In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow.There are allegations out there that BP drilled several thousands of feet deeper than their drilling permit allowed. The BP Oil Spill is damaging the shit out of the states around the Gulf of Mexico and, if the wind shifts, the oil will enter the Gulf Stream and Florida's new motto will be "Come to Florida and Smell Our Oily Beaches".
In the meantime, the people who are promoting the fictional idea of "clean coal" are running their ads, ignoring the long-established truth that when it comes to despoiling the air and water, nothing beats coal.
One thing is clear, though, and that is that there is no cheap, easy and environmentally friendly way to get electrical power. You can cover the Southwest with solar plants and build a larger nationwide grid. You can dam the rivers, which pretty much wipes out ocean species that spawn in fresh water and which can, in some circumstances, cause earthquakes. Wind turbines chop up birds like massive blenders. Current designs of nuclear plants generate very radioactive waste and an accident would be devastating. Fusion power "will be practicable in four decades," as the backers of fusion have promised for the last 30 years.
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