Is the disastrous BP oil spill coming to and end? Is the cap successful?

A group of baby brown pelicans, completely covered in oil, wait in a holding pen to be treated as part of the cleaning process at the Fort Jackson International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, Louisiana on June 20, 2010. Members of the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research team work to clean birds covered in oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. The BP leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded on April 20 and sank after burning. Photo by © Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace.

IS IT ALL OVER YET?

WHEN CAN WE CLEAN UP

AND GO HOME

SEEING BP HAS CAPPED THE STUFF?

AUSTRALIA AND OIL RIGS - Are we gung ho, care-less, or unable to say no to the resource buccaneers?

It seems time - or even past time - 

when Australians should become alarmed, very alarmed!

How much do we have to wreck before we stop!

But then when we have wrecked so much, we can't stop -

even if we wished.

It's like being into the loan shark or having a gambling addiction,

the time to say no or change course is in the beginning.

If not done in the beginning, 

the carnage and destruction is guaranteed.

Look at the video above.

Did the USA learn?
So many of those rusting old oil rigs are still in situ.

How and when did the BP Deepwater disaster become inevitable?

My best guess is - Long ago.

Hat Tip to Fire Earth for the photo -

and if you go here you will see more..

including a graphic of large areas of exploration.

The Montara oil spill off the West Australian coast

does not seem to have impacted the Australian consciousness

to any great degree.

And this week we have news that 

the Federal Government has given the green light 

for oil companies to start drilling off 

one of Australia’s most pristine and popular coastlines -

namely the Margaret River region.

Now I am no environmental lawyer or decision-maker,

but it has always seemed to me 

- correct me if I am wrong, Networkers -

that there is no transparent process

at state or national level

whereby true resource assessment including values

is investigated for our land, water, air and sea use.

In short, Margarete River in Western Australia

already carries a huge investment in relation 

to the tourism and wine industries

as well as a specific cultural heritage.

What assessment has been made 

of the impact of oil and gas exploration and development

on these industries,
on that culture.

Hat Tip to Commentary by Val

One can't look for special treatments
by saying  it is all happening

off shore and won't interfere
with what exists on shore.

Not while people are scraping oily sand off the beaches

on America's Gulf Coast

Mmmm..........think about Margaret River.

Think of Shane Gould  in all that muck

and the surfers who love clean waters & clean beaches.

And think that perhaps hearts and spirits

desecrated by greed and hubris

don't think twice about spreading that greed and hubris

into our beautiful environment.

And go here to see what they do it with.

Licence to Spill - Protest against BP sponsorship of the arts

Hat Tip to Waging Non-Violence which in turn directed me to You Tube.  

This is powerful stuff, Networkers!.

youandifilms |

 June 28, 2010 | 5:02

On the evening of the 28th of June at approx 7:15pm, Liberate Tate In protest over BP's sponsorship of the arts performed a "Solemn" oil like spill at the Tates Summer party.

Dressed in black and veiled the performers carrying black buckets with BP logos spewed molasses over the entrance way as onlookers watched in amazement as the Portland stone floor was consumed by the black oil like mess.

Feathers were scattered and filled the air and in the same manner of approach the artists gracefully paced their escape.

Licence to Spill

"Apart from catastrophic spills like the Deepwater Horizon, there are a whole host of adverse impacts that are associated with the production of oil. On the local level, it often involves extreme forms of pollution for local communities, while regionally oil is frequently associated with greater militarization and conflict. Globally, carbon emissions, oil companies, and our collective dependence on the product they push, are taking us ever closer to the edge of climate catastrophe. "

To download Licence to Spill, a new release from Platform, visithttp://www.carbonweb.org/showitem.asp...

Info : http://www.artnotoil.org.uk/

Miss Eagle receives Guernica magazine regularly - and I have lifted the material below from the latest, 27 June 2010. How could I not. Apologies Guernica and forgiveness please.  Three cheers for David Gessner.  See related and further reading at end of post.

~~~~~~~~~~~

David Gessner: A House That We Built: A Nursery Rhyme for the Gulf

June 27, 2010

By David Gessner

This is the oil that spills from the pipe and gushes into the Gulf

This is the marsh that breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf. 

This is the oyster, now besmeared, that lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe and gushes into the Gulf. 

This is the man, all forlorn, who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

These are the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf. 

This is the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

This is the fat cat, to the manor born,
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

This is the Prez, of power shorn, who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

This is the Gulf, round Florida’s horn, which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

These are the storms, that have always torn,
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

This is the warming, whose coming we mourn,
That now fuels the storms, that have always torn
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

This is the blowhard blowing his horn,
Who doesn’t believe in the warming we mourn
That now fuels the storms, that have always torn
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

These are the rules that prick like a thorn
Into the blowhard blowing his horn
Who doesn’t believe in the warming we mourn
That now fuels the storms, that have always torn
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

These are the Ecos, of doom who warn,
Who want more rules that prick like a thorn
Into the blowhard blowing his horn
Who doesn’t believe in the warming we mourn
That now fuels the storms, that have always torn
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

And this is the car to which we have sworn,
To love and protect and to not fuel with corn
(Even the Ecos, of doom who warn,)
Who want more rules that prick like a thorn
Into the blowhard blowing his horn
Who doesn’t believe in the warming we mourn
That now fuels the storms, that have always torn
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

And this is the thing that leaves us all lorn
That we put in the cars to which we have sworn
To love and protect and to not fuel with corn
(Even the Ecos, of doom who warn,)
Who want more rules that prick like a thorn
Into the blowhard blowing his horn
Who doesn’t believe in the warming we mourn
That now fuels the storms, that have always torn
Straight through the Gulf, round Florida’s horn,
Which hosts the Prez, of power shorn
Who scolds the fat cat, to the manor born
Who enrages the public, all full of scorn,
Who follow the writers who roll in each morn
To tell the story of the man, all forlorn,
Who harvests the oyster, now besmeared
That lives near the marsh
That breathes with the sea, and protects the land,
That now fills with oil,
That spills from the pipe
And gushes into the Gulf.

Copyright 2010 Beacon Broadside
___________________________

This entry originally appeared at Beacon Broadside.

David Gessner is the author of several books, including Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond and is currently the editor of Ecotone, a literary journal. Gessner also teaches at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The following nursery rhyme can be found on Gessner’s website with Bill Roorbach, titled Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour.

To read more blog entries from others at GUERNICA click HERE .

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Related reading:

Sick of Nature

Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond

Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder

The Prophet of Dry Hill: Lessons From a Life in Nature

A Wild, Rank Place: One Year on Cape Cod

Under the Devil's Thumb

Further reading:

David Gessner

An interview with David Gessner

Exiles
Ecotone
Bill and Dave's Cocktail Hour