No, this is not an image depicting the Smog in the LA basin
Imagining the recent oil spill has been hard for some. Perhaps it’s been impossible to get information about it, you have closed your ears and plugged your eyes for the last month. Perhaps it’s just difficult because you don’t live anywhere near the gulf coast. ifitwasmyhome.com helped me see how vast the spill is. From my home, the spill reaches down to Los Angeles, and all the way over to Bakersfield. Check out how the spill would look from your home town!
About the Spill
An explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven crew members on April 20, 2010, sparking the greatest environmental disaster in United States history. In combination with the Texas City Refinery Explosion and the Prudohoe Bay Oil Spill, this marks the third serious incident involving BP in the United States in the last five years. Current estimates put the amount of oil being discharged from the broken well at above 1,050,000 US gallons per day! There are over 400 different species of animals living in the area affected by the spill. 316 sea turtles and 38 dolphins have been found dead within the spill area (NOAA). BP is operating oil skimmers and other cleanup tools to try to remove oil from the water and Louisiana is building oil containment berms to halt the spread of oil. Experts are uncertain what effect, if any, these efforts will have.
What Do I Do Now?
There are plenty of stances to take on this tragic disaster. Some try the blame game (majority of people) while BP pulls out a game of their own, Sorry! There has been talk about whether BP should even exist anymore. Should they go bankrupt trying to clean this up? Should they stay in business only to have their profits stolen on a regular basis? What do you think?
On a lighter note, here’s a video of BP’s tragic incompetency.
