For Gulf Coast residents concerned about the massive, floating blob of toxins headed towards their shores, President Obama’s Sunday assurances may have rang a bit hollow.

Amidst weather-related wisecracks and vows to hunt down domestic terrorists (addressing the Times Square Van Scare), Obama gave the press corps one key sound byte to take to their respective papers. It was:

“I’m not going to rest…until the leak is stopped at the source, the oil on the Gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the people of this region are able to go back to their lives and their livelihoods…BP is responsible for this leak; BP will be paying the bill.”

Unfortunately, these bold words belie the realities associated with massive oil spills. In reality, residue from the infamous 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill is still clearly visible to travelers taking Alaska’s less-than-scenic shoreline tours. Also, some Alaskan fishing markets (herring, for one) have never recovered.

Some worst case scenario projections of the spill are even outside the bounds of Gulf Coast impact. With a less rosy estimate of the time it will take to plug the leak (a relief well should be completed in three months or so), the Great Gulf Coast Blob of Doom could wreak untold havoc on the US coastline. Should the Blob be shuttled up around Florida, it could conceivably suffocate and destroy Florida’s barrier reefs (the third largest coral reef in the world) while tolling deaths of marine life in the billions. And we have absolutely no way of fully comprehending the extent of the ecological consequences.

On the human side of things, if the Doom Blob happens to ride the Gulfstream northward, it could muck up exclusive beachfront property all along the East Coast just in time for summer tourism season. I hope those BP execs don’t have any beachfront houses on Fire Island or Martha’s Vineyard, as they may find those homes less of a refuge from their work life than they used to be.

So, if we take Obama at his word on this one, Joe Biden may have to take the America’s reigns in a month or so when the President begins to experience his first flashes of insomnia-induced hallucination. Given the massive scale of this disaster, President Obama may not rest for the better part of two or three decades.

Oh, and that bit about BP footing the bill and paying for all this? Here’s some food for thought: ExxonMobil kept the Exxon-Valdez claimants in litigation for nearly 20 years, before the Supreme Court reduced its liability from $5 billion to just under $508 million, in 2008. In that time, over a quarter of the original plaintiffs died. There is no reason to believe that BP won’t take exactly the same callously litigious course of action.

So, it appears that both the humans and non-humans of the Gulf Coast are in the same boat. And that boat has sprung a massive leak.

Originally posted on Technorati.

Image Source

Comments are closed.