From the beginning, BP and government officials' decisions seemed aimed at covering this entire thing up, rather than cleaning it up. Spraying of the chemical dispersant Corexit diminished the size of the slick on the surface. But all it did was make it less visible and sink it to the bottom, killing numerous organisms and marine life and allowing the oil to make its way into the food chain. The local government does not want people to know what is going on down here, so that we do not scare tourists away. BP workers and clean-up workers were told not to speak to anyone about anything or they would lose their jobs and have their lives destroyed.
Like the tourism industry, the fishing industry (with the help of the FDA) has been pushing their marketing that the 'seafood is safe." But many commercial fishermen disagree. I disagree. So many others disagree.
Just yesterday I met a couple who owned a restaurant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for many years. They finally closed their doors because they did not feel right about serving seafood from the Gulf. Due to their concern for our residents and tourists, they are about to lose everything.
In this context, we need our local and national media to cover these issues. There has been a virtual media blackout on this catastrophe. What is the reason for lack of coverage and support? What is it going to take to have the media report accurately on the ongoing BP oil disaster? 200 people dying like the dolphins?
One thing we've learned during this decade of disaster is that once the previously unthinkable happens sooner or later it becomes last year's news. And when the previously unthinkable becomes last year's news it quickly becomes just another thing that happened and is therefore now acceptable.
We used to worry that if coastal erosion wasn't halted and if the "100 year protection" threshold wasn't upgraded then the whole city of New Orleans could flood. And when that happened it became an acceptable "risk of life in the region" meaning that instead of taking action to remove it from the realm of the possible, we're adjusting our lives to the fact that it is probable.
Same thing with our poisoned Gulf, same thing with Japan's radioactive coast. Nobody is accountable, nobody is willing to change practices that lead to outcomes that are now demonstrably inevitable even though they didn't have to be.
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