BP oil spill -- links and info

BP's oil spill is the largest oil spill in US history. A disaster was bound to happen given the exemptions the government gave BP from an environmental review and the fact that the MMS allowed BP to fill out its own inspection forms. About a year ago, internal documents show that BP was concerned about the safety of the rig. And so on.

BP's response has been (as expected) to put profits ahead of all other considerations. BP has prevented conscripted cleanup crews from wearing respirators since that would open the company to liability suits; some workers have summarily been hospitalized. BP attempted to have Louisiana fishermen sign promises not to sue the company immediately after the disaster. BP has been rather successful in suppressing information about the spill and they have underreported the amount of oil that is likely leaking. Additionally, the Coast Guard appears to have been tapped in service of the company. But nothing can beat the sheer novelty of BP busing in workers for Obama's visit to make the cleanup effort appear more substantial (and then busing the workers out after Obama and the press left).

As far as personal stories go, this is just heartbreaking. Rolling Stone also has a comprehensive article about the government's reaction to the spill. Apparently there is a Twitter feed mocking BP that some find funny.

Greenwald has some more coverage here.

Obama doesn't much mind oil spills

From Jonathan Turley's blog about Obama's involvement in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

Yet, the criticism of Obama in the aftermath of this tragedy has been quite modest. One can only imagine the outcry if President Bush opened up the East Coast to drilling, said that rigs do not cause spills (here), disregarded warnings about such spills from his own agency (here), and waived an environmental impact study based on the industry’s assurance. On top of that, Obama has been the largest recipient of BP campaign money (here). No one expects the President to follow waivers of impact studies — that is Salazar’s job. However, once again, the muted criticism from liberals is striking.