GOP-BP

Many small-government Republicans are now screaming for massive federal involvement in Gulf oil spill mitigation. These GOP free-market fundamentalists and devout deregulators are currently calling for the scalps of BP’s CEO and board members.

Not so Congressman Joe Barton (R, TX-6). He apologized to BP’s CEO for the U.S. Government’s “shakedown” of the multinational oil corporation, the Administration’s insistence on a $20 billion escrow account to address claims by Gulf fishermen and others whose incomes are affected by BP’s blundering oil spill. Mr. Bolton has received an annual average of $80,000 in campaign donations from oil companies over two decades. This is an election year, and Mr. Bolton has racked up $100,000 in oil company contributions so far.

Republican leaders conducted a shakedown of their own, telling Joe Barton to retract his statement if he wanted to keep his post as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Grudgingly, he did.

PB Funds University Oil Spill Research

BP is funding a half-billion dollar Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI). $25 million has just been awarded to study the ecological interactions of oil and dispersant. First round funding has gone to Louisiana State University ($5 million), the University of South Florida’s Florida Institute of Oceanography ($10 million)  and the Northern Gulf Institute consortium ($10 million).

 

Hat tip: InsideHigherEd.com

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Spill Spoof Aids Gulf Recovery

@bpglobalpr, a parody BP public relations Twitter account, has  155,678 followers; the real BP Twitter account has 13,925. The anonymous spoofer has raised $10,000 towards Gulf restoration by selling T-shirts; BP’s repair, cleanup, compensation, and PR efforts have earned nothing but scorn.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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BP Caps Oil Well

BP cut a pipe 5000 feet below the Gulf of Mexico and put a cap on the valve that has been leaking oil for the past month. “Cap” sounds much less formal than the Top Hat BP tried to use a few weeks ago.

Some oil is being recovered, but crude oil is still gushing into the water, fouling  sea life, birds, and the shores of four states. The rate of the oil spill may have been slowed, but estimates vary. To get an idea of the scope of this ongoing disaster, use the PBS Oil Spill Ticker.

More:

BP Twitter Spill Spoof

@bpglobalpr, a parody BP public relations Twitter account, has 64,000 followers; the real BP Twitter account has 7000, wrote Salon‘s Andrew Leonard last night. The numbers have since changed: @bpglobalpr has 84,000  90,000 followers; BP has 7800 8400.

BP wants to shut down the parody Twitter account. It’s unclear if the company will use a Top Hat, Tube Insert, Top Kill, or Junk Shot.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Oil Spill Slimes Environmentalists

The catastrophic BP oil spill has destroyed the Gulf of Mexico marine and coastal ecosystems and the energy, fishing, and tourism industries of five states. It has also destroyed the credibility of The Nature Conservancy, a major nonprofit environmental organization.

The Conservancy accepted $10 million in cash and land from BP, and the oil company sits on the organization’s International Leadership Council (ILC). The ILC usually meets in June at the Conservatory headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, but the 2010 meeting schedule is unavailable (demonstrators are standing by).

The Nature Conservancy is trying to defend its involvement with BP on its blog. It is failing. Big time. Just like BP.

  

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.