Posted by jamie — 14 July 2010 at 2:54pm
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Our colleagues in the US have been blogging regularly about the ongoing disaster in the gulf and Greenpeace's involvement in the response to the oil spill. Here, Mike Gaworecki sheds some light on the clean-up operation BP has been carrying out on its image.
There's no way to clean up an oil spill. We've seen this time and again - in Alaska's Prince William Sound, for instance, where oil from the Exxon Valdez spill is still having an impact on local ecosystems. Corporations like Exxon or BP that find themselves responsible for an oil spill - or, as was the case for Exxon and now is the case for BP, an oil disaster - are really left with only one option to handle the problem: public relations, damage control and fierce lobbying.
John Hocevar, team leader of the oceans campaign at Greenpeace USA, is currently in Louisiana helping with Greenpeace's response to the BP oil spill. Here's his latest report from the centre of the ever-growing disaster.
Greetings from Grand Isle, Louisiana, one of the growing number of
places unlucky enough to win a "heavily oiled" classification on the
government maps tracking the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite
BP's efforts to keep it under wraps, we're here to document the impacts
of the spill. The public has a
right - and a responsibility - to know the true cost of our
continued reliance on offshore oil, and fossil fuels in general.
Climbers have scaled BP's London HQ and are
currently hoisting a large oil-soaked version of the company's bright green logo
above the entrance. Chief Executive Tony Hayward is expected to arrive
imminently to chair a board meeting which will focus on the oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico.
The Greenpeace volunteers arrived at 0530
before climbing onto a small metal balcony above the front door. They then
attached a specially designed giant flag to the company's flagpole bearing the
words "British Polluters" alongside the altered BP logo.
The Gulf of Mexico is in the news right now, because of a catastrophic oil spill. You will probably already have seen the pictures. We’ve already pointed out that this is yet another example of the impact our global dependency on oil is having, and how BP in particular, are at fault for their relentless pursuit of the black stuff. They’ll seemingly stop at nothing to fill up oil barrels.
The images we most associate with oil spills are of the impact on wildlife: sea otters in Prince William Sound , or seabirds in Shetland, covered with oil. It’s a dramatic and easily understood impact on our seas’ biodiversity.
America woke up to what could be one of the biggest environmental disasters in its history this morning as crude oil from the wrecked BP rig Deepwater Horizon started to wash ashore along Louisiana's Gulf coast.
The 5,000 square kilometre slick threatens to devastate fisheries, wildlife refuges and bird sanctuaries. Louisiana is most at risk, but Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are also in danger.
Will they never learn? Today the Gulf coast of the southern US is facing environmental catastrophe. Over 200,000 gallons of crude oil a day is leaking from the wellhead of the destroyed BP rig Deepwater Horizon, creating a giant slick visible from space.
