Is it there BP oil in the gulf in giant underwater plumes? Are the micro oil eaters eating oil or not? Was Corexit use a very large mistake, or not?!?
It doesn't seem like these questions should be so difficult to answer. These are scientists for heaven's sake! Yet every morning on the news another scientists is expressing another opinion - and rarely do these opinions agree with the scientist making the media rounds the day before.
Confused? Frustrated? Join the club!
Lets review:
Worst oil spill in U.S. History - oil, hydrocarbons and Corexit fouls the gulf for 100 days.
Dolphins, fish, turtles, birds, and untold numbers of dead wildlife.
BP officials who are genetically incapable of truth telling.
Oiled marshes and wetlands that would create heartbreaking images for 100 days.
At present:
The U.S. government announced 75% oil is gone. (whaaaat?)
The seafood is safe to eat. (whaaaaat?)
President Obama is taking trips to swim in the Gulf of Mexico, and eating shrimp sandwiches. (yuuuuck!)
Yesterday the following stories were in the news:
On npr's Diane Rehm show, a panel of scientists were discussing the variances in reports. It was very interesting. Here is a link to the audio for that segment of her show.
Reuters reported: A Manhattan-sized plume of oil spewed deep into the Gulf of Mexico by BP's broken Macondo well has been consumed by a newly discovered fast-eating species of microbes, scientists reported.
Interestingly enough, this scientist who is cited in the Reuters report is a scientist on the BP payroll. (Hmmmmmm)
When these reports come in, THAT may be an interesting thing we should be asking.
"Who pays your salary?"
If the answer is the US government, or if the answer is BP?
Toss the report and go find an independent scientist who is beholden only to science. No agendas, no biases.
Facts!
What do you think? This story is fading here in Gilbert, because we are not seeing the images of oily birds on CNN every night. However, Gilbert and other cities and towns who tout themselves as kid friendly should keep their eyes on these issues for many reasons, most of them having to do with those children Gilbert declares to care so much about.
Toxins in your child's food? Did the oil **poof** disappear? YOU decide. In order to decide, you are going to have to pay attention. These are YOUR children. YOU should be protecting their little neurons because the government won't always do what's right for them.
The survival of species so your children, and their children won't have to look in a history book to see what the different turtles, birds, and marshes looked like before the BP oil spill came along. Before people stopped paying attention while BP and TransOcean quietly went off to drill their next oil well.
Even though we don't live in the gulf coast region, we can help out by conserving energy, we can keep our eyes on the response to the spill, and we can vote. Voter turnout here in Gilbert was low. If you want to have a say - there is no better way than to vote.
Except Scottsdale voters... Ben Quayle?!? (Tracy teases the Scottsdale voters...kindof...)
Please feel free to comment in our new comment section, email me at TracyLynnCook@gmail.com, or visit my website at www.TLCsThoughts.com for more articles and links to more of my work.
Have a great day!
Comments
You're on the right track except you're completely wrong about Gulf Coast seafood. The local and federal officials were very proactive in closing areas to fishing. Only those areas that are verified to be free of oil have been reopened for fishing. The seafood here in Louisiana is meticulously tested before it is sent to market. What is really "yucky" is the thought of eating imported shrimp, which is usually full of antibiotics and who knows what else. If you want to help the people of the Gulf Coast, eat more Louisiana seafood. It's still the best in the world. And thanks for caring.
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