Gulf Oil Leak May Be Over 4 Million Gallons Per Day

by Edger

Last week on June 15 the US Department of Energy announced that a group of federal and independent scientists convened by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and Chair of the National Incident Command's Flow Rate Technical Group (FRTG) Dr. Marcia McNutt (Director of the U.S. Geological Survey) had developed a new estimate for the amount of oil gushing from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico that indicated the leak could be spewing up to 2.52 million gallons of crude oil per day into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico from British Petroleum's Macondo Well.

continued at Daily Kos....

This Is Depressing

by slinkerwink

ThinkProgress reports that the wellhead is potentially in danger of tilting over, due to its weight, which has near-apocalyptic ramifications for the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico [as if the oil spill itself already hasn't done enough damage]:

The Leaning Tower Of Oily Pisa

The broken wellhead gushing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is tilting over, potentially threatening further disaster. The Deepwater Horizon riser package that sits on the seabed a mile below the ocean surface weighs over 450 tons, including the 48-foot-tall failed blowout preventer. In a press teleconference Monday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen announced that the riser package is tilting "10 or 12 degrees off perpendicular," twice the 5.5 degree tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

The entire arrangement is kind of listed a little bit. I think it’s 10 or 12 degrees off perpendicular so it’s not quite straight up.

So what would happen if the broken wellhead were to completely fall over?

continued at Daily Kos....

Methane Gas, Tsunami's and the Collapse of the Sea Floor in the Gulf

by Ellinorianne

I hate the worst case scenarios that have been swirling around the Gulf Disaster, as the numbers rise and the information comes in, from workers getting sick, the news that endangered species aren't being rescued as they should be, all of it is beginning to get too much to handle.

The first Sperm whale was found in the Gulf (don't click on the link if you are squeamish).

And as this keeps gushing and going, we keep asking ourselves, is this going to end anytime soon?  And of course, the never ending amount of oil going in to the ocean is a mass murder of animals, ecology and livelihoods but what else could be lurking?

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The Empire Strikes Back -- in the Fight for our Energy Future

by jamess


The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Yoda: I am wondering, why are you here?
Luke: I'm looking for someone.
Yoda: Looking? Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?
Luke: Right...
Yoda: Help you I can. Yes, mmmm.
Luke: I don't think so. I'm looking for a great warrior.
Yoda: Ohhh. Great warrior.  [Yoda laughs and shakes his head]
Yoda: Wars -- NOT -- make one great.

Not even wars, for control and mining of strategically important geo-politcal Natural Resources -- that may or may not, determine the course of the world's future ...


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Judge Blocks Drilling Moratorium - Updated 8:35 CT

by kirbybruno

From AP:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A federal judge in New Orleans has blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects that was imposed in response to the massive Gulf oil spill.

The interior department:

"A second deepwater blowout could overwhelm the efforts to respond to the current disaster,"

I will update the diary with links in it as fast as I can.  

Text of the ruling.

continued at Daily Kos....

The Oil Game They're Playing In Our Oceans Ain't "Beanbag"

by Bob Higgins

Originally posted at my site Bob Higgins

Oil giant Chevron, in the wake of one of the world's worst environmental disasters in the Gulf of Mexico is dragging its corporate feet over Canadian requests for increased safety procedures at a deep water well off the coast of Newfoundland. The company's Lona O-55 exploratory well is about 258 miles northeast of St. John's, in the Orphan Basin.

BP's out of control gusher in the gulf is just over 5000 feet deep while the Chevron well off the Canadian coast is 8,530 feet beneath the surface.

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Climate Science: Who is More Credible?

by Steven D

A new paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) re-confirmed that among scientists who actually publish peer reviewed research articles and studies on climate science more than 97% of them are convinced that Anthropogenic Climate Change (ACC) (i.e., climate change caused by human activity) is occurring.  

More significantly, scientists who are convinced of ACC have  published more climate science related peer reviewed papers and their research has been cited more often by other researchers than scientists who are not convinced of ACC, by a wide margin.

Follow me below the fold to explore the question of who is more objectively credible about human induced climate change: Climate Scientists who are convinced ACC is real or Climate Change Skeptics.

Update [2010-6-22 23:2:6 by Steven D]: Link to PNAS paper is here.

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BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: #28/ UNREC, PLEASE

by Liveblog

PLEASE REC New Mothership: #29

The current ROV diary is HERE.

Rules of the Road

• We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
• Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
• Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier's diaries to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!

To repeat: please refrain from commenting in this mothership diary, unless you're volunteering for a submersible shift.  

continued at Daily Kos....

Federal scientist est. flow could be up to 2.5 million gallons a day. FU BP!

by TrahmalG

It's been a long time since I 've posted a diary. I usually just lurk now and read diaries, post a comment every now and then.

But besides that, MSNBC has an article up with scientist on a federal panel upping the flow estimates.

What did it start it at? 1,000 barrels a day?

And now scientist are coming out and saying the estimate could be around 2.5 million gallons?

2,500,000 gallons in one mothafuckin day? Excuse my language, but if it's really leaking at 2.5 million gallons a day then that shit calls for coarse language.

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Fly Away

by Crashing Vor

I've been hesitant to write a diary about this, not only because I have no real answers to the questions it asks, but because I fear to learn them.

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong.

Liz thinks so, and, though I don't believe her, I have to respect her opinion. She calls herself a glorified recycler, but her job requires her to coordinate message with environmental educators and advocates around the world. She knows message. She knows the words people hear.

"People don't care about oil jobs. The average person eats shrimp maybe twice a year at parties. They can't understand economic impacts, unless it's on their lives.

"They care about cute animals."

continued at Daily Kos....