“As state and federal officials continue to open Gulf waters to fishing, we have to again point to evidence that the ‘all clear’ is being sounded way too early,” said Mr. Smith, who represents the United Commercial Fishermen’s Association, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, public entities in the Gulf Coast, as well as private property and business owners. “One of the cautionary notes is that our experts have documented that toxic chemicals remain in the water and food chain – and pose a significant health risk. Those studies have shown that PAHs (polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are present in shrimp from the impacted area. And the PAHs in off-shore Florida are at levels 43 times the levels of shrimp from inland, low-impact inland areas sampled in Louisiana. In our estimation, it may take eight months before the toxic soup has had substantial enough biodegradation to announce an ‘all clear’ on seafood.”
###

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.smithstag.com
www.gulfoildisasterrecovery.com
www.oilspillaction.com
www.leanweb.org

CONTACT:

S. Smith: (504) 593-9600        C. Brylski/H. Harper (504) 897-6110

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More tomorrow

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I keep telling people that crude oil is really really toxic. No one really listens.

I know this is not centered and you can not read all the text. Tough. Go to our BB Refrigerator Magnets and click on Louisiana  Environmental Action Network to read the whole thing. Or better yet, go to their website and read the original if you are really interested…I think you get the drift from what you can see.

BP Makes Me Sick! Amazing! 57,264 people joined our “BP Makes Me Sick” coalition in only 4 days. As BP blocks Gulf clean-up workers from wearing respirators when dealing with harmful toxins, thousands of us are asking President Obama to step in. (Keith Olbermann explains the issue here.) The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Baton Rouge Advocate, and others all wrote about this new coalition! We have momentum — can you help us reach 100,000 signers by joining our coalition today? Click here! (Then, forward to others!) Today, we are proud to announce that our effort is endorsed by 50 partners across the nation. This includes: Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Save Our Gulf Waterkeepers Louisiana Environmental Action Network Executive Director Marylee Orr Major Senate candidates – Roxanne Conlin (IA), Jack Conway (KY), Kendrick Meek (FL), and Elaine Marshall (NC) 27 House candidates – including bold progressives Ann McLane Kuster (NH), Bill Hedrick (CA), David Segal (RI), and others (full list here) 9 House members – including Carolyn Maloney (NY), Mary Jo Kilroy (OH), Jared Polis (CO), Chellie Pingree (ME), and Alcee Hastings (FL) National organizations like Democracy for America, Color Of Change, and Commercial Fishermen of America Please join our coalition and stand up for workers today — then, pass this email to others. Press Coverage: Louisiana Watermen Demand Proper Safety Equipment In Gulf Oil Cleanup By Ryan Grimm The Huffington Post July 8, 2010 In the harried cleanup that followed the attack on downtown New York on September 11th, managers of the process famously failed to equip workers with protective gear, damaging countless lives of those who came to the rescue. Environmental advocacy groups and commercial watermen, who are more often joined in combat than alliance, have come together with bloggers and public officials to prevent the pattern from repeating in the Gulf. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Waterkeeper Alliance, the United Commercial Fisherman, the Louisiana Shrimp Association, Commercial Fisherman of America, the Nassau Sierra Club in Florida and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, among dozens of others, are calling on BP to properly equip rescue workers mired in the toxic muck that has been spewing from the Gulf floor for nearly three months. “We cannot let the denial of protective gear that hurt so many 9/11 clean-up workers happen again with the Gulf clean-up workers,” reads a statement signed by the groups, organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “President Obama and the federal government must demand that BP allow every clean-up worker who wants to wear respiratory protective equipment to do so — and ensure that workers get the equipment and training they need to do their jobs safely.” The fishing organizations represent those who have been transformed into cleanup workers by the spill. A scientist with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network recently testified before Congress on the hazards of Gulf cleanup. The groups are organizing an online petition at BPMakesMeSick.com, where a full list of the coalition, which includes local bloggers and national politicians such as Florida Democratic Reps. Alan Grayson and Kendrick Meek, can be found. Go to the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/louisiana-watermen-demand_n_639094.html Gulf Fishermen, Bloggers, RFK Jr. Say “BP Makes Me Sick” By Nancy Scola Tech President July 8, 2010 A growing coalition of local bloggers, elected officials, online organizers, workers, environmental groups, and public figures formally launched today a drive to get BP to allow workers wear health-saving protective gear as they go about cleaning up the Gulf coast. The new BP Makes Me Sick Coalition is, it’s probably fair to say, the first high-profile push we’ve seen to use political organizing tactics, online and offline, to shape the ongoing disaster in the Gulf. The implicit tactic is to coalesce public opinion around a tangible idea — one itself important, but that stands for something bigger. The BP Makes Me Sick Coalition is a project spearheaded by the Progressive Change Coalition, with the backing of local groups like Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Galveston Baykeeper, Gulf fishermen, local blogs like the Burnt Orange Report and Texas Kaos, local electeds like Reps. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Kendrick Meek (D-FL), and national figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who helps head the New York-based environmental group Riverkeeper. The group, explained PCCC’s Adam Green, started taking shape about two weeks ago, after Marylee Orr, the head of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, talked on Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC show about BP’s alleged efforts to prevent clean-up workers from wearing respirators on the job. “It’s a choice between feeding their family, and not having money to feed their family,” Orr told Olbermann. “They’re willing to sacrifice their health to feed their family, and I think that’s tragic. When our fishermen folks had their respirators on, they were told to take them off, that they would be fired if they used them.” (Clip  here.) Through Orr, says Green, PCCC connected with local fisherman’s organizations. Through them, they reached out to local environmental groups, and on to Kennedy, who came aboard yesterday. This being a PCCC joint, there’s also a strategic twist. The subtext of BP Makes Me Sick is using the relatively discrete matter of protective respirators to press President Barack Obama on his leadership in the Gulf — or, to flip it around, his supposed deference to BP. Fleshing out that angle is a note on the site echoing the George W. Bush-era: “We cannot let the denial of protective gear that hurt so many 9/11 clean-up workers happen again with the Gulf clean-up workers.” At the moment, BPMakesMeSick.com features an online petition that anyone can co-sign. Go to the article here: http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/gulf-fishermen-bloggers-rfk-jr-say-bp-makes-me-sick NY DAILY NEWS: Group Demands BP Provide Cleanup Workers With Respirators http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/07/group-demands-bp-provide-clean.html SAN FRAN CHRONICLE: Sources: BP threatens to fire cleanup workers who wear respirators http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=67426#ixzz0t87rmAfd DAILY KINGFISH: Kingfish joins coalition to protect cleanup workers http://www.dailykingfish.com/diary/1575/kingfish-joins-coalition-to-protect-cleanup-workers Visit SaveOurGulf.org to get more information about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster from Waterkeeper organizations across the Gulf Coast and donate to Save Our Gulf!

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More tomorrow.

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Our latest update from LEAN. This is a group you should support.

Louisiana Environmental Action Network & Lower Mississippi RIVERKEEPER© Helping to Make Louisiana Safe for Future Generations

E-ALERT July 8, 2010

To view as a webpage – click here The BP Oil Spill’s Toxic Effects Are Beginning To Be Seen, Scientist Frustrated By Lack Of Data Oil/Water samples from Gulf…VERY TOXIC This is a very compelling video from a concerned citizen who decided to take his own samples of oil found on the beach in Grand Isle, La and have them tested at a laboratory. In the water portion of the sample the lab found propylene glycol, an ingredient in Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527A, at an estimated concentration of  430 parts per million. Propylene glycol only makes up 1-5% of the Corexit products, so, if this is indeed propylene glycol from Corexit then the concentration of Corexit as a whole is far higher. According to EPA’s latest analysis of dispersant toxicity released in the document Comparative Toxicity of Eight Oil Dispersant Products on Two Gulf of Mexico Aquatic Test Species Corexit 9500 at a concentration of 42 parts per million killed 50% of the mysid shrimp tested and at a concentration of 130 parts per  million killed 50% of the silverside fish tested. Remember the lab found 430 parts per million of a material that makes up only 1-5% of the Corexit products.  This also does not include the toxicity of the oil itself or an oil/dispersant mix. Click the image above to go to the video or go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq65E7rmO_k Note: the lab technician refers to propylene glycol by one of its other names, propane-diol. Researchers find evidence of oil spill in Gulf’s food chain By Harlan Kirgan Mississippi Press June 30, 2010 Yellow oil droplets can been seen in a post-larval blue crab. Harriet Perry, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Oil droplets have been found beneath the shells of tiny post-larval blue crabs drifting into Mississippi coastal marshes from offshore waters. The finding represents one of the first examples of how oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill is moving into the Gulf of Mexico’s food chain. The larval crabs are eaten by all kinds of fish, from speckled trout to whale sharks, as well as by shore birds. The tiny droplets are visible under the transparent shells of the 2-millimeter-sized crabs collected in Davis Bayou, said Harriet Perry, director for the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development. Get the full article here: http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2010/06/research_discovers_oil_droplet.html Spill’s extent and the effects surprising those studying it By Lee Shearer Athens Banner-Herald July 07, 2010 Scientists knew weeks ago that much of the oil gushing from a blown-out oil well deep in the Gulf of Mexico remained below the surface, suspended in deep, cold water. But research they are doing now has surprised them at the extent of the spill and effects on marine life, University of Georgia oceanographer Samantha Joye said Tuesday in UGA’s Marine Sciences Building. Joye, one of the leading scientists tracking the spill, spoke at a weekly update on her research team’s findings. Seawater samples the team took during a June research voyage had to be diluted before analytical machines could accurately measure the oil levels in them, she said Tuesday. Other scientists analyzing the samples still haven’t told Joye the precise concentrations of oil they’ve found in the water. But they’ve seen enough to know the levels are much higher than what was found in an earlier research cruise in May, when they measured oil contamination in parts per million or parts per billion in areas close to the spill. The more recent water samples, many taken hundreds of feet deep in the Gulf, contain much more oil, she said. The water samples come from in and around vast plumes of oil, methane and other chemicals mixed with sea water that have been pouring out of a broken oil well since a BP-owned drilling rig, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded April 20 and sank four days later. Get the full article here: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/070710/new_666367227.shtml Gulf Oil Spill: Scientists Beg For A Chance To Take Basic Measurements By Dan Froomkin Huffington Post July 6, 2010 A group of independent scientists, frustrated and dumbfounded by the continued lack of the most basic data about the 77-day-old BP oil disaster, has put together a crash project intended to definitively measure how much oil has spilled and where and how it is spreading throughout the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. An all-star team of top oceanographers, chemists, engineers and other scientists could be ready to head out to the well site on two fully-equipped research vessels on about a week’s notice. But they need to get the go-ahead — and about $8.4 million — from BP or the federal government or both. And that does not appear imminent. The test is designed to provide responders to future deep-sea oil catastrophes with valuable information. But, to be blunt, it would also fill an enormous gap in the response to this one. Get the full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/gulf-oil-spill-scientists_n_636981.html Visit SaveOurGulf.org to get more information about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster from Waterkeeper organizations across the Gulf Coast and donate to Save Our Gulf!

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That is right the Sun creates all the energy on the Earth. Well, the Sun or its cousins because the heavy metals that we use for our version of “nuclear power” were created in Suns of the past that blew up. The oil, natural gas and the coal we burn are nothing but dead congealed plants and animals nurtured by the sun. Really think about it what is “natural gas”. The stink of the dead from the past. So why do we do that? We can get all the energy we need directly from the Sun? The point is that if the capitalist system can sell you bottled water then it surely can sell you petroleum products.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun

Sun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sun

Observation data
Mean distance from Earth	1.496×108 km 8 min 19 s at light speed
Visual brightness (V)	?26.74 [1]
Absolute magnitude	4.83 [1]
Spectral classification	G2V
Metallicity	Z = 0.0177 [2]
Angular size	31.6? – 32.7? [3]
Adjectives	solar
Orbital characteristics
Mean distance from Milky Way core	~2.5×1017 km 26,000 light-years
Galactic period	(2.25–2.50) × 108 a
Velocity	~220 km/s (orbit around the center of the Galaxy) ~20 km/s (relative to average velocity of other stars in stellar neighborhood) 396.5±3.0 km/s[4] (relative to the cosmic microwave background)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	1.392×106 km [1] 109 × Earth
Equatorial radius	6.955×105 km [5] 109 × Earth[5]
Equatorial circumference	4.379×106 km [5] 109 × Earth[5]
Flattening	9×10?6
Surface area	6.0877×1012 km2 [5] 11,990 × Earth[5]
Volume	1.412×1018 km3 [5] 1,300,000 × Earth
Mass	1.9891×1030 kg [1] 332,900 × Earth[5]
Average density	1.408×103 kg/m3 [1][5][6]
Different Densities	Core: 1.5×105 kg/m3 lower Photosphere: 2×10?4 kg/m3 lower Chromosphere: 5×10?6 kg/m3 Avg. Corona: 1×10?12 kg/m3 [7]
Equatorial surface gravity	274.0 m/s2 [1] 27.94 g 28 × Earth[5]
Escape velocity (from the surface)	617.7 km/s [5] 55 × Earth[5]
Temperature of core	~15.7×106 K [1]
Temperature of surface (effective)	5,778 K [1]
Temperature of corona	~5×106 K
Luminosity (Lsol)	3.846×1026 W [1] ~3.75×1028 lm ~98 lm/W efficacy
Mean Intensity (Isol)	2.009×107 W·m?2·sr?1
Rotation characteristics
Obliquity	7.25° [1] (to the ecliptic) 67.23° (to the galactic plane)
Right ascension of North pole[8]	286.13° 19h 4min 30s
Declination of North pole	+63.87° 63°52′ North
Sidereal rotation period (at equator)	25.05 days [1]
(at 16° latitude)	25.38 days [1] 25d 9h 7min 13s [8]
(at poles)	34.3 days [1]
Rotation velocity (at equator)	7.189×103 km/h [5]
Photospheric composition (by mass)
Hydrogen	73.46%[9]
Helium	24.85%
Oxygen	0.77%
Carbon	0.29%
Iron	0.16%
Sulfur	0.12%
Neon	0.12%
Nitrogen	0.09%
Silicon	0.07%
Magnesium	0.05%
This box: view • talk • edit

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It has a diameter of about 1,392,000 kilometers (865,000 mi), about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass (about 2 × 10³⁰ kilograms, 330,000 times that of Earth) accounts for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System.^[10] About three quarters of the Sun’s mass consists of hydrogen, while the rest is mostly helium. Less than 2% consists of heavier elements, including iron, oxygen, carbon, neon, and others.^[11]

The Sun’s color is white, although from the surface of the Earth it may appear yellow because of atmospheric scattering.^[12] Its stellar classification, based on spectral class, is G2V, and is informally designated a yellow star, because the majority of its radiation is in the yellow-green portion of the visible spectrum.^[13] In this spectral class label, G2 indicates its surface temperature of approximately 5,778 K (5,505 °C; 9,941 °F), and V (Roman five) indicates that the Sun, like most stars, is a main sequence star, and thus generates its energy by nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium. In its core, the Sun fuses 430–600 million tons of hydrogen each second. Once regarded by astronomers as a small and relatively insignificant star, the Sun is now presumed to be brighter than about 85% of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy, most of which are red dwarfs.^[14][15] The absolute magnitude of the Sun is +4.83; however, as the star closest to Earth, the Sun is the brightest object in the sky with an apparent magnitude of ?26.74.^[16][17] The Sun’s hot corona continuously expands in space creating the solar wind, a hypersonic stream of charged particles that extends to the heliopause at roughly 100 astronomical units. The bubble in the interstellar medium formed by the solar wind, the heliosphere, is the largest continuous structure in the Solar System.^[18][19]

The Sun is currently traveling through the Local Interstellar Cloud in the Local Bubble zone, within the inner rim of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Of the 50 nearest stellar systems within 17 light-years from Earth, the Sun ranks 4th in mass.^[20] The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way at a distance of approximately 24,000–26,000 light years from the galactic center, completing one clockwise orbit, as viewed from the galactic north pole, in about 225–250 million years.

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The sun will come out tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jdpc7aaAlQ&feature=related

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The Sun is cooling and shrinking. Scientists have predicted that this was going to happen and in addition they predicted that a little ice age might occur. There was much positing that there were longer solar cycles then just the moderately well understood 11 year cycle. The thought was that the Sun waxed and waned every 300 or 400 years. No one was sure. Then an amazing thing happened. As the solar flares died down the Earth heated up. That was when scientists turned to man and the atmosphere to try to get some answers. The answer appeared to be that all of the GASES (not just co2 but every gas we throw off – there are 20 or more) we dump into the air are heating the planet up. This could lead to climate destabilization. Well the Sun is still quiet. For 2 1/2 years the Sun has been quiet. That is unprecedented in the 150 years at least that we have been observing the solar cycles. For much more on this subject please see one of the best articles I have ever read on the subject.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627640.800-whats-wrong-with-the-sun.html

What’s wrong with the sun?

• 14 June 2010 by Stuart Clark
• Magazine issue 2764. Subscribe and save
• For similar stories, visit the Solar System and Climate Change Topic Guides

Video: Sun spots

SUNSPOTS come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. For centuries, astronomers have recorded when these dark blemishes on the solar surface emerge, only for them to fade away again after a few days, weeks or months. Thanks to their efforts, we know that sunspot numbers ebb and flow in cycles lasting about 11 years.

But for the past two years, the sunspots have mostly been missing. Their absence, the most prolonged for nearly a hundred years, has taken even seasoned sun watchers by surprise. “This is solar behaviour we haven’t seen in living memory,” says David Hathaway, a physicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The sun is under scrutiny as never before thanks to an armada of space telescopes. The results they beam back are portraying our nearest star, and its influence on Earth, in a new light. Sunspots and other clues indicate that the sun’s magnetic activity is diminishing, and that the sun may even be shrinking. Together the results hint that something profound is happening inside the sun. The big question is what?

The stakes have never been higher. Groups of sunspots forewarn of gigantic solar storms that can unleash a billion times more energy than an atomic bomb. Fears that these giant solar eruptions could create havoc on Earth, and disputes over the sun’s role in climate change, are adding urgency to these studies. When NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory almost 15 years ago, “understanding the solar cycle was not one of its scientific objectives”, says Bernhard Fleck, the mission’s project scientist. “Now it is one of the key questions.”

Sun behaving badly

Sunspots are windows into the sun’s magnetic soul. They form where giant loops of magnetism, generated deep inside the sun, well up and burst through the surface, leading to a localised drop in temperature which we see as a dark patch. Any changes in sunspot numbers reflect changes inside the sun. “During this transition, the sun is giving us a real glimpse into its interior,” says Hathaway.

When sunspot numbers drop at the end of each 11-year cycle, solar storms die down and all becomes much calmer. This “solar minimum” doesn’t last long. Within a year, the spots and storms begin to build towards a new crescendo, the next solar maximum.

What’s special about this latest dip is that the sun is having trouble starting the next solar cycle. The sun began to calm down in late 2007, so no one expected many sunspots in 2008. But computer models predicted that when the spots did return, they would do so in force. Hathaway was reported as thinking the next solar cycle would be a “doozy”: more sunspots, more solar storms and more energy blasted into space. Others predicted that it would be the most active solar cycle on record. The trouble was, no one told the sun.

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Please finish the article. It is very long and there is a scholarly debate in the comments section about where the center of the Earth’s gravity is. This is kindofa hoot if you understand it. It is true our jokes are different from other peoples.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1QmeEdFOSc

OK so Happy Memorial Day. Good to get that in.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/05/28/DI2010052802315.html

Gulf oil spill: Bill Nye discusses top kill

The Science Guy
Friday, May 28, 2010; 1:00 PM

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, was online Friday, May 28, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the Gulf oil spill and the latest efforts to cap the well, including the “top kill” maneuver.

Chantilly, Va.: Why is the oil still gushing out after more than a month? I always assumed they need pumps and other equipment to get the oil to the surface. Where is the pressure coming from to continue to let the oil out of the well?

Bill Nye: The pressure driving the huge flow came or comes from ancient bacteria that fed on ancient sea plants or plankton. The bacteria gave off natural gas, also called methane. It’s trapped in a cavity under the seafloor. This gas is under about 460 atmospheres (6,800 psi) of pressure. That’s plenty to spew oil for years, or even decades.

_______________________

Sarasota, Fla.: BP has not been clear about the quantity of mud versus oil coming out of their gushing pipe. There seems to be uncertainly interpreting the video. But couldn’t they determine the relative quantities from a quick, simple analysis of the fluid they are pumping to the surface? –

Bill Nye: The head BP guy this morning made the extraordinary, and probably not quite accurate, claim that no oil has been coming out, while the mud is flowing. He probably just meant the flow of oil is way down. Such an estimate is very hard, because most of the oil doesn’t make it to the surface. It becomes neutrally buoyant goo. Yikes.

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Please follow the link for the rest of the Q&A. It is pretty basic.

http://www.leanweb.org/

During a press conference on May 29, 2010 at 5:10 p.m. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles announced that the Top Kill will no longer be continued.

ROV video feed screen capture from May 29, 2010 at 4:10 p.m.

As can be seen in this Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) video feed screen capture taken at 4:10 p.m. today, May 29, 2010, a large plume of material continues to billow out of the end of the riser pipe.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry praised the cleanup effort and BP and the Coast Guard’s success at “fighting the oil offshore.”

BP’s next move is to cut off the bent Riser Pipe and replace it with a “Lower Marine Riser Package Cap” (LMRP Cap).

Mr. Suttles stated that he believes that the LMRP Cap will capture “a great majority” of the flow but not all of it.

Adm. Landry stated that the ultimate solution remains the relief well. The relief well appears to be weeks away from completion.

Visit SaveOurGulf.org to get more information about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster from Waterkeeper organizations across the Gulf Coast and donate to Save Our Gulf!

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This is so disturbing…It is looking like August.

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PB Has huge holdings in Aluminum, Lubricants, and Financial Services it would take the whole world to make it work..Go to:
http://www.bp.com

and click on Products and Services. You will be amazed at the things that they own and the things that they sell. These folks really are too big to fail. So:

Repower America

Dear doug, It’s now been over a month since the Deepwater Oil Disaster began — and not only has BP failed to stop the flow of oil so far, but we still don’t even know how big the spill is — because BP won’t allow anyone else to investigate the extent of the problem. The secrecy must stop. BP is refusing to share information — data it’s already tracking — that would assist in the response and public understanding of the scope and severity of the Deepwater Oil Disaster. And they have every incentive in the world to keep doing so — news reports say that the smaller the official estimates of the spill, the lower BP’s liability could be in court.1 We don’t let criminals investigate their own crimes, and this shouldn’t be any different. It’s time for BP to get out of the way and allow access for independent scientists and engineers to determine the real size of this catastrophe. Sign the petition today calling on BP to provide full access to all their data to the government and independent scientists. Independent reviews by scientists across the country are suggesting that the oil leak may be as much as 19 times worse than the original estimates — but BP refuses to provide them with the data required to make their estimates more precise. All we know for sure is that the oil just keeps on gushing. BP is extremely sensitive right now to public pressure — so let’s tell them that we won’t stand for them hiding the truth. We’ll deliver copies of the petitions and any comments you submit to the CEO of BP, as well as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Demand full access to BP’s data and real answers about the Deepwater disaster. Thanks for joining this fight, Maggie L. Fox Chief Executive Officer Climate Protection Action Fund P.S. This disaster is a painful reminder of how dangerous our addiction to oil really is – and how critical it is that our elected officials in Washington pass strong climate and clean energy legislation that weans us off of dirty fossil fuels as soon as possible. We must make sure that Americans and our leaders understand the true cost of oil. We simply can’t afford a BP coverup. Sign the petition now demanding full transparency. ___________ 1. Marisa Taylor, Renee Schoof and Erika Bolstad, “Low oil spill estimate could save BP millions in court,” McClatchy Newspapers, May 20, 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100521/pl_mcclatchy/3511770 RepowerAmerica.org | Facebook | Twitter | Unsubscribe

Paid for by the Climate Protection Action Fund

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Maybe this is the best we can do.

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That’s right besides the 40 million gallons of oil lurking in mats 1,500 feet above the ocean floor trapped by dispersants and getting ready to wash into the Atlantic and the continued wash of 40, 000 barrels of oil per day, the crisis is over and we here at CES are going to celebrate Norwegian Independence Day. Why? Because it is neither the day of the actual Norwegian Independence nor is it celebrated for the actual year of their Independence. We feel this is fitting.

http://open.salon.com/blog/norwonk/2009/05/17/independence_day_in_norway

Unfortunately, that didn’t work out at all. The Swedes had the support of Russia, Britain, Austria and Prussia, and no one cared much for the opinion of the Norwegian people. Long story short: the Swedes invaded, and after a short campaign Christian Frederick renounced his throne and went back to Denmark, leaving Charles XIII the new king of Norway and Sweden. That union would last until the Norwegian parliament declared independence (again) in 1905.
All this made Christian Frederick a rather unpopular man in Norway, but in time it was realized that he had actually made a pretty good deal. In return for giving up the crown, he had convinced the Swedes to accept the new Norwegian constitution which parliament had adopted (confusingly enough on May 16, which really ought to have been our national day, but never mind). That was a huge bonus. The constitution, which is still in place, was among the most democratic in Europe at that time.

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So basically like the oil companies, these folks have 2 or 3 Independence Days (Yaaa we are free) every year and the first one lasts a month. It involves children with flags, students dressed in funny costumes according to their profession, and reenactors dressing up in very old clothes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Norway

The young king and Norwegian officials tried to find international backing for their bid for Norway as a sovereign state throughout spring and early summer of 1814. After failing to secure the support of Great Britain, war with Sweden became unavoidable. The Swedish Campaign against Norway was short and decisive. However, while badly trained and equipped, the Norwegian Army put up a determined fight, holding the Swedes back at Kongsvinger and securing a tactical victory at the battle of Langnes. This enabled the King to avoid an unconditional surrender as he was forced into negotiations with the Swedes, leading to the Convention of Moss.

Putting the strategic situation and his own abdication to good use, he persuaded the Swedish crown prince Carl Johan (the former Marshal Bernadotte of France) to let the Norwegians keep their constitution. The Swedish crown prince wanted to appease the Norwegians and avoid a bloody continuation of the war. Realizing that a forced union with himself as ruler of a conquered and hostile country would be very uneasy, he accepted the Norwegian proposition. Norway then entered into a personal union with Sweden with only such amendments to its constitution as were necessary to form the Union between Sweden and Norway. On October 7, an extraordinary session of the Storting convened, and king Christian Frederik delegated his powers to the parliament and abdicated on October 10. The Storting adopted the constitutional amendments on November 4 and on the same day unanimously elected Charles XIII king of Norway, rather than acknowledging him as such, thus reinforcing the concept a King by the will of the people.

Dissolution and the second King

The union amendments were revoked after the dissolution of the ninety-one-year-old union in 1905. The question of a King was again considered, and the Storting elected to offer the throne to the 33-year-old Prince Carl of Denmark, married to Maud of Wales, the daughter of King Edward VII. By bringing in a king with British royal ties, it was hoped that Norway could court Britain’s support. Prince Carl was however well aware of a surge of republicanism in Norway and of the constitutional situation of the Norwegian throne. He insisted that he would accept the crown only if the Norwegian people expressed their will for monarchy by referendum and if the parliament then elected him king. On November 13, the Norwegian votes decided on monarchy with a 74 percent majority, and Carl was elected King by the Storting, taking the name Haakon VII of Norway.

Several other amendments have been adopted since 1814, the most recent on February 20, 2006. After World War II and the restoration of peace and constitutional rule, there was much debate on how to handle the events of the previous five years. None of this led to any changes in the constitution; it had withstood the test of hard times.

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Of Course lots of drinking and eating herring also ensues. This guy gets to celebrate 4 Independence Days the US, Italy and 2 for Norway.

http://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/crispo.htm

First, by way of background, Norway was ruled by the kings of Denmark from the 12th century until early in the 19th century (1814).

In 1814, Denmark was penalized for its support of Napoleon by giving Norway to Sweden. Before the transition was carried out, Norway declared itself independent on May 17, 1814. A degree of independence was retained even after Norway became subject to the Swedish Crown.

In 1905, on May 17, Norway declared its complete independence.

In 1914, World War I began. Norway remained neutral, but many of its ships were sunk.

In 1940-1945: when World War II began, Norway again proclaimed its neutrality. However, on April 9, 1940, Nazi forces invaded the two neutral nations of Norway and Denmark under the guise of protecting them against an “Anglo-French Occupation” and “To Protect Their Freedom and Independence.”

Oslo wired Berlin:

“We will not submit voluntarily; the struggle is already underway.”

At the time of World War II, Norway was just beginning to realize its industrial potential when Germany invaded. Five years of German occupation and a burn-and-retreat strategy in the final weeks of the war, left the nation ravaged. But, after the war, the Norwegians, known for their determination and tenacity, returned to rebuild their homes and villages. Finally the flags of freedom were again flying over Europe and Trygve Lie of Norway was elected as the first secretary general of the United Nations.

It is no surprise that Norwegians eat, drink and make merry during the month of May in celebration of this most significant month in their history.

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So we say to BP. Job well done Brownie.

For the real scoop go to:  http://www.leanweb.org/

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It is Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udEDlOZJmCc

I have said for awhile that this could be the biggest manmade disaster of all time. I never believed the oil flow estimates and I never believed that they would be able to plug the hole. Now is a good time to pray.

So lets start with what the flow really looks like when they tried the the Big Siphon:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/new-footage-of-bps-failed_b_574350.html

Brendan DeMelle

Freelance writer and researcher

Posted: May 12, 2010 09:09 PM

New Footage of BP’s Failed Containment Dome Effort (VIDEO)

Update: BP just confirmed to us that the pipe in the 2nd video showing the main leak is 20″ in diameter (almost 2 feet). (Specifically, the outer is 21″; the inner is 20″.)

More footage was released today from the Deepwater Disaster, providing an indication of the powerful streams of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

This video shows the failed attempt over the weekend to lower a 100-ton, 4-story “cofferdam” dome over the top of the main leak. As the dome is lowered onto the leak, you can see the oil gushing out on the sides, offering a better sense of the volume of oil pumping into the Gulf of Mexico.

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Please see the article and the 2 videos. So what happens if the natural gas, which looks to be half the spill catches on fire?  BOOM…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BruDTUvBClk&feature=related

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Ultimately why did this happen? Deregulation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14agency.html?hp

U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits

By IAN URBINA

Published: May 13, 2010

WASHINGTON — The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf

Those approvals, federal records show, include one for the well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and resulting in thousands of barrels of oil spilling into the gulf each day.

The Minerals Management Service, or M.M.S., also routinely overruled its staff biologists and engineers who raised concerns about the safety and the environmental impact of certain drilling proposals in the gulf and in Alaska, according to a half-dozen current and former agency scientists.

Those scientists said they were also regularly pressured by agency officials to change the findings of their internal studies if they predicted that an accident was likely to occur or if wildlife might be harmed.

Under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Minerals Management Service is required to get permits to allow drilling where it might harm endangered species or marine mammals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is partly responsible for protecting endangered species and marine mammals. It has said on repeated occasions that drilling in the gulf affects these animals, but the minerals agency since January 2009 has approved at least three huge lease sales, 103 seismic blasting projects and 346 drilling plans. Agency records also show that permission for those projects and plans was granted without getting the permits required under federal law.

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Is there any hope?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S_OU3EBtRo&feature=related

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http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gulf-oil-spill-supertankers-051310

The Secret, 700-Million-Gallon Oil Fix That Worked — and Might Save the Gulf

May 13, 2010 at 6:46AM by Mark Warren

Workers on the Arabian Gulf overlook a supertanker owned by Saudi Aramco, the oil company that used a suck-and-salvage American technology to recover 85 percent of its previously unreported spill in 1993 and ‘94.

There’s a potential solution to the Gulf oil spill that neither BP, nor the federal government, nor anyone — save a couple intuitive engineers — seems willing to try. As The Politics Blog reported on Tuesday in an interview with former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister, the untapped solution involves using empty supertankers to suck the spill off the surface, treat and discharge the contaminated water, and either salvage or destroy the slick.

627diggsdigg

Hofmeister had been briefed on the strategy by a Houston-based environmental disaster expert named Nick Pozzi, who has used the same solution on several large spills during almost two decades of experience in the Middle East — who says that it could be deployed easily and should be, immediately, to protect the Gulf Coast. That it hasn’t even been considered yet is, Pozzi thinks, owing to cost considerations, or because there’s no clear chain of authority by which to get valuable ideas in the right hands. But with BP’s latest four-pronged plan remaining unproven, and estimates of company liability already reaching the tens of billions of dollars (and counting), supertankers start to look like a bargain.

The suck-and-salvage technique was developed in desperation across the Arabian Gulf following a spill of mammoth proportions — 700 million gallons — that has until now gone unreported, as Saudi Arabia is a closed society, and its oil company, Saudi Aramco, remains owned by the House of Saud. But in 1993 and into ‘94, with four leaking tankers and two gushing wells, the royal family had an environmental disaster nearly sixty-five times the size of Exxon Valdez on its hands, and it desperately needed a solution.

Pozzi, an American engineer then in charge of Saudi Aramco’s east-west pipeline in the technical support and maintenance services division, was part of a team given cart blanche to control the blowout. Pozzi had dealt with numerous spills over the years without using chemicals, and had tried dumping flour into the oil, then scooping the resulting tar balls from the surface. “You ever cooked with flour? Absorbent, right?” Pozzi says. Next, he’d dumped straw into the spills; also highly absorbent, but then you’ve got a lot of straw to clean up. This spill was going to require a much larger, more sustained solution. And fast.

That’s when Pozzi and his team came up with the idea of having empty ships park near the Saudi spill and pull the oil off the water. This part of the operation went on for six months, with the mop-up operations lasting for several years more. Pozzi says that 85 percent of the spilled oil was recovered, and it is precisely this strategy that he wants to see deployed in the Gulf of Mexico.

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When they contacted BP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQ5jhtFypg&feature=related

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JON KING: Well, we went down to the BP headquarters in Houma, Louisiana, and we didn’t have an appointment so they wouldn’t let us in. Then I called the president of BP and I talked to his secretary and she put me in touch with somebody, but the somebody she put me in touch with didn’t know who we should talk to. Nick contacted a gentleman that he used to work with at BP, and he threatened to sue Nick for not going through channels. And I said, “Great. I’d love BP to sue us for trying to help them. That would be wonderful.”

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While the Army Plays with itself.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/us-army-gulf-spill-oil-asphalt-experimental-chemical-video.php

US Army to Turn Gulf Spill Oil Into Asphalt With Experimental Chemical (Video)

by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 05.13.10

Science & Technology

Photos by Brian Merchant

In order to protect the coastline at Dauphin Island — a site where tar balls have made landfall and hundreds of fish are washing up dead on the beach — the US Army has launched a highly experimental plan to prevent any oil from reaching its shores. It plans on trapping the oil in Hesco baskets and then applying a chemical called CI Agent, turning the oil into a gelatinous solid. That solid, comprised from oil from the gulf spill, will then be collected and turned into asphalt. Here’s Dan Parker, the CEO of CI Agent Solutions, demonstrating how the chemical solution works:

(Please go to the site and see all the pretty video)

The chemical is contained in the boxes, which will be filled up with gelatin if and when the oil hits Dauphin’s coast.

Questions remain, of course: though both Parker and Captain Kelly affirm the chemical is safe for wildlife, it’s never been used or tested on such a large scale and in this manner. But considering that BP is dropping hundreds of thousands of experimental chemical dispersants in the Gulf as we speak, this is a drop in the bucket by comparison — and if cleaned and contained properly could be an interesting solution to watch for in the future.

I’m traveling around the Gulf of Mexico reporting on the continuing oil crisis. Stay tuned for the latest developments and breaking reports from the scene.

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See you Monday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbA8FBd_Vo&feature=related

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I for one can tell you that I can not follow this Oil Disaster for 9 months which is how long the Ixtoc Blow Out lasted. So I have promised myself that on Monday I am going to cover something else about the energy and environmental fields.

For today however.

http://leanweb.org/donate/donate/donate-join.html

Louisiana Officials Request Chemical Dispersant Information From BP

Secretary Alan Levine of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Peggy Hatch, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham sent a letter to British Petroleum today outlining their concerns related to potential dispersant impact on Louisiana’s wildlife and fisheries, environment and public health. Officials are also requesting BP release information on the effects of the dispersants they are using to combat the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

We applaud these Louisiana State officials for taking these steps to protect the health and safety of Gulf Coast communities and the Gulf environment. And we too believe that it is important that BP provide all of the information that they can.

However, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster is an unprecedented event. Never has this much of this kind of crude oil been spilled into these specific environs and with large quantities of these specific chemical dispersants used. Due to the unprecedented nature of this event we do not believe that BP or any other entity can adequately answers these questions.

The health of our people and the integrity of the Gulf environments are too precious to leave up to guesses or limited scientific knowledge. There must be a coordinated and unified investigation of the environmental impacts of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster involving all of the appropriate Federal and State agencies in partnership with any relevant members of the private sector including researchers from universities and environmental organizations. It is also imperative that this be a transparent process that incorporates the on-the-ground knowledge and observations of local citizens.

The full text of the letter is below.

May 7, 2010

Mr. Tony Hayward
Chief Executive Officer
British Petroleum

Dear Mr. Hayward:
The BP-Transocean drilling incident and resulting oil spill has created massive challenges for BP, the federal government and for the State of Louisiana. We all agree with the primary goal of protecting our sensitive coastal areas and the health and safety of our people. We encourage you to continue making these issues the priority.

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Please read from the rest of the post at www.leanorg.com and DONATE at the link above…they are fighting the good fight.

http://www.physorg.com/news192784973.html

BP relaunches subsea dispersant operations

May 11, 2010 Enlarge

Orange colored chemical dispersant is seen in the water as it is used to help with the massive oil spill off the coast of Louisiana on May 5. BP restarted Monday operations to stream dispersants directly into the main Gulf of Mexico oil leak despite fears the chemicals could themselves be harmful to the environment. BP restarted Monday operations to stream dispersants directly into the main Gulf of Mexico oil leak despite fears the chemicals could themselves be harmful to the environment.
A mile-long tube was fed down to the leaking pipe on the sea floor and directly shot the dispersant into the flow, guided by remotely-operated robotic submarines.

State and federal agencies “consented to the third test today of subsea dispersant,” BP spokesman John Curry told AFP.

The test began at 4:30 am (0930 GMT) “and will continue for 24 hours. After the test is concluded, further evaluations will be conducted,” said Curry.

The dispersant is meant to break down the oil so that, over time, the slick is reduced to smaller particles that biodegrade instead of being left as chunky, thick globs that can choke both wildlife and vegetation.

Critics however say the dispersant causes just as many problems as it solves, and affects undersea life from the smallest microorganism on up.

“We are continuing to deploy dispersant at the seabed. It seems to be having a significant impact,” said BP CEO Tony Hayward.

“We have an armada of ships, as you know, on the surface engaged in major skimming activity. That is proving to be pretty effective. We’ve skimmed of the order of 100,000 barrels of oily water,” Hayward said.

“And we have an air force of planes deploying dispersants, and we’re also conducting, as you know, controlled burns, and that — the activity on the surface is going a very long way to containing the spill in the far offshore.”

Louisiana State University scientists will study underwater and surface samples of the dispersant impact on the oily water mixture, Curry said.

Meanwhile, US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson traveled to the gulf region on a two-day visit “to oversee efforts to mitigate the environmental and human health impact of the ongoing BP oil spill,” the EPA said in a statement.

Jackson will be seeking “a thorough scientific assessment” of the spill’s impact on the region, and will meet with scientists, “to discuss the potential impact of the use of dispersants on the spill on and below the surface of the water,” among other things.

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The Politicians gnash their teeth:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington

Rep. Waxman: Oil well’s blowout preventer had leak

REDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 5 mins ago

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Then there is this:

http://io9.com/5535851/how-much-oil-will-be-wasted-in-the-deepwater-spill

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More tomorrow I am sure…

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