparency to be expected, I really don’t know what to say.
It’s all about the law, Juanita. Since there will be court cases involved, no one, especially not in government, will state the obvious truth without expert testimony to back them up.
I’ve seen pictures since last night, and the tar balls have the same reddish appearance from the surface dispersants as the visible oil slick, so the chance that they can from another source are almost zero, but you have to play the game, rather than state the obvious.
I guess you’re right, Bryan. The state of American law turns people into such weenies. AS IF these tar balls just show up on their own.
You guys on the coast will be catching the brunt of all this and I really feel for what you might have to go through. One area where you’re ahead of the rest of us is that you’re knowledgeable about oceans and wildlife and the extensive effect this type of spill can have. But I don’t think the rest of the country has caught on to just how truly bad this could be.
Sure, they know it’s a disaster. But this is on the order (and probably beyond) of the dust bowl in the 20’s. An event that can threaten the food chain and consequently our food supply for years to come. Your average person in the heartland hasn’t caught on to that yet.
Just ran across this quote and it really fits your comments. Thought you might like it.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. – Upton Sinclair
We don’t have any real dirt down here, Juanita, we have sand and clay. We don’t even have rocks. For years people used crushed oyster shell instead of gravel, because gravel had to be imported. Farming and gardening require a lot of work for minimal return. As a result we depended on the water to eat before roads were built.
Farmers saw what the Dust Bowl was really about – starvation. That’s what this oil spill is about. The Gulf is the spawning ground for a lot species, like the blue fin tuna, and a migratory stop-over for many other creature. Hummingbirds winter in Mexico and then stop here to eat after crossing the Gulf. A lot of birds do it.
The Gulf was already in trouble from the fertilizer run-off into the rivers and dams that have slowed down the river flow preventing the Gulf from renewing itself.
The rest of the country has its own problems, including frequent flooding because the rainfall patterns are changing and the flood control measures don’t work any more.
The environment is stressed. It has been abused for years and can’t recover as it once was able to. Before, people moved on and the healing began, but now,there is no space to move to and the land never gets a rest.
The Florida Panhandle’s single most important asset is the beach. If the beach is polluted, we are toast.
Oh man, I didn’t realize about the quality of soil for agriculture in your area! Obviously, once you mention it, it makes perfect sense.
To add one more thing to the mix, in our area, the local farmers are also concerned about the fallout from the Iceland volcanoes. That may sound a little ridiculous at first blush, but scientific records show many a disruption in agricultural output right after major eruptions. Those pesky particles in the air, you know.
Honestly, I really am not a “Chicken Little” type of person, but the facts are scary. Fallout in the oceans + fallout in the air + agricultural disruptions + existing economic structural imbalances. What a grim stew of events.
You hope for the best and plan for the worst, but mostly, you just get on with living.
The biggest problem I see are a lot of people who are just in for themselves and don’t care about anyone or anything else.
Volcanic eruptions can certainly affect climate but we can’t be sure where or how much. Farming and fishing tend to exist on the edge of disaster and change is rarely welcome.