BP Winning Media War

This has been going on for nearly a month and BP is finally managing to make headway in the media coverage through the use of dispersants injected into the oil well below the surface. This means the oil doesn’t make it to the surface, and isn’t providing the media with the “visuals” it feels are necessary to continue covering the story. The oil is still there, but you need cameras under water to see it.

As the Times-Picayune reports huge underwater plumes have been found.

Researchers Vernon Asper and Arne Dierks said in Web posts that the plumes were “perhaps due to the deep injection of dispersants which BP has stated that they are conducting.”

These plumes are not benign, they are consuming the oxygen in the water which kills everything in that water. But since people can’t see lakes of oil at the surface, they assume there is no problem.

April M. Havens’s Mississippi Press report shows the “official” reaction:

While [Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Phil] Bryant has heard reports of crude oil-related odors, “I don’t know how that is a great issue,” he said.

“If we see the oil, if we have tar balls, that’s what I’m concentrated on,” he said. “An odor of petroleum might not be something you want to detect, but that is not at my top list of concerns.”

Bryant said he chose to use the opportunity to promote tourism because of the topic and nature of the conference.

“At the same time I’m encouraging tourism, I’m also in meetings with engineers with BP,” he said, noting he tries to strike a balance between preparedness and overreaction.

“I don’t think were sugarcoating this, and we don’t have a Pollyanna expectation,” he said. “But when you’re in a position of responsibility, the last thing you want to do is let fear dictate your decisions.”

Bryant is using the lack of visible oil to downplay the real problem in the Gulf which would hurt his chances to eat from the corporate trough.

Of course, Bryant wouldn’t want the people of Mississippi to think he isn’t ready to burn the US Constitution if someone says “Allah” in public. Part of being a Republican is knowing which paranoid fantasies you should promote, and which real problems you should ignore.

The Times-Picayune has a good article on the tiniest victims of the gusher. While the article focuses on the marshes, if you lose the single-celled life in the Gulf, nothing above it on the food chain can survive.