Archive for April, 2010

Florida declares state of emergency for Panhandle

Associated Press: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has declared a state of emergency in several Panhandle coastal counties because of the threat from oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Friday's executive order covers Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf Counties. The order says "The resulting oil slick is generally moving in a northerly direction and threatens Florida's coast." It designates the director of the Division of Emergency Management as ...

This oil spill ‘the bad one’ ? recipe for disaster

Associated Press: What makes an oil spill really bad? Most of the ingredients for it are now blending in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts tick off the essentials: A relentless flow of oil from under the sea; a type of crude that mixes easily with water; a resultant gooey mixture that is hard to burn and even harder to clean; water that's home to vulnerable spawning grounds for new life; and a coastline with difficult-to-scrub marshlands. Gulf Coast experts have always talked about "the potential for ...

Dawn dishwashing liquid used to clean animals affected by oil spill

Y! Green: As one the worst oil spills in American history continues to wreak havoc in the U.S. Gulf Coast, local birds and animals are finding themselves muddied in toxic sludge. Surprisingly, volunteers and rescue crews are using a common household ingredient to clean up the oil-coated wildlife -- Dawn dishwashing liquid. The "tough on grease" dish detergent, commonly found at kitchen sinks across America, is used by animal rescue and rehabilitation teams to help gently remove oil from ...

Oil spill sparks new drilling ban

BBC: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has already declared a state of emergency. The slick from the wreck of the rig has begun to reach the Louisiana shore and on Friday the state's National Guard was mobilised. Heavy seas on Friday were pushing the slick towards the coast and over the booms meant to contain it. The US National Weather Service said strong winds, high tides and waves could push the oil into inlets, ponds and lakes in south-east Louisiana over the ...

United States: Battle on to protect shore from massive oil spill

Reuters: The United States scrambled on Friday to ward off an environmental disaster that could cost billions of dollars as a huge oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling wildlife, shellfish beds and beaches. With oil still gushing unchecked from a ruptured undersea well off Louisiana, the accident forced President Barack Obama to put on hold politically sensitive plans to expand offshore U.S. oil drilling. In March, he unveiled plans for a limited expansion, in part to try to win ...

Meeting The Nation’s Bioenergy Goals

National Public Radio: IRA FLATOW, host: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR. I'm Ira Flatow. The first tendrils of the creeping oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico are lapping against the wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, threatening many types of birds that nest and breed there. It could imperil manatees, dolphins, shellfish, plankton. I could go on with all the - you all know the marine life that lives in the Gulf. And President Obama announced today to delay offshore drilling until some of the ...

Vegetarians gain more options for fine dining with 50% rise in foodie eateries

Guardian: Vegetarian food was never really synonymous with fine dining, but today a new generation of sleek, modern restaurants offering meat-free fine food is banishing the sector's former reputation. The number of high-end vegetarian eateries is rising fast, despite the recession, prompted by culinary innovation by leading chefs, interest in healthy lifestyles and a growing belief that carnivorous cuisine is bad for the environment. And the majority of the food enthusiasts are the ...

How to stop the Louisiana oil slick

Telegraph: BP said it would rely on a new system of pumping chemical dispersants underwater to limit the impact of the leak from the ruptured oil well. Rageh Omaar on why the West should fear the Taliban and al-Qaeda's hold on Pakistan Olivia Newton-John's missing boyfriend 'living in boat off Mexico' The company has requested data from the military's sophisticated satellite tracking equipment to track the slick. "The coiled tubes are already used in pumping at the oil ...

Louisiana fishermen losing patience over spill

Reuters: Louisiana fishermen, who say they face ruin because of the huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill, were fast losing patience on Friday with what they say is the slow pace of efforts to contain the slick. Federal, state and local authorities and London-based BP, which owns the offshore well that is the source of the spill, are engaged in a campaign to speed up efforts to protect the coast. But for many fishermen the effort smacks of too little too late for the Gulf waters they plow, ...

Oil Spill Hits Gulf Coast Habitats

National Geographic: The elegant yet fragile brown pelican--removed from the U.S. endangered species list just last year--is the animal that conservationists fear may come to symbolize the damage to wildlife as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill advances over its marshy habitat. In nesting season, the birds lie in the direct path of what officials fear may become one of the biggest oil spills in the nation's history. Even though the state bird of Louisiana, once on the brink of extinction, has recovered ...