An offshore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill. A commercial helicopter company reported the blast around 9:30 a.m. CDT Thursday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel said. Seven helicopters, two airplanes and four boats were en route…

Which is not the “going away” of oil. More info here. hat tip: Diandra Leslie-Pelecky

The Alaskan Oil Pipeline closed down yesterday for a routine maintenance, as one notable oil spill related to that line is still being dealt with, and a more recent smaller spill is being managed, we hope. And amid this news, there are rumblings that BP, which owns 46% of the company that runs the pipeline,…

The word on the street: Yes.

Break down the oil slick, keep it off the shores: that’s grounds for pumping toxic dispersant into the Gulf, say clean-up overseers. Susan Shaw shows evidence it’s sparing some beaches only at devastating cost to the health of the deep sea.

What matters is if he gets an obscene exit deal which essentially rewards him for overseeing the destruction of the Gulf of Fucking Mexico, or if he is tossed out on his ear and disgraced. I don’t expect BP to do the right thing, but they will apparently do something soon.

It looks like the possible worst case scenario is more than a theoretical possibility. The news on this is vague and unclear, but it seems as though pressure reductions under the newly placed well cap have been detected, indicating that oil and gas in the deep sea wll are going somewhere. The fear would be…

Apparently, BP’s well cap on Deepwater Horizon is holding, as the closure of the well cap plays a role in testing the device itself. The cap will stay closed for only a short time, then oil will be allowed to flow to surface ships again while relief wells are drilled into the deposit. One of…

First the good news, then the bad news. Well, first the bad news that precedes the good news.

The Gulf oil spill dwarfs comprehension, but we know this much: it’s bad. Carl Safina scrapes out the facts in this blood-boiling cross-examination, arguing that the consequences will stretch far beyond the Gulf — and many so-called solutions are making the situation worse.

Jonathan Foley, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior and Head of the Global Landscapes Initiative speaks about what is happening with the latest ecological disaster and what lessons can be learned from it. Hat Tip: Emily

And an interesting animation of the spill so far:

According to some sources, yes.

An Open Letter to Joe Barton: See Above!!!! I saw this guy on the TV yesterday, and wondered, “How much did BP pay him to spew that crap!?!?” I was about to look into it when Mike sent me this blog post. Go read it. Get mad.

Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again. Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some…

This is NOT a Hitler spoof.

Hat Tip: Julia

As expected.

Just so you know .. BP, the oil company (not the dating scheme) makes an interesting appearance in The Corporation. Which we’ve talked about on this blog, so I just thought I’d remind us.

Oil firm BP may be “pushed out of the way” if it fails to perform in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster clean-up, a top US official has warned. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the British company had missed “deadline after deadline” in its efforts to seal a blown-out oil well. source