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So now we are up to 100,000 barrels of oil gushing into the Gulf per day. U.S. Representative Ed Markey, chairman of the energy and environment subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, released the estimate in the undated BP document. “Right from the beginning, BP was either lying or grossly incompetent,” Markey told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. (Gee, ya think?)

Georgia’s state officials seem to feel that we won’t be impacted by the devastation in the Gulf. I fail to understand their logic. Think about it: 4.2 million gallons per day times 120 days (the most optimistic BP time-frame for full operation of the relief wells). Given the volatile nature of meteorological and oceanographic phenomenon, it seems to me that it is simply a matter of time before the mass of the oil becomes embedded in the Loop Current, travels around Florida and then upward along the eastern seaboard.

Counties throughout the Gulf and beyond are becoming more autonomous and proactive as they tire of battling the authorities.

http://newsone.com/nation/associatedpress2/northeastern-towns-prepare-for-potential-oil-spill-impact/

Meanwhile Admiral Thad Allen continues to struggle with chain-of-command issues as BP changes its on-scene leadership, the USCG, EPA, DNR and others issue conflicting edicts (many of which have resulted in up to 1,500 US-flagged skimmers sitting idle, awaiting “permission” to activate). There are currently more foreign ships heading to the Gulf – that, of course, has set off the usual heated political rhetoric and posturing over the role of the 1920 Jones Act, a protectionist law that prohibits foreign-flagged boats and crews from doing port-to-port duty within 3 miles of the US coast. According to U.S. Sen. George LeMieux of Florida “We are still receiving reports of foreign-flagged vessels being turned away or their offers of assistance hanging in limbo. That should not be the case.” There are currently only 447 skimming boats working the spill area, the mass of which is now inching towards Florida.

On Friday it was announced that the Unified Command is outfitting 2,753 locally-owned boats with skimming equipment, a process that could take two months. (Which we now know is code for four months or more). That, at least, will be popular along the Gulf Coast, where many residents are clamoring for ways to help fight the spill — and to get desperately-needed pay for doing it.

BP denies NOAA reports (and countless statements from various researchers) that the oil is entrained in the Loop. Here is the statement from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency: http://www.gema.ga.gov/content/atts/GeorgiaDNRFactSheet.pdf . I wish that I shared their optimism.

There is a gaping hole in the planet and all of the happy-tourism talk, Lady Gaga/Justin Bieber telethons and wishful thinking will neither plug it nor stop the devastation. All that we ask is for honesty, integrity and action (free of political grandstanding and finger-pointing). The situation exists – let’s face facts (and I do mean facts and not BP-generated spin), deal with it and begin to build a future where we will not continue to poison ourselves, and our planet, with greed.

Oil from the leaking Deep Horizon oil rig is swirling through the currents in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine scientists fear that two powerful Gulf currents will carry the oil to other reefs: the eastward flowing loop current could spread the oil about 450 miles to the Florida Keys, while the Louisiana coastal current could move the oil as far west as central Texas.

*Photo: Ben Raines (Press-register)

Alex Kearns

Alex writes for a variety of national and international publications. A relative newcomer to the United States, she co-founded her town's first environmental organization (The St. Marys EarthKeepers, Inc.). In turns bemused, confused, entranced, frustrated and delighted, she enjoys unravelling the eternal enigma that is the Deep South.

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