It Just Keeps Getting Worse

The news so far out of the Gulf of Mexico is so profoundly discouraging that it makes one despair. More than anything, that's why I have avoided comment - I don't know what to say in the face of Nemesis: of Annihilation. It may well mean the end of most marine life in the entire Gulf if they can't get a handle on it.

Here's some pictures.







BP seems to be living in denial:

BP CEO Tony Hayward isn't just off message -- he's way off message.

In an interview with the Guardian, Hayward declared that the giant oil spill in the gulf (still gushing thousands of gallons of oil a day into the sea) and the hundreds of thousands of gallons of "dispersant" BP has pumped into the water to combat the slick are "tiny" compared to the "very big ocean."

The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.

But Mr. Hayward, these 'tiny' amounts of oil and dispersant will be enough to kill off anything of interest there!

Meanwhile, even though LA's Gov. Jindal seems to grasp that he's got a problem, MS's Gov. Barbour doesn't:

"This oil literally threatens our way of life," Jindal said. "Here in Louisiana, we're going to do everything we can do. We're going to do what it takes to protect our way of life."

Barbour, 62, is a second-term governor who was in office during Katrina and was widely praised for his response to the storm. He's now chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Barbour has said the oil spill is "not Armageddon," but he believes news coverage has hurt tourism in his state.

"Come on down here and play golf, enjoy the beach, catch a fish and pay a little sales tax while you're here," Barbour said Wednesday during a televised news conference in Biloxi, Miss.

...He told The Associated Press the oil spill could be disastrous for Mississippi's coastal economy. Then he added: "But it's just as possible that what happens here will be manageable and of moderate and even minimal impact."

Oil has not started washing up on shore in any large quantities, and Barbour likened much of the spill to the gasoline sheen commonly found around ski boats.

"We don't wash our face in it, but it doesn't stop us from jumping off the boat to ski," Barbour said.