THE BBC FINALLY GETS IT

Still from BP's live feed video from The Huffington Post, May 21, 2010.

Two Republican governors, in California and Florida, have withdrawn their support for the idea of expanded offshore drilling and a number of Democrats in Congress have warned that they can no longer support energy reform legislation if it includes such provisions.

President Barack Obama recently announced that he was willing to lift a decades-long moratorium on drilling in new areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coastline.
At the time, he said any new exploration would "balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America's natural resources".
....

But with the true consequences of the spill yet to be determined, this is perhaps a little premature. What is more clear is that making history seems less of a priority right now than establishing blame.

Last week, it was Wall Street "fat cats" who were being roasted by members of Congress.

Yeah, poor babies. My heart bleeds for the executives.

But while venting anger and debating when and how to reintroduce a moratorium might make people feel good, what does it actually achieve?
....

Of course all of this depends on a disaster which hasn't quite materialised yet.

And yes, Bill, who would ever have expected that a disaster would materialize after 17 days of thousands upon thousands of barrels of oil gushing from a well in the Gulf of Mexico?
As of yesterday, the BBC appears to have caught up with the reality of the disaster in the Gulf. Watch the video on the right of the BBC website of Rep. Ed Markey's (D-MA) commentary. It's short and to the point.

BP said it had siphoned 2,200 barrels in the 24-hour period to midnight on Thursday, down from an estimate of 5,000 barrels earlier in the day.

The US government has formed a team to develop a more precise estimate of the amount of oil gushing from the well.

BP will attempt to stem the oil flow next week, instead of Sunday as hoped.

The oil leak began more than a month ago, when a rig leased by BP exploded.

The spill has reached Louisiana and is threatening Florida and Cuba.

Thick, sticky oil is washing on to miles of fragile Louisiana wetlands, with brown, foul-smelling globs coating reeds and grasses.

For playing down the extent of the disaster 17 days after the explosion, I'd like to ship Bill Adams an oiled, dead pelican to hang around his neck for - let me think - perhaps 17 days?

Thanks in great part to the efforts of Rep. Ed Markey, a live video feed of the oil leak is available at BP's website.

UPDATE: My post at Wounded Bird on May 6, 2010. Who would ever have expected...?