I haven't been reading closely any details of the effects of the oil spill overtaking the Gulf of Mexico. It's not that I don't care about it. Quite the contrary. I feel helpless and hopeless thinking that maybe our country will never find the will to change course on energy policy. Eleven people were killed when the oil rig exploded; I'm sure many were injured gravely. This catastrophe follows closely the coal mine explosion in WVA where 29 miners were killed. There must be a better way to make engines run and create electricity. Why can't the richest, smartest country in the world find better ways to make things run? I feel like we've been hoodwinked into believing there are no better ways to make energy than by sending people way down into the earth's gas chamber, or punching holes in the earth's crust to withdraw a highly volatile and toxic substance. When you don't have other options for a decent-paying job, risking your life to support your family seems like a reasonable trade-off. So long as unions don't get in there to mess things up. No sir, we wouldn't want that. Making their crazy demands for a safe work environment. That'll wreck a profitable business in no time.

Here's something cheery from The Guardian in the UK. You can tell it's British cause of the "bn" for billion. And the date: it's tomorrow over there. Read it and weep.

Gulf oil spill at Deepwater Horizon threatens $8bn clean-up and an ecological oil slick disaster for the US

This was the catastrophe that BP insisted could never happen. Now they call it 'unprecedented'

Robin McKie
The Observer, Sunday 2 May 2010

The prospect of oil pouring into the gulf for such a period could have horrifying effects on wildlife, added Frid. "That part of the gulf's coastline consists of a sedimentary shore with lots of muddy inlets. The oil will penetrate into the mud, and because it contains no oxygen the oil will not biodegrade. For generations, any disturbance of the sediment will bring oil back to the surface and that will happen over a very large area."
Similar fears were also stressed by Jane Lubchenco, head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, after she took part in a conference call with the governors of the gulf states on Friday. "There is very deep concern about what is happening," she added.
To date, most efforts to deal with the growing slick have failed. Rough seas and strong winds have blocked efforts to burn off the oil or hold it in check with inflatable booms strung along the coast. Louisiana officials have opened gates in the Mississippi river in the hope that a flood of fresh water would drive oil away from the coast, but the high winds also thwarted that plan.
Meanwhile the Pentagon has deployed two C-130 cargo planes to spray chemicals on the oil, while the Louisiana National Guard has been deployed to help local communities.