The Environmental Protection Agency informed BP officials late Wednesday that the company has 24 hours to choose a less toxic form of chemical dispersants to break up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to government sources familiar with the decision, and must apply the new form of dispersants within 72 hours of submitting the list of alternatives.That decision is related to this story from last week.
I am getting a little tired of all this: of the U.S. Coast Guard enforcing BP’s media blackout on the Gulf Oil spill and all of the other “mother may I, may I pretty please try to avoid environmental catastrophe?” attitude the Feds seem to have toward BP. I’ve been saying for a week now that Lisa Jackson doesn’t get it. Nobody at the White House seems to get it.
Here’s what I want: I want you to take over this cleanup. I want accountability and transparency, and I think the people who caused the disaster who are now facing the grim reality of billions of dollars in liability costs are probably not the folks who are going to provide that. There’s a teensy bit of a conflict of interest there.
I want the EPA and Fish & Wildlife and the Coast Guard and Commerce and the State Department and every other agency with a stake in the Gulf of Mexico to tell BP to stand the fuck down and get out of the way because their fuck up is now threatening a massive region that will in all probablity reach beyond our borders. And at this point, the “free hand of the market” would dictate that BP’s survival depends on covering up and passing the blame and denials. Not trying to fix anything.
So come on, President Obama. Show some fucking leadership and do your job. Time for the government to take over, and send the bill to BP.
