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When I was a kid our family lived in Mobile, Alabama.
We enjoyed the "fish jubilee" over on the Baldwin
County side of Mobile Bay.
This occurred when the moon and tide
reached a certain alignment causing fish and crabs to swim up to the edge of
the water, especially at night. By moonlight with small nets we scooped up flounder, red fish, trout and crabs
teeming in the shallow water at the edge of the bay.
When I was a kid our family lived in Mobile, Alabama.
We enjoyed the "fish jubilee" over on the Baldwin
County side of Mobile Bay.
This occurred when the moon and tide
reached a certain alignment causing fish and crabs to swim up to the edge of
the water, especially at night. By moonlight with small nets we scooped up flounder, red fish, trout and crabs
teeming in the shallow water at the edge of the bay. We also enjoyed our annual
vacations at my grandmother's cottage at Sunnyside Beach
near Panama City
in the Florida Panhandle. The
sandy beaches were as white as snow. We enjoyed fishing; catching red
fish in a cove, flounder under a bridge in a small bay called Phillips Inlet, and
red snapper and grouper by bottom fishing out in the Gulf.
We gathered oysters in bays and coves. This
abundant sea life is now threatened by a slick and slimy oil spill caused by
slick and slimy British Petroleum (BP) executives.
The BP oil spill will destroy
much of the fish, shrimp, crabs, and the oyster beds. The
Gulf region accounts for about
one-fifth of total U.S.
commercial seafood production and nearly three-quarters of the nation's shrimp
output. The oil spill is becoming
the nation's worst environmental disaster ever,
threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood
grounds.
"It is of grave concern," David
Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing."
Meanwhile congressional committee members, probing the spill, focused
on possible defects in critical safety devises. Rep. Henry A. Waxman
(D-Calif) called it "a calamitous series of equipment and operational failures.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), an oil industry supporter, said there was "in
all probability shoddy maintenance," as well as "mislabeled
components."
Among the possible ways to plug the leak that is spewing 210,000
gallons of oil a day, BP proposed a so-called "junk shot"
procedure, in which shredded tires, golf balls and other material would be
pumped into the leak. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) said BP is
"largely making it up as they go....When we heard the best minds were
on the case, we expected MIT and not the PGA."
The disaster contributes to a sense that government failed again, just
as it did during Hurricane Katrina. Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice, Louisiana
said, "They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels
when I think they knew it was more. And they weren't proactive."
Without
crucial environmental and safety studies, the Obama
administration intervened in court to ensure that BP's Gulf drilling
operations would go forward. The administration's efforts applied
specifically to the site run by BP. It exploded on April 26, killing
11
workers and creating an oil slick that is an unparalleled disaster on
the Gulf Coast.
The Obama administration joined BP
in quashing environmental challenges to Gulf
drilling in 2009 legal actions by Ken Salazar, Obama's Secretary of Interior.
They asked the federal court of appeals in Washington,
DC to overturn their decision that blocked new
drilling in the Gulf
of Mexico's outer continental shelf, referring to the same
area where the explosion later occurred.
The appeals court partially approved Salazar's petition, with the
condition that the administration produce an environmental impact study for Gulf of Mexico
drilling operations. The
Obama administration granted BP a "categorical
exemption" fromproducing
a legally required environmental impact study and approved its exploration plan
for the location of the future spill.
The Department of the Interior appealed the ruling, arguing that exploration
had begun, and that "attemptingto
restore the status quo would therefore be extraordinarily difficult."
Democrats have pushed deregulation as much as Republicans. In the 2008
elections BP employees gave Obama $71,000, more than they gave to any other candidate.
They have spent tens of millions
lobbying in the past three years, purchasing support of powerful politicians in
both parties. BP, the 4th largest corporation in the world with yearly revenues
of $327 billion, gave about 60 % of their campaign contributions to Republicans
and 40 % to Democrats in the last election cycle.
In 2008 candidate Obama rejected calls to open new areas for drilling, saying,
"It would have long-term consequences for our coastlines but no
short-term benefits, since it would take at least 10 years to get any
oil." He said off-shore drilling would not lower gas prices. And, "when
I'm president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil
companies from drilling off Florida's
coasts."
On March 31, 2010,
Obama flip-flopped, proposing opening the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf
of Mexico, and the north coast of Alaska
to drilling.
Nowadays we vacation at Edisto Beach in South Carolina with our
children and grandchildren and enjoy fishing, crabbing, and shrimping
together. How long before the slick and slimy bosses of big oil bring
their deadly oil slicks here too?
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When I was a kid our family lived in Mobile, Alabama.
We enjoyed the "fish jubilee" over on the Baldwin
County side of Mobile Bay.
This occurred when the moon and tide
reached a certain alignment causing fish and crabs to swim up to the edge of
the water, especially at night. By moonlight with small nets we scooped up flounder, red fish, trout and crabs
teeming in the shallow water at the edge of the bay. We also enjoyed our annual
vacations at my grandmother's cottage at Sunnyside Beach
near Panama City
in the Florida Panhandle. The
sandy beaches were as white as snow. We enjoyed fishing; catching red
fish in a cove, flounder under a bridge in a small bay called Phillips Inlet, and
red snapper and grouper by bottom fishing out in the Gulf.
We gathered oysters in bays and coves. This
abundant sea life is now threatened by a slick and slimy oil spill caused by
slick and slimy British Petroleum (BP) executives.
The BP oil spill will destroy
much of the fish, shrimp, crabs, and the oyster beds. The
Gulf region accounts for about
one-fifth of total U.S.
commercial seafood production and nearly three-quarters of the nation's shrimp
output. The oil spill is becoming
the nation's worst environmental disaster ever,
threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood
grounds.
"It is of grave concern," David
Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing."
Meanwhile congressional committee members, probing the spill, focused
on possible defects in critical safety devises. Rep. Henry A. Waxman
(D-Calif) called it "a calamitous series of equipment and operational failures.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), an oil industry supporter, said there was "in
all probability shoddy maintenance," as well as "mislabeled
components."
Among the possible ways to plug the leak that is spewing 210,000
gallons of oil a day, BP proposed a so-called "junk shot"
procedure, in which shredded tires, golf balls and other material would be
pumped into the leak. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) said BP is
"largely making it up as they go....When we heard the best minds were
on the case, we expected MIT and not the PGA."
The disaster contributes to a sense that government failed again, just
as it did during Hurricane Katrina. Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice, Louisiana
said, "They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels
when I think they knew it was more. And they weren't proactive."
Without
crucial environmental and safety studies, the Obama
administration intervened in court to ensure that BP's Gulf drilling
operations would go forward. The administration's efforts applied
specifically to the site run by BP. It exploded on April 26, killing
11
workers and creating an oil slick that is an unparalleled disaster on
the Gulf Coast.
The Obama administration joined BP
in quashing environmental challenges to Gulf
drilling in 2009 legal actions by Ken Salazar, Obama's Secretary of Interior.
They asked the federal court of appeals in Washington,
DC to overturn their decision that blocked new
drilling in the Gulf
of Mexico's outer continental shelf, referring to the same
area where the explosion later occurred.
The appeals court partially approved Salazar's petition, with the
condition that the administration produce an environmental impact study for Gulf of Mexico
drilling operations. The
Obama administration granted BP a "categorical
exemption" fromproducing
a legally required environmental impact study and approved its exploration plan
for the location of the future spill.
The Department of the Interior appealed the ruling, arguing that exploration
had begun, and that "attemptingto
restore the status quo would therefore be extraordinarily difficult."
Democrats have pushed deregulation as much as Republicans. In the 2008
elections BP employees gave Obama $71,000, more than they gave to any other candidate.
They have spent tens of millions
lobbying in the past three years, purchasing support of powerful politicians in
both parties. BP, the 4th largest corporation in the world with yearly revenues
of $327 billion, gave about 60 % of their campaign contributions to Republicans
and 40 % to Democrats in the last election cycle.
In 2008 candidate Obama rejected calls to open new areas for drilling, saying,
"It would have long-term consequences for our coastlines but no
short-term benefits, since it would take at least 10 years to get any
oil." He said off-shore drilling would not lower gas prices. And, "when
I'm president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil
companies from drilling off Florida's
coasts."
On March 31, 2010,
Obama flip-flopped, proposing opening the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf
of Mexico, and the north coast of Alaska
to drilling.
Nowadays we vacation at Edisto Beach in South Carolina with our
children and grandchildren and enjoy fishing, crabbing, and shrimping
together. How long before the slick and slimy bosses of big oil bring
their deadly oil slicks here too?
When I was a kid our family lived in Mobile, Alabama.
We enjoyed the "fish jubilee" over on the Baldwin
County side of Mobile Bay.
This occurred when the moon and tide
reached a certain alignment causing fish and crabs to swim up to the edge of
the water, especially at night. By moonlight with small nets we scooped up flounder, red fish, trout and crabs
teeming in the shallow water at the edge of the bay. We also enjoyed our annual
vacations at my grandmother's cottage at Sunnyside Beach
near Panama City
in the Florida Panhandle. The
sandy beaches were as white as snow. We enjoyed fishing; catching red
fish in a cove, flounder under a bridge in a small bay called Phillips Inlet, and
red snapper and grouper by bottom fishing out in the Gulf.
We gathered oysters in bays and coves. This
abundant sea life is now threatened by a slick and slimy oil spill caused by
slick and slimy British Petroleum (BP) executives.
The BP oil spill will destroy
much of the fish, shrimp, crabs, and the oyster beds. The
Gulf region accounts for about
one-fifth of total U.S.
commercial seafood production and nearly three-quarters of the nation's shrimp
output. The oil spill is becoming
the nation's worst environmental disaster ever,
threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood
grounds.
"It is of grave concern," David
Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing."
Meanwhile congressional committee members, probing the spill, focused
on possible defects in critical safety devises. Rep. Henry A. Waxman
(D-Calif) called it "a calamitous series of equipment and operational failures.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), an oil industry supporter, said there was "in
all probability shoddy maintenance," as well as "mislabeled
components."
Among the possible ways to plug the leak that is spewing 210,000
gallons of oil a day, BP proposed a so-called "junk shot"
procedure, in which shredded tires, golf balls and other material would be
pumped into the leak. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) said BP is
"largely making it up as they go....When we heard the best minds were
on the case, we expected MIT and not the PGA."
The disaster contributes to a sense that government failed again, just
as it did during Hurricane Katrina. Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice, Louisiana
said, "They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels
when I think they knew it was more. And they weren't proactive."
Without
crucial environmental and safety studies, the Obama
administration intervened in court to ensure that BP's Gulf drilling
operations would go forward. The administration's efforts applied
specifically to the site run by BP. It exploded on April 26, killing
11
workers and creating an oil slick that is an unparalleled disaster on
the Gulf Coast.
The Obama administration joined BP
in quashing environmental challenges to Gulf
drilling in 2009 legal actions by Ken Salazar, Obama's Secretary of Interior.
They asked the federal court of appeals in Washington,
DC to overturn their decision that blocked new
drilling in the Gulf
of Mexico's outer continental shelf, referring to the same
area where the explosion later occurred.
The appeals court partially approved Salazar's petition, with the
condition that the administration produce an environmental impact study for Gulf of Mexico
drilling operations. The
Obama administration granted BP a "categorical
exemption" fromproducing
a legally required environmental impact study and approved its exploration plan
for the location of the future spill.
The Department of the Interior appealed the ruling, arguing that exploration
had begun, and that "attemptingto
restore the status quo would therefore be extraordinarily difficult."
Democrats have pushed deregulation as much as Republicans. In the 2008
elections BP employees gave Obama $71,000, more than they gave to any other candidate.
They have spent tens of millions
lobbying in the past three years, purchasing support of powerful politicians in
both parties. BP, the 4th largest corporation in the world with yearly revenues
of $327 billion, gave about 60 % of their campaign contributions to Republicans
and 40 % to Democrats in the last election cycle.
In 2008 candidate Obama rejected calls to open new areas for drilling, saying,
"It would have long-term consequences for our coastlines but no
short-term benefits, since it would take at least 10 years to get any
oil." He said off-shore drilling would not lower gas prices. And, "when
I'm president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil
companies from drilling off Florida's
coasts."
On March 31, 2010,
Obama flip-flopped, proposing opening the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf
of Mexico, and the north coast of Alaska
to drilling.
Nowadays we vacation at Edisto Beach in South Carolina with our
children and grandchildren and enjoy fishing, crabbing, and shrimping
together. How long before the slick and slimy bosses of big oil bring
their deadly oil slicks here too?