Category Archives: BP Oil Gusher

BP Translated: “Whaaaaa, no fair; Everybody’s pickin’ on us ’cause we polluted the Gulf”

Posted on by
No Gravatar

So BP has huge hand in the worst man-made environmental disaster in US history and now the company talking heads want to downplay the horrible impacts.

Geoff Morrell, the senior vice president of U.S. communications and external affairs at BP, penned an op-ed for Politico Magazine, which published the drivel on Tuesday of this week. It’s seems the endless train of propaganda-filled TV ads weren’t enough.

The headline of the op-ed (or in this case – odd-ed) – “No, BP Didn’t Ruin the Gulf.”

Morrell fails to mention impacts on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico and the coral reefs and fails to touch on the impacts to wetlands and marshes along the coast.
Earlier today, Media Matters noted the misleading nature of the op-ed. And of course, BP seems to want us to forget the horrible images we saw as oil-coated animals suffered and died.
PACK MENTALITY BLOG: Compassion - teamed with Science and Logic

Trailer: Drill, Spill, Repeat? – It can happen again in the Gulf of Mexico

Posted on by
No Gravatar

Oceana has released a trailer for its new documentary concerning the BP Oil Gusher – and the ongoing threats four years later.

For more information, go to Oceana.org.

PACK MENTALITY BLOG: Compassion - teamed with Science and Logic

Former TransCanada employee has harsh words for company’s practices

Posted on by
No Gravatar

A former TransCanada Corp. employee testified last week about the company before a Canadian Senate committee and used phrases such as a “culture of noncompliance” and “coercion” and “deeply entrenched business practices that ignored legally required regulations and codes” and “significant public safety risks” – according to an articled posted Tuesday on the Huffington Post website.

And of course, all of this related to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Canada, through the US and on to the Gulf Coast. After the hearing, Evan Vokes told the Huffington Post – “It’s organized crime, in my opinion.”

Big Oil’s safety record across the board and over many, many years is poor at best – from the Exxon Valdez to the Gulf Oil Gusher to another recent pipeline spill to many other spills and disasters in the United States and worldwide.

Who could honestly say they’d want work done around their homes by companies with sort of track record? But because it’s Big Oil, some people and some politicians will give them a pass every time. Remember in the few years leading up to the Gulf Oil Gusher how many politicians praised Big Oil as having a great safety record. That turned out to be huge strike out.

I tend to not trust people who get it all wrong to this extent. We should all be concerned with what could happen with the Keystone XL Pipeline. And because it might not be running through your state, it doesn’t mean you should not be concerned.

 

PACK MENTALITY BLOG: Compassion - teamed with Science and Logic

Studies showing dispersants used during BP Gulf Oil Gusher are destroying marine animals

Posted on by
No Gravatar

The fear was there during the BP Gulf Gulf Oil Gusher, that not only was the oil killing marine wildlife – but also the chemicals being used to “clean up” the mess.

Now, it seems studies are showing the dispersants were toxic too.

An article on TakePart.com suggests – “everything from microscopic organisms to bottlenose dolphins are now paying the highest price.” But at the time, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley downplayed the use of the product. Should we be surprised? – No.

But as of last year certainly, scientists were finding horrible deformities in animals. We are not seeing enough in the media about this. And while the suffering goes on under the surface of the water, BP continues to play those ads, patting itself on the back as a hero to the Gulf Region.

The national media should be covering this story. I realize there are a lot of really important stories at the forefront right now and I fully understand this. But I’m also seeing reality show news and other crap. While the media reports what a music or TV celebrity is up, a tragedy continues to unfold.

Take Part also published a gallery to show the impact on sea life.

Continue reading →

PACK MENTALITY BLOG: Compassion - teamed with Science and Logic

Once again, Big Oil shows it just doesn’t care

Posted on by
No Gravatar

The AP reports the delay in Exxon’s response to the 2011 oil spill along the Yellowstone River in Montana made the disaster much worse.

Fish and other wildlife were killed along 70 miles of riverbank and the cleanup lasted for months. Approximately 63,000 gallons of crude poured into the river.

BP covered up the amount of oil gushing into the water during the Gulf Oil Gusher and now we’re finding out what was happening the immediate response to this spill. I’m waiting for the typical anti-environment and pro-greed crowd to try to claim we never have oil spills.

 

On the Environment: BP suspended and Amazon deforestation rate is down

Posted on by
No Gravatar

On the environmental front, there are two areas of good news this week:

The Environmental Protection Agency as announced BP has received a suspension from being issued new contracts with the US government. The Associated Press reports the EPA suspension has arrised due to BP’s “lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company’s conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response.”

AND – the AP also reports the rate of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has dropped to the lowest level in the past 24 years. This is really great news, but we should not be pleased until we see the deforestation stop altogether and see that trend continue into into the future.

 

BP agrees to pay record $4.5 billion penalty and plead guilty in Gulf Oil Gusher case

Posted on by
No Gravatar

Now that BP has agreed to pay this huge, record fine of $4.5 billion and will be plead guilty to manslaughter charges, will the company pull its propaganda TV ads?

In the ads, BP makes itself out to be the hero of the Gulf Oil Gusher. How could a hero agree to pay billions and plead guilty to serious crimes, in the very case where they claim to be a hero?

CNN Money reports family members of those who lost their live on the oil rig are saying the agreement does not make up for their loss of loved ones.

In another CNN article from September 5, the U.S. Department of Justice was referenced as accusing BP of “gross negligence” and a “culture of corporate recklessness” and this came from the filing – “… its gross negligence and willful misconduct are inextricably joined with the acts and omissions of Transocean.”

I don’t think anyone could, based on the facts, suggest BP did not act with gross negligence and corporate recklessness. Yet, the propaganda-filled TV ads will probably go on.

Finally – someone else calls out BP’s propaganda campaign

Posted on by
No Gravatar

Watching BP’s constant stream of TV ads, touting its hand in a great tourist season along the Gulf Coast, is like fingernails on a chalkboard for people who understand the facts.

So I was very please to see David Yarnold’s editorial posted Friday on the Huffington Post website. Yarnold is president of the National Audubon Society. He calls BP’s ads a “slick propaganda campaign” that uses likable employees as spokespeople.

And the following needs to go out to everyone exposed to these ads:

Yarnold notes the “BP oil and the dispersants applied in unprecedented quantities have done mortal damage. The spill has killed areas of deep-sea coral, led to the deaths of bottlenose dolphins, harmed plankton (a vital link in the ocean food chain), decimated bird nesting habitat, poisoned endangered sea turtles and accelerated marsh erosion in a place where every inch of wetland is a precious barrier to sea level rise. Commercial seafood species are still in trouble. In some areas, oyster beds have yet to recover, and shrimpers are reporting shrimp without eyeballs and fish covered in red lesions.”

Somehow, I missed these facts in the BP propaganda ads. The Gulf Coast and its marine wildlife and ecosystem are still feeling the adverse impacts of the BP Gulf Oil Gusher. The propaganda – the “hey, everything’s great here” – is nothing short of disgusting.

The very company that bares the most responsibility for the disaster is trying to bill itself as a hero. And they can do it only because they are swimming in huge profits and can buy as much in the way of TV air time as the CEO wants.

The dead and injured and suffering wildlife don’t have a dime to buy a millisecond of ad time.

 

Science news for animals and ecosystems

Posted on by
No Gravatar

The BP Gulf Oil Gusher continues to impact the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem.

MSNBC reports the 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersant used to break up the giant oil slicks is causing some real problems. A study released Tuesday suggests the dispersant hurt microorganism populations, which impacts the animals up the food chain.

The story also notes dolphins are dying and those still living and were in contact with the oil are being found to have “pulmonary issues, chronic low weight, anemia and low levels of hormones.”

AND – Care2.com posted a headline last week reading – ” ‘Organ Chips’ Could Replace Animal Experiments.”

The amazing goal, one that could help to end suffering for many lab animals, is contained in one important paragraph from the article –

“” A $70 million research project that will develop transparent silicon microchips with hollow channels that contain actual living human tissue and pumps to replicate organ function is underway and is predicted to provide faster, cost-effective and more accurate results for testing diseases, toxins and pharmaceuticals – all on something about the size of a flash drive. “”

Pack Topics: Coyote trapping; animal cruelty; BP Oil Gusher

Posted on by
No Gravatar

BP Oil Gusher continues to impact marine wildlife: Researchers are still finding severe illnesses and deaths among dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Care2.com site also reports 754 marine mammals have washed ashore (95 percent dead) since February of 2010. Since all dead wildlife don’t wash up on shore, the number deaths is believed to be higher.

Troubling rise in animal cruelty cases: Forsyth County Animal Control reports its investigators have written 1,300 animal neglect and animal cruelty citations over the past year. This is a rise of 40 percent.

But according to a My Fox 8 article from Wednesday, the increase might be more a factor of more people reporting these crimes, as opposed to a specific rise in cruelty.

Animal-welfare activists decry coyote-trapping plan in California: The Carson City Council has a plan in place to trap coyotes that are showing up a mobile home park. A 10,000-signature petition was presenting Wednesday to the council in opposition to the trapping, according to CBS Los Angeles.