Remember the line Mary McCarthy said about Lillian Hellman? “Every word she says is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.” I’m beginning to think those words may apply to BP as well. I’ve written before about the company’s habit of not just downplaying the extent of the oil gushing from its blown well in the Gulf, but repeatedly telling …
Oil
Assessing the Health Impacts of the Spill
It’s link day! I have a story on the main page about the possible human health impacts of the spill—and the difficulty in tracking those effects. As I’ve written before, the scariest impacts could be to the psyches of Gulf residents—especially as this slow-motion disaster moves on and on.
Washington Slows Down Sand Berms in Louisiana
Billy Nungesser is mad. This by itself is not unusual—as the president of Plaquemines parish in southeastern Louisiana, Nungesser has been dealing with the oil spill since day one, and since maybe day two he’s been angry with BP and the federal government’s sluggish response to the catastrophe. Nungesser—a constant presence by …
Underwater Accident Leaves the Oil Spill Uncapped
Over the past week or so, as BP has blunted the Gulf spill by channeling more and more of the oil into containers on the surface, it’s been easy to think that the accident could be managed, even if sealing the well has proved impossible so far. But the challenge of working 5,000 feet beneath the surface of the ocean means that a …
The Oil Spill’s Psychological Toll
Since the beginning of the oil spill—70 days ago, unbelievably—most of the focus has been on the environmental damage. That makes sense—this is the biggest environmental disaster the U.S. has ever faced, almost certainly, and Louisiana’s oiled brown pelicans and crude-soaked marshes have emerged as the symbols of the spill. …
Obama’s Drilling Moratorium Is Moratoriumed
Almost exactly a week ago, executives from the major international oil companies stood before Congress for questioning. They defended the oil industry’s record on offshore drilling and distanced themselves from BP and its mistakes. But on one area they had to admit defeat. After Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts showed copies …
Is the Oil Spill Good for Environmentalism?
Back on May 11, I had a chance to meet up with Andrew Sharpless, the CEO of the major environmental group Oceana, in Washington. I’d met Andrew on an expedition to the Galapagos Islands, and he’s a guy I rely on to get a read on what’s going on among the green groups, a guy who’s frank, smart and funny. At the time the BP oil spill was …
America’s Magical Thinking on Energy
Energy—never has a political topic had so many bold words expended on it with so little to show. As Jon Stewart pointed out in his usual skewering fashion last week, the last eight American presidents promised to move America off oil and onto renewable energy, and all we have to show for it is increasing dependence on foreign …
Is the Political Risk Over the Oil Spill Overrated?
On the mainpage, TIME’s political pro Mark Halperin judges how much the oil spill has damaged Obama’s presidency. Not as much as many of us believe—Halperin argues that dealing with unforeseen catastrophes has become the “new normal” of life on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and that after an initially sluggish response, Obama’s team has …
The Worse Case Scenario Gets Worse for BP as New Documents Come to Light
Representative Edward Markey, the pugnacious Boston Democrat who has emerged as one of the political stars of the oil spill, may have the final word on what caused the accident—philosophically, at least. On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Markey released internal BP documents that showed the company believed that as much as 100,000 …