It's criminal what's happening to the Gulf and Louisiana's fragile ecosystem. I was listening to the former president of Shell Oil on CNN today and he said what BP should have done was bring some of their tankers in to suck up the oil. And he's right.

Here is a link that might be useful: Solution to oil mess (I refuse to call it a spill)

It's just wrong that they let this happen on so many levels and it's unfathomable that after all this time, it's still not stopped. Everything distroyed so they could make yet more money.

This is a tragedy that will impact our country for years and years, both financially and ecologically. Some of the birds, turtles and other species may become extinct because of this spill.

I see these birds, covered in oil, shivering and unable to fly and it makes me want to get the the CEO's of BP and just throttle them. or dunk them in this sludge and leave them on a contaminated shoreline.

Why didn't they have contingency plans for something like this?

Is our government doing enough? I can't say, but I sure was shocked to hear James Carville pointing fingers and accusing Obama of ignoring the situation.

I'm praying this Top Kill works. If it doesn't, then what?

I agree with all you've said, except that it will take decades to recover from this. A huge part of the Gulf is now a dead zone and this is so much worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster as far as the coastal areas go. Today, I emailed the White House. Natal, I also heard on MSNBC (I think)that the Saudis had an even larger release of oil and used tankers to suck up the oil. I do think it is time for more anger and less pussyfooting around BP, Transocean, and Haliburton. Chris Matthews also reported that the gov't regulators used to let the oil companies fill out their own checks in pencil and then the regulators would go over in pen what the companies said about themselves!

Why oh why does something like this have to happen to open everyone's eyes? And why does this sort of thing keep happening over and over. Seems that we are determined to destroy our planet. I, too, am heartbroken.

I watched the live feed today on msn and it was really mind boggling. That's been going on for what..37 days straight now!? Terrible! I don't really hear much about it here but I can't wrap my head around why it's still gushing after this many days. I feel so bad for the people who this is affecting their jobs and all the poor animals.

Shee, there's a lot of oil under the Gulf floor. Depending on how big that find was it could continue unabated for years. I hate to say it, but I think the relief well is going to be the only thing that stops the flow ... and that's easily a couple months away.

It is criminal. Totally. I am so sad. I wrote to the President weeks ago and I am disappointed by the response.

If only the POTUS could do something. I'm afraid that the mess goes much, much deeper than anything that can be done. There is just too much money tied up in big oil to shut them down the way it needs to be done.

Unfortunately, I believe that it's going to be us taxpayers that foot the bill for this devastation for decades to come. Not just in the initial clean up, but in the costs for the damage that will be done to the coastlines when the wetlands are gone. Hurricane season is coming and it's going to be horrific I fear. The erosion alone is going to cause thousands of acres of land to disappear, and landward development will become ocean front.

I am sickened beyond words.

Seriously I can't even read the responses here because this whole situation makes my want to explode. This is the first time that I've even remotely joined in on conversation about it except to discuss it w/ my kids at dinner. I know I have to keep a level head when talking to them so that seems to be my coping mechanism to be able to talk about it on some level.

I saw some photos this morning in an email (linked to a site) of the water, animals suffering, etc. The saddest photo of the bunch was a little heron sitting in oil with his head down. The caption read,"A young heron sits dying amidst oil splattering underneath mangrove on an island impacted by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Barataria Bay, along the the coast of Louisiana on Sunday, May 23, 2010." He looks so pitiful. I just want to hug him and fix it. :(

If only the POTUS could do something. I'm afraid that the mess goes much, much deeper than anything that can be done. There is just too much money tied up in big oil to shut them down the way it needs to be done.

Be careful what you wish for.

You want to see what happens when we become totally dependent on foreign oil? Heard Obama is not only extending the moratorium on new drilling, but is now shutting down all deep-water rigs in the Gulf for 6 months.

So far all Obama has done is make the wrong moves. Closing down the fields due to a stupid move on one rig is not the answer. It will have a significant negative impact on the system as a whole. Once an active well is shut down it does not go back to it's production levels again. We still need oil and it's best we not get it from anywhere we don't have to. Wrong move again Obama :(

Igloo, he's not including production wells ... just drilling.

If you're going to turn this thread political, please take it to Hot Topics.

BTW, almost exactly the same type of accident and extended spill occurred on June 3, 1979 at the Ixtoc I/Sedco 135F drilling platform, owned by the Mexican state-run oil company Pemex. Approximately 3 million barrels of crude oil flowed into the Gulf in the months it took to make repairs, spreading over 1100 square miles and trashing hundreds of miles of coastline in eastern Texas and Mexico. What's sad is that the technology for stopping these kinds of leaks has improved very little since 1979; one would think that such a disaster would have provided impetus for aggressive R&D in dealing with incidents like these but clearly it didn't. Very sad.

I should have read the news natal sorry :) Still a stupid idea but not as bad.

Johnmari the technology has improved significantly. Rachel maddow just isn't up to speed on it :)

It saddens me to think about how many lives the spill has devastated, animal and human. People have lost their livlihood,animals their lives.

The poor and untimely response from our gov't is another issue, I won't voice here.

A friend of mine just came back from NOLA after spending a week there. She says what we're seeing on the news doesn't come close to the reality of the devastation.

The people have been begging for weeks for permission to build berms to prevent the oil from seeping into the marshlands and now that it's worked its way in they've gotten the okay.

There is a stong undercurrent of suspicion among the population that runs deeper than during the Katrina fiasco. The feeling is that BP has been "very generous" with their money in order that violations of safety practices be overlooked.

Let's see what kind of reception the President gets today. I hope it's cordial and non-confrontational, but it may get ugly.

The city of New Orleans and its history has always fascinated me, and I always wished to vacation there. At the time of Katrina, I feared that I may have lost my opportunity to see 'traditional' New Orleans. But then it turned out that much of the historic city had escaped the devastation, and many other parts of the city were rebuilding. So, I donated money to the Katrina cause and again vowed to visit New Orleans.

Just last month my husband and I finally spent a week in NO - in a hotel right off Jackson Square that was (to me) stereotypical New Orleans  with the old brick, the balconies, gas lanterns and a beautiful courtyard. The food was fabulous  all the Louisiana shrimp & the gulf-fish special at CommanderÂs Palace that was to die for - and we had a fantastic time at the French Quarter Festival. We rented a car and spent some time exploring the outlying areas. We did a swamp/bayou tour south of the city, and a riverboat dinner cruise on the Mississipi.

We then left NO on a cruise that took us down through the Gulf to the Carribean for 7 days.

We had an absolutely fantastic time, loved - LOVED - New Orleans, one of our best vacations to date. WeÂd only been home a few days, when I was agreeing to go back in the not-too-distant future with friends of ours  who decided THEY should go based on the awesome trip we enjoyed.

We actually sailed back up through the Gulf to NO two days before the explosion. I can hardly believe what has happenedÂ. The pictures break my heart, the stories of the fishermen & others affected are heartbreaking. I'm having a hard time reconciling the images with our vacation memories, I mean we were JUST there a month ago!! ItÂs almost beyond the scope of my imaginationÂ. A few people have commented to us Â..youÂre lucky you went when you did, the Gulf will probably never be the same againÂ. How awful is that?? I donÂt even have the words.

The feeling is that BP has been "very generous" with their money in order that violations of safety practices be overlooked.

Mona, that's been going on for years. BP has the worst safety record of all the oil companies. They've avoided prosecution by paying fines.

Here is a link that might be useful: BP's dismal safety record

Wasn't watching Rachel Maddow (although I think she's a hoot who makes no bones about the fact that she's a commentator, not a reporter or serious journalist, unlike the talking heads on Some Other Channels). Was reading Reuters.

I heard in the news the other day that BP isn't being as generous with it's payouts as it has given the impression of. 5,000 to some of the fisherman or charter companies (don't remember exactly) to cover some of their losses is only a fraction of what they've lost. I sure hope they plan of payout out more to the business people and will honor lost wages on expected business during this next summer and not the acutal of the post Katrina years.

Is anyone boycotting or refusing to use BP fuel? I've not heard anything about that in the news but doesn't it seem appropriate under the circumstances?

Luk, you might be interested in this article from the LA Times about the people directly affected.

Here is a link that might be useful: The fishermen and the tax man

That is interesting and I have mixed emotions after reading the article. I raised my daughter in Moss Bluff and love everything about Louisiana so it's hard to see what is happening. I understand that the area is very different and empathize completely with what the fishermen and laborers are experiencing. I strongly believe anyone even remotely affected by the actions of BP should be GENEROUSLY compensated for their damages whether they can prove it or not. They should not have to live in fear of being turned over to the IRS for tax evasion just because they want what is rightfully due to them. No matter what, the burden should be on BP to pay whatever a mediator says is fair regardless of whether tax records can be provided or not. In regards to the actual tax evasion, at this point it's only fair that people caught in this scenario be given some sort of automatic amnesty by the IRS. After everything they've been through it's just not right that they loose fair compensation due to fear of repercussion by the government.

That said, though, I also don't think it's fair that all of us are required to pay our taxes (regardless of our financial situations) and these folks feel they are the exception to the rule. As a condition for the amnesty, they should be required to agree that moving forward they will keep records and file each year like everyone else. Miss filing and all forgiven taxes will become due and payable. There are so many people right now who have lost everything and are living in poverty, yet they are still required to file and NOLA fishermen, laborers and other "paid under the table" industries should have to file as well.

Interesting article. We're all required to pay taxes and it bothers me that these people have decided not to pay their fair share because their income is cash and not traceable.

I think lukkiirish has a good idea regarding back tax amnesty...they should agree to move forward, pay taxes from here on or have the forgiven taxes become due and payable.