"WASHINGTON — Partisan disagreements in the Senate will delay passage of legislation responding to the Gulf oil spill until at least September, when Congress returns from its summer recess.
Bloomberg News is gamely standing by a story in which critics say it inaccurately interprets its own polling data -- to imply that most Americans oppose President Obama's temporary deepwater drilling ban.
"Now that the oil on the surface appears to be dissipating, the notion of a recovery from the spill, repeated by politicians, strikes some here as short-sighted. The gulf had been suffering for decades before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20."
The mainstream media narrative that all the oil in the Gulf has vanished does not square with satellite photos and serves BP better than it serves the public's need for accurate information. One reason less oil is seen on the surface may be BP's extensive use of dispersants to move it below the surface.
"NEW ORLEANS -- US spill chief Thad Allen failed Thursday to reassure desperate fishermen about their Gulf of Mexico oil clean-up jobs, while BP began the legal wrangling in a massive civil trial. As engineers prepared next week's vital operations to permanently kill the capped BP well, Allen met with parish presidents and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in New Orleans to discuss how to safeguard local jobs going forward.
A Gulf-area wetland restoration company under heat for advocating taxpayer assistance for coastal cleanup efforts defended itself on Thursday against charges that it is merely doing the bidding of the oil companies that help fund its operations. Sam Stein reports for the Huffington Post.
NEW YORK -- One thing has become especially clear watching the BP saga over the last two-and-a-half months: BP isn't Toyota.
The British oil giant is far removed from the consumer in its dirty business of exploring, accessing and selling oil, and its public perception has relatively little impact on its business. But we've been so deeply engaged in the story of the Macondo oil spill -- and its environmental and economic impact on the Gulf -- that most of us have mistakenly translated that consumer outrage into perception of share value, as we did with Toyota and even Goldman Sachs.
Since BP capped the renegade Macondo well at the center of the Gulf oil disaster 12 days ago, the oil slick has shrunk to about 10,000 square miles from 80,000 square miles in just a matter of weeks.
The reduction has amazed scientists who are tracking the spill and raised many questions about where all the oil has gone. An 800-vessel skimming fleet that weeks ago pulled in 25,000 barrels of oil a day could barely find 50 barrels a day late last week. That means much of the up to 3 million barrels suspected to be remaining in the Gulf has largely gone off the radar.
