Lots of oil disaster news over the long weekend:
Anderson Cooper gives a spot-on criticism of the Obama administration’s new policies regarding media coverage of the Gulf oil disaster. “We are not the enemy here,” said Cooper of the new rules, which create fines of up to $40,000 for members of the media who violate a 65-foot “safety zone” around cleanup operations.
There are apparently a number of people who still think nuking the hole in the bottom of the Gulf is a good solution.
Claims against BP are now up to $3.12 billion.
Oil-slicked beaches didn’t deter tourists from making their way to Pensacola Beach for the holiday weekend.
Determining the full extent of the damage that the BP spill has wreaked on the Gulf will be difficult for quite a while.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there is a 61 to 80 percent likelihood that the oil spill will hit South Florida and the Keys.
Nigeria knows all about oil spills. For 50 years foreign oil companies have dumped an estimated 550 million gallons of oil into the Niger River Delta.
The new, best hope for pulling oil out of the Gulf is the Whale–a giant skimmer vessel from Taiwan that responders are now testing.
The American Petroleum Institute is running television ads in 10 states against congressional efforts to repeal large subsidies to the industry.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service went along with the conclusion of the Minerals Management Service that the risk an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would pose to wildlife was “low,” reports the New York Times.
