Where is all the Oil?

Where is all the oil?

That is the question of the day. Now that the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil well spewing thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico has finally been capped, the visible signs of the oil spill are starting to recede. The friends of oil companies have started to crow "we told you all along" - the oil will dissolve, disappear, disperse, whatever, and we don't need to worry any more. No need to change our habits, no need for more regulations on the oil industry, and no need for a drilling moratorium.

So where did all the oil go?

According to Dan Froomkin's report, the oil indeed may have been dispersed, by the millions of gallons of toxic dispersant Corexit BP poured into the ocean to try to make it appear as if the oil spill wasn't doing any damage to the ecosystem. Of course, dispersant doesn't make the oil go away, it just breaks it down into smaller droplets, so that it can't be seen by humans. It can be seen by small animals, however, like shrimp larvae and small fish, who may mistake the small droplets of mixed dispersant and oil for food and eat it.And into the food chain it goes.

So where is the oil, we ask?

It is under the shells of blue crab larvae, as the scientists in Froomkin's report are finding. It is in the tiny stomachs of shrimp larvae and young fish. It is floating in millions or billions of droplets, mixed with toxic dispersant, under the surface of the Gulf where it can wreak its damage unseen by humans for a long time to come. And perhaps, it will be coming to a dinner plate near you. Bon Appetit, BP!

Rachel Maddow: Oil plumes, Gulfs unseen disaster

Rachel Maddow: Oil plumes, Gulf's unseen disaster

"The science of the plumes hanging in the water doesn't feel right."
- Robert Dudley, BP Managing Director

BP is trying very hard to discredit the scientists who have found evidence of huge underwater plumes of oil and methane gas caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. But Dr. Samantha Joye, of my own University of Georgia, is defending the science behind the plume discovery in this clip from yesterday's The Rachel Maddow Show.

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Way to go Mandy! :-)

Gulf Oil Spill: Massive Underwater Plumes Spell Disaster, Scientists Say

The results of this spill are disastrous, and will be felt for years to come. I suspect the worst damage is below the surface, where news cameras don't get their striking visuals of oil-soaked otters and cranes. But the food chain will be irrevocably damaged. Thanks BP.

Let's hope a teaching moment will come out of this disaster - perhaps an effective way to re-align the incentives of off-shore drilling. As it is now, oil companies do not take on associated risks with drilling but go away with the profits - much like the "moral hazard" problem in the banking system. Big oil can gamble with someone else's fragile ecosystem, profiting when it works and washing their hands when it doesn't. Obviously, this needs to change, starting with removing the $75 million damage cap for oil spill cleanup.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Frustration Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

Where's Scotty? I keep getting flashbacks of Star Trek episodes, where "we need warp speed in 5 minutes or we're all dead." Scotty (or someone) always pulls through with some jury-rigged contraption that no one knows will work. No testing necessary, just put it on and go. Of course, that is Hollywood, not real life, but one can wish that we had faster action from the morons at BP who didn't have the foresight to put advance plans into place.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost