BP’s Gulf Oil Spill

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The April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will forever change the way Americans view deepwater oil drilling. No one could have foreseen that BP’s well would spew into the Gulf waters for over 80 days before it was successfully capped. Over the years, many articles have been written about the disaster, and many different viewpoints given in the articles. This essay discusses the oil spill’s effect on Gulf coast animal and plant life, plus whether the government is implementing effective legislation regarding the spill. Naomi Klein’s article “After the Spill” in the January 2011 edition of Nation magazine discusses a scientific excursion by boat in the northern section of the Gulf of Mexico. According to David Hollander, the marine geochemist from the University of South Florida, the trip’s purpose was to go “fishing for oil” and, if oil was present, to assess its effect on the water and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico (Klein 12). Klein’s assertions in the article are that the water in the Gulf of Mexico still contains oil, that Gulf marine life is being exterminated, that BP is paying off coastal colleges to prevent negative publicity, and that the government is not doing enough to protect the environment (Klein 12-17). Klein’s argument that oil was found in the Gulf waters is plausible. Scientists did find “black gunk” in the water that testing confirmed was petroleum hydrocarbons, but no proof exists that it came from BP’s well (Klein 17). It is also true that some of the marine life in the Gulf is dying. However, Hollander ruined his case for blaming BP when he stated that “Something caused an environmental and community change,” but the change may have been the result of a tremendous amount of items falling down to t... ... middle of paper ... ...entSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A247449531&source=gale&userGroupName=avlr&version=1.0&contentSet=IAC-Documents&retrieveFormat=PDF>. Leboeuf, Eugene A. and Kaskela, Alicia. “BASH risk: What will the oil spill mean for bird migration?” Wingman. 4.1 (2011): 30-32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Alabama Virtual Library. 18 Apr. 2011 . "National Oil Spill Commission Report Released. (Cover story)." Oil Spill Intelligence Report 34.4 (2011): 1-2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Alabama Virtual Library. 3 Apr. 2011 .

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