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Live Video Feed of Endless Gush of Oil: A Damning Fountain of Truth
Jun 17, 2010
ONE IMAGE captures the truth and enormity of the Gulf oil spill, even
more than the muck-soaked pelicans.
It's the live video feed of oil spewing into the ocean, which BP was forced to post on the Internet,
thanks to US Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Gaining
access to the video was a major battle. Now, the relentless scrutiny of
that undersea eye - actually 12 undersea eyes attached to a dozen
camera-bearing robots - keeps the pressure on the oil company.
It also keeps the pressure on President Obama as he tries to buff up a
tarnished commander-in-chief image. Whether Obama is meeting with BP
executives or walking along Gulf beaches, the camera never blinks on the
worst environmental disaster in US history.
It's a damning fountain of truth, brought to the public by Markey, a
fellow Democrat. Watching the brown crude gurgling in the corner of the
screen as Obama or BP executives address the crisis is akin to watching
the Dow drop when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner first unveiled the
administration's financial bail-out plan.
The BP-owned rig exploded on April 20 and sank on April 22. It took
several weeks days before BP released any film of the undersea leak, and
the company first showed only a few minutes of video. On May 19,
Markey, who chairs the House subcommittee on Energy and the Environment,
pressed scientists to assess the extent of the disaster. Their spill
estimates - up to 70,000 barrels a day - mirrored what one BP official
told Markey a week after the explosion, and were much higher than what
BP officials were telling the public. Afterwards, Markey demanded that
BP post the spill-cam or let Markey's office do it. Under increasing
public pressure, BP gave the video feed to Markey.
Shortly after it went live at 1:30 p.m. on May 20, the website - globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
- crashed.
Markey went to battle once again, when he realized BP was providing
only one shot from one camera. Markey also challenged BP's plan to
completely shut down the video when it undertook the "top kill''
procedure, a strategy that ultimately failed to stop the gusher. When
news of the proposed black-out became public, BP backed down. Live feeds
from all 12 cameras have been available ever since.
The video feed is now available on other websites, including BP's.
But a computer in Markey's committee office in the basement of the
Longworth Building still runs all 12 camera feeds, 24/7, directly into
the pool feed for major network and cable programs.
"The spill-cam has allowed the public and independent scientists
access to the crime scene,'' said Markey. "This is a real time video of
BP's real world disaster.''
Markey said he still doesn't trust BP. During the next phase of the
effort to cap the spill, he wants BP to apply the fluorescent dye that
experts say is necessary to accurately measure the speed and quantity of
the oil that continues to spew.
The amount of oil is important, since BP is liable for every barrel
it spills. Markey believes the company deliberately tried to keep the
video from the public to limit its liability.
According to a lengthy article on the spill in Rolling Stone
magazine, the Obama administration also had access to the video "from
the earliest days of the disaster.''
Asked to respond, Markey ducked, saying, "The president said that if
there were one thing he would do over again, he would not have trusted
BP. In those first couple of weeks, I think that obviously BP was trying
to limit is liability rather than protect the livability of the Gulf.''
The video serves as a constant and powerful reminder of man's
encroachment on environment - "a crime against nature,'' as Markey puts
it.
It also measures rhetoric against reality.
In his Oval Office address, Obama said that efforts to stop the spill
should soon "capture up to 90 percent of the oil leading out of the
well.''
No one should believe projections like that until the image on the
video shifts to a trickle and finally, thankfully stops.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Boston Globe
ONE IMAGE captures the truth and enormity of the Gulf oil spill, even
more than the muck-soaked pelicans.
It's the live video feed of oil spewing into the ocean, which BP was forced to post on the Internet,
thanks to US Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Gaining
access to the video was a major battle. Now, the relentless scrutiny of
that undersea eye - actually 12 undersea eyes attached to a dozen
camera-bearing robots - keeps the pressure on the oil company.
It also keeps the pressure on President Obama as he tries to buff up a
tarnished commander-in-chief image. Whether Obama is meeting with BP
executives or walking along Gulf beaches, the camera never blinks on the
worst environmental disaster in US history.
It's a damning fountain of truth, brought to the public by Markey, a
fellow Democrat. Watching the brown crude gurgling in the corner of the
screen as Obama or BP executives address the crisis is akin to watching
the Dow drop when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner first unveiled the
administration's financial bail-out plan.
The BP-owned rig exploded on April 20 and sank on April 22. It took
several weeks days before BP released any film of the undersea leak, and
the company first showed only a few minutes of video. On May 19,
Markey, who chairs the House subcommittee on Energy and the Environment,
pressed scientists to assess the extent of the disaster. Their spill
estimates - up to 70,000 barrels a day - mirrored what one BP official
told Markey a week after the explosion, and were much higher than what
BP officials were telling the public. Afterwards, Markey demanded that
BP post the spill-cam or let Markey's office do it. Under increasing
public pressure, BP gave the video feed to Markey.
Shortly after it went live at 1:30 p.m. on May 20, the website - globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
- crashed.
Markey went to battle once again, when he realized BP was providing
only one shot from one camera. Markey also challenged BP's plan to
completely shut down the video when it undertook the "top kill''
procedure, a strategy that ultimately failed to stop the gusher. When
news of the proposed black-out became public, BP backed down. Live feeds
from all 12 cameras have been available ever since.
The video feed is now available on other websites, including BP's.
But a computer in Markey's committee office in the basement of the
Longworth Building still runs all 12 camera feeds, 24/7, directly into
the pool feed for major network and cable programs.
"The spill-cam has allowed the public and independent scientists
access to the crime scene,'' said Markey. "This is a real time video of
BP's real world disaster.''
Markey said he still doesn't trust BP. During the next phase of the
effort to cap the spill, he wants BP to apply the fluorescent dye that
experts say is necessary to accurately measure the speed and quantity of
the oil that continues to spew.
The amount of oil is important, since BP is liable for every barrel
it spills. Markey believes the company deliberately tried to keep the
video from the public to limit its liability.
According to a lengthy article on the spill in Rolling Stone
magazine, the Obama administration also had access to the video "from
the earliest days of the disaster.''
Asked to respond, Markey ducked, saying, "The president said that if
there were one thing he would do over again, he would not have trusted
BP. In those first couple of weeks, I think that obviously BP was trying
to limit is liability rather than protect the livability of the Gulf.''
The video serves as a constant and powerful reminder of man's
encroachment on environment - "a crime against nature,'' as Markey puts
it.
It also measures rhetoric against reality.
In his Oval Office address, Obama said that efforts to stop the spill
should soon "capture up to 90 percent of the oil leading out of the
well.''
No one should believe projections like that until the image on the
video shifts to a trickle and finally, thankfully stops.
ONE IMAGE captures the truth and enormity of the Gulf oil spill, even
more than the muck-soaked pelicans.
It's the live video feed of oil spewing into the ocean, which BP was forced to post on the Internet,
thanks to US Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Gaining
access to the video was a major battle. Now, the relentless scrutiny of
that undersea eye - actually 12 undersea eyes attached to a dozen
camera-bearing robots - keeps the pressure on the oil company.
It also keeps the pressure on President Obama as he tries to buff up a
tarnished commander-in-chief image. Whether Obama is meeting with BP
executives or walking along Gulf beaches, the camera never blinks on the
worst environmental disaster in US history.
It's a damning fountain of truth, brought to the public by Markey, a
fellow Democrat. Watching the brown crude gurgling in the corner of the
screen as Obama or BP executives address the crisis is akin to watching
the Dow drop when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner first unveiled the
administration's financial bail-out plan.
The BP-owned rig exploded on April 20 and sank on April 22. It took
several weeks days before BP released any film of the undersea leak, and
the company first showed only a few minutes of video. On May 19,
Markey, who chairs the House subcommittee on Energy and the Environment,
pressed scientists to assess the extent of the disaster. Their spill
estimates - up to 70,000 barrels a day - mirrored what one BP official
told Markey a week after the explosion, and were much higher than what
BP officials were telling the public. Afterwards, Markey demanded that
BP post the spill-cam or let Markey's office do it. Under increasing
public pressure, BP gave the video feed to Markey.
Shortly after it went live at 1:30 p.m. on May 20, the website - globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
- crashed.
Markey went to battle once again, when he realized BP was providing
only one shot from one camera. Markey also challenged BP's plan to
completely shut down the video when it undertook the "top kill''
procedure, a strategy that ultimately failed to stop the gusher. When
news of the proposed black-out became public, BP backed down. Live feeds
from all 12 cameras have been available ever since.
The video feed is now available on other websites, including BP's.
But a computer in Markey's committee office in the basement of the
Longworth Building still runs all 12 camera feeds, 24/7, directly into
the pool feed for major network and cable programs.
"The spill-cam has allowed the public and independent scientists
access to the crime scene,'' said Markey. "This is a real time video of
BP's real world disaster.''
Markey said he still doesn't trust BP. During the next phase of the
effort to cap the spill, he wants BP to apply the fluorescent dye that
experts say is necessary to accurately measure the speed and quantity of
the oil that continues to spew.
The amount of oil is important, since BP is liable for every barrel
it spills. Markey believes the company deliberately tried to keep the
video from the public to limit its liability.
According to a lengthy article on the spill in Rolling Stone
magazine, the Obama administration also had access to the video "from
the earliest days of the disaster.''
Asked to respond, Markey ducked, saying, "The president said that if
there were one thing he would do over again, he would not have trusted
BP. In those first couple of weeks, I think that obviously BP was trying
to limit is liability rather than protect the livability of the Gulf.''
The video serves as a constant and powerful reminder of man's
encroachment on environment - "a crime against nature,'' as Markey puts
it.
It also measures rhetoric against reality.
In his Oval Office address, Obama said that efforts to stop the spill
should soon "capture up to 90 percent of the oil leading out of the
well.''
No one should believe projections like that until the image on the
video shifts to a trickle and finally, thankfully stops.
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