gulf coast spill – CFACT

Gulf spill: Small bacteria proved big help

Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists found methane concentrations 100,000 times above normal levels and feared the worst for the area’s eco-system. Now it appears one of the biggest heroes in this disaster saga came in the form of one of the smallest living organisms known to man. As reported in Popular Science, a species of methane-munching bacteria known as methanotrophs began proliferating after the spill, and within a period of months began to tidy up the area. In fact, so proficient were the organisms that when scientists took measurements in October [...]

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|2011-02-22T00:00:00-05:00February 22nd, 2011|Comments Off

Gulf disaster turns national catastrophe

By Bill BalgordBP and the Obama administration couldn’t have made a bigger mess of the Gulf, whether the latest cap holds or not. For 50 days, the administration left clean-up to the London-based company, while a U.S. president remained detached.BP, many of whose executives contributed to Obama’s presidential campaign, received a federal safety award in 2009, after a refinery fire killed several of its workers. The Department of Interior, lead agency for enforcing drilling permits, was missing-in-action as the doomed deepwater project moved forward.Could the infant spill have been handled differently in late April? A week was lost to indecision. Then [...]

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Adam Houser

|2010-07-28T13:05:27-04:00July 28th, 2010|Comments Off

Of pelicans and people: CFACT staff visits affected region

By Duggan FlanakinThe nesting grounds of the Louisiana brown pelican are under siege from oil spurting out of the hole in the Gulf of Mexico created by the explosion at BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The pelican is perhaps the number one symbol of the damage caused by the human recklessness that apparently caused this "accident." Running a close second, though, are the people of Louisiana, who have already lost jobs both from the oil that is fouling the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and heading inland and from the Obama administration's decision, made against the advice of experts, to [...]

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|2010-07-13T11:32:12-04:00July 13th, 2010|Comments Off

Obamaâ€™s deliberate Katrina

Back in May, a television news program asked me if I’d tell America the BP oil spill is President Obama’s Katrina. We discussed the spill’s causes, effects and cleanup effort, but I wouldn’t give them the “red meat” they were looking for. So I lost my 15 minutes of national fame.Since then, it has become obvious that the Katrina analogy is inappropriate. The 2005 hurricane was marked by abject failures by the New Orleans mayor and Louisiana governor, and initially inept responses by FEMA and the Bush administration. The 2010 oil spill is defined by yeoman’s efforts by Gulf Coast governors [...]

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Paul Driessen

|2012-09-16T22:33:24-04:00July 6th, 2010|Comments Off

CFACT update from the Gulf coast

By Jillian LeMelleOn Flag Day (June 14), CFACT Director of Policy Research Duggan Flanakin led a team of three staffers and three Collegian students from the University of Louisiana - Lafayette on a boat tour departing from LaFitte, Louisiana, and out to Queen Bess Island, the nesting home of Louisiana's state bird, the brown pelican. The drive from Lafayette to LaFitte took approximately four hours. When we finallyarrived, we were greeted by beautiful scenery. The land we stood on formed the shape of ahorseshoe; the boat in which we were going was docked in the curve of the shoe. The left [...]

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|2010-07-01T09:28:22-04:00July 1st, 2010|Comments Off

A few questions for President Obama

America needs decisive leaders who understand what government can (and cannot) do to stop the Gulf gusher, clean up the mess, and get business, jobs and prosperity back on track. Instead, President Obama sounds like an anti-business Community Organizer in Chief – pointing fingers, making baseless claims about ending our “addiction to oil,” and leaving no crisis unexploited to promote job-killing cap-tax-and-trade and renewable energy agendas. His June 15 “vision” raised more questions than it answered.1) The President said he can no longer support new drilling unless industry can prove it will be “absolutely safe.” This avoidable environmental disaster happened because [...]

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Paul Driessen

|2012-09-16T22:33:25-04:00June 25th, 2010|Comments Off

BP and the unmitigated disaster

By Alan CarubaThe Gulf of Mexico could turn into a giant dead zone if some means cannot be found to staunch the flow of oil and toxic gases emerging from the damaged well beneath the Deepwater Horizon. Industry insiders who understand the engineering of wells are beginning to speak openly among themselves of an unmitigated disaster.It is essential to understand that the oil business is like no other. Oil companies that drill too many dry holes go out of business. Oil is too often in places run by despots and gangsters that would make Hollywood villains seem tame by comparison. Oil [...]

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|2010-06-22T06:31:50-04:00June 22nd, 2010|Comments Off

Capitalizing on the latest crisis

By Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., Niger Innis and Reverend Samuel RodriquezBusiness and capitalism are dirty words in many White House and progressive circles, except in two ways.Business is good when it can be co-opted and manipulated by government to advance “progressive” energy, social or economic agendas. And capitalism is a virtue in the sense of capitalizing on every crisis to promote those agendas – through the guiding principle enshrined by leftists like Saul Alinsky and Rahm Emanuel: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”Thus the tragic Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been incompetently handled by a White House, EPA and [...]

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Christina Norman

|2010-06-21T08:11:38-04:00June 21st, 2010|Comments Off

Oil addiction lies

By Alan CarubaThe biggest lie being told to Americans these days is that we are “addicted” to oil and that we must convert our economy and society away from its use.The first time I recall hearing this was during George W. Bush’s 2006 State of the Union Speech and, frankly, I was astounded to hear it from the son of a former President who made his fortune in oil. The latest to repeat the lie is President Barack Obama, but he is allied with environmental organizations that are anti-energy no matter what form it takes.Americans and everyone else around the world [...]

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|2010-06-18T00:00:00-04:00June 18th, 2010|Comments Off

Offshore drilling: Policy reform vs political grandstanding

By Dave Juday Congress has – so far – convened or scheduled well more than a dozen oversight and investigative hearings on the Deepwater Horizon oil well disaster. According to Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), his committee’s goal was to “create a thorough factual record and an informed discussion of the very important questions presented by this disaster.” By that standard the committee failed. Several Senators attempted unsuccessfully to appropriate industry jargon to delve into the mechanical engineering of oil rig shear rams and the physics of pipeline pressure tests. It was clear they did not have even the [...]

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|2010-06-14T12:41:02-04:00June 14th, 2010|Comments Off

Once a government pet, BP now a capitalist tool

By Timothy P. Carney, Washington ExaminerAs BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig was sinking on April 22, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was on the phone with allies in his push for climate legislation, telling them he would soon roll out the Senate climate bill with the support of the utility industry and three oil companies — including BP, according to the Washington Post.Kerry never got to have his photo op with BP chief executive Tony Hayward and other regulation-friendly corporate chieftains. Within days, Republican co-sponsor Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., repudiated the bill following a spat about immigration, and Democrats went back to the [...]

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|2012-09-16T22:33:25-04:00June 9th, 2010|Comments Off

Oil Spill puts BP in troubled water

The giant oil spill off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico is a bitter reminder that providing Americans with reliable and affordable energy is serious business. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed eleven workers and raised fears of widespread ecological damage. Drilling for oil lying 5,000 feet below the surface, the Deepwater Horizon caught fire and collapsed, allowing an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil a day to spew into the sea. Disasters are rarely caused by one thing; instead, they are the cumulative result of [...]

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Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.

|2012-09-16T22:33:25-04:00June 3rd, 2010|Comments Off

FAQ: Gulf Oil Spill

The April 20 explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon platform was a tragedy on many levels. Not only were lives lost and people injured, but the impacts of the oil seepage continue to wreak havoc on marine animals, ecosystems and the livelihoods of area residents and local fisherman. In the wake of this tragedy, CFACT recently launched its emergency Gulf Cleanup Campaign to mobilize and educate citizens about what they can do to assist in habitat restoration, animal rescue and economic recovery.What is CFACT doing to protect the Gulf Coast?CFACT is mobilizing its broad network of citizen supporters to volunteer, educate others, [...]

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|2010-05-14T11:08:01-04:00May 14th, 2010|Comments Off

Oil Spill: How to check the status of a beach

For more information on the condition or status of a beach, please visit: Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas To report oiled shoreline: Please contact the hotline at 866-448-581 To report oiled wildlife: To report oiled or injured wildlife, please call 866-557-1401. Please do not attempt to rescue or clean wildlife yourself.

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|2010-05-12T16:47:56-04:00May 12th, 2010|Comments Off

BP Oil Spill Resources

As national and state governments, as well as BP, along the Gulf Coast assess the potential impacts of oil on the coastline, government agencies remain on high alert to protect our coastline, natural resources and abundant wildlife and fish. Most states are installing protective barriers, called booms, along the shorelines and workers and volunteers are constantly monitor the wildlife, water and air quality. Additionally, the National Guard is assisting with some of the state’s responses. Federal US Response Federal Coordinated Response Site EPA British Petroleum Official Oil Spill Site Response Details Response Maps Response Images Louisiana Emergency.louisiana.gov is the state’s online [...]

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|2010-05-12T13:47:24-04:00May 12th, 2010|Comments Off