On the one-year anniversary of the catastrophic BP oil spill in the gulf, scientists are still struggling to figure out just how much oil is in the marshes. This excellent New York Times video explores their challenges, not the least of which is the inherent complexity of determining the damage to a vast and vibrant ecosystem. One group of researchers, for example, are guesstimating the number of bird deaths by taking bird carcasses out to sea, dropping them in, and seeing how many wash ashore. [More]
british petroleum
Art Activists Cover Naked Body In Oil In Tate Museum To Protest Censorship And BP Sponsorship
By 4.22.11
A group of art activists this week staged an unsanctioned protest inside the world-famous Tate Modern museum in London by pouring oil over a naked body lying on the floor. [More]
So Whatever Happened To All That Oil Spilled In The Gulf Anyway?
By 1.4.11
Remember all that oil that BP spilled into the Gulf this summer? Whatever became of it? Well, good news. Bacteria ate most of it, reports Slate, and the other stuff was skimmed back up, evaporated, burned off, or it got diluted out into the seas. [More]
Post-BP Spill, Gulf Residents' Depression Up 25%
By 9.29.10
A new Gallup poll shows that the mental health of people living in the Gulf has dramatically declined after the BP oil spill, with clinical cases of depression up 25%. [More]
Internal BP Report Deflects Blame Onto Contracted Rig Workers
By 9.8.10
An BP internal investigation has found that responsibility for the Gulf spill lies less with its corner-cutting practices and more with poor decisions and bad judgment calls by Transocean and Halliburton workers on the doomed oil rig. Gee, what a surprise. [More]
Gulf Fish "Trying To Crawl Out Of The Water"
By 8.25.10
“Jubilee” is a fun word. Down in the Gulf, it means when fish, crabs, eels and shrimp flood to the shoreline to escape oxygen-deprived waters. It’s a big party as locals scoop up seafood by the bucket-load. While the phenomenon naturally occurs when strong winds stir up hypoxic water from the bottom, for the first time ever it’s being seen occur in open water, with the fish flocking to the water’s surface. Said one fisherman, “It looks like all of the sea life is trying to get out of the water.” [More]
BP Says Well Is Plugged, Report Says 3/4 Of Oil Gone
By 8.4.10
BP says that they have stoppered up the well leaking in the Gulf of Mexico. They have filled the well up with mud and reached the desired pressure, they say, a maneuver known as “Static Kill.” [More]
Report: Big-Mouthed BP CEO To Step Down
By 7.26.10
Even though Tony Hayward said in June that he had no intention of stepping down as CEO of British Petroleum, it looks like he might have spoken too soon, as several reports say Tone-Bone will be readying his golden parachute following today’s board meeting. [More]
BP Took 79 Days To Do Fix Citizen Sent Them On Day 6
By 7.14.10
A reader claims he emailed BP and the White House on April 28th with the very method put into place to seal the gushing oil well on July 10th, and all he ever got back were boilerplate form letter replies. [More]
BP To Test New Cap
By 7.13.10
BP has attached a new, snugger cap – with the cheery moniker of “Top Hat 10 – on the gushing Gulf well and will soon begin tests to see if they didn’t cock things up for once. [More]
What The BP Spill Might Look Like 360 Days Later
By 7.12.10
If you’ve got any plans to ever visit any beaches on the east coast, best get them in this summer before it’s too late. That’s the conclusion you can draw if this simulation by researchers of how the BP Gulf spill will look 360 days after April 20th comes to pass. [More]
'70s "BP Offshore Oil Strike" Board Game Eerily Prescient
By 7.7.10
You’ve seen the box cover on MSNBC and CNN, but now you can actually see the pieces and board of the genuine 1970s “BP Offshore Oil Strike” game. BoardGameGeeks has a full image gallery. [More]
Costner's Waterworldian Devices To Clean Up BP Oil Spill
By 7.1.10
From the fell through the cracks file, Kevin Costner is going to save us all from the BP oil spill, using technology inspired by the urine-drinking opening sequence to Waterworld. Except this time the noxious substance extracted from the water will be oil and no one will drink it. [More]
BP's Internal Mag Discovers Oil Spill Helped Gulf Coast Economy
By 6.22.10
According to BP’s in-house online magazine, Planet BP, there is a silver lining in the giant puddle of oil they caused to spew all over the Gulf of Mexico. That’s right, the spill, far from devastating the local economy, is causing it to prosper! [More]
BP Document Puts Early Spill Estimate At Up To 100K Barrels A Day
By 6.21.10
Though British Petroleum’s own CEO has made public statements like “The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into [the Gulf of Mexico] is tiny in relation to the total water volume,” and the always classic “The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest,” a recently released internal document shows that BP’s initial estimates of the ongoing oil spill were outright apocalyptic. [More]
BP-Hired Mercenaries Keep Reporters From Interviewing Workers
By 6.17.10
This video shows a BP-hired mercenaries working for “Talon Security” trying to keep WDSU-New Orleans reporter Scott Walker from talking to cleanup crews on a public beach. I would normally say something like, “Apparently they didn’t get the memo last week from from National Incident Commander Thad Allen and BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles that the media is to have full access to oil-affected areas and to cleanup workers,” – except that the mercs in the video are perfectly aware of the memos, and yet continue to obstruct the journalist! [More]
Know Your BP Gulf Disaster Charity
By 6.14.10
Before you rip up your checkbook or rush down to pitch in, make sure you get to know the BP Gulf disaster-related charity you’re getting in bed with. [More]
Design BP's New Logo
By 6.2.10
In light of recent events, it seems BP’s “blossoming natural gas flower” logo needs an update. A friendly citizen passing by their station at Crosby and Houston in New York has offered this as their suggestion. If this sets off a brainstorm for you, LogoMyWay is hosting an parodic BP logo redesign contest with a $200 prize. (Thanks to GitEmSteveDave!) [More]
