Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, 48 days after the British Petroleum disaster in the Gulf, reaffirmed the "ecological and environmental disaster", claimed "Texas has not suffered any damages yet," and specified his "reaction" as "nothing but sheer frustration and aggravation". He offered no regrets for his May 3 statement that BP had made "all the right actions and all the right comments".
Texans died in the explosion. Texas has been damaged in many ways that need to be investigated. The AG's confessed reaction of "nothing but sheer frustration and aggravation" is common among overwhelmed young lawyers.
In a most regrettable conclusion for the people of Texas, the Texas Attorney General aided potential defendants in the Gulf disaster by denying deaths, economic and sub-surface ecological damages preceding visible oil on our shores. He proclaimed, as of June 8:
"The truth is, Texas has not suffered any damages yet, but we want to be ready in the event that oil does come to Texas."
We've accurately quoted Mr. Abbott's 13th day response that BP had made 'all the right actions and all the right comments'. While Mr. Abbott may be emotionally fragile, he could still issue a civil investigative demand, a powerful AG subpoena-like tool. His campaign website remains empty of information or reaction other than to hawk T-shirts as news.
He allows every potential wrongdoer to escape damage responsibility to Texas as of June 8, 2010.
Follow Barbara Ann Radnofsky on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TXBarbaraAnn
The gusher in the Gulf may have the potential to trigger a Global Warming tipping point, a far greater catastrophe than is currently imagined.
An oceanographer states that: “Trapped in water pockets, the oil from Deepwater Horizon will ride the Gulf Stream across the Atlantic.”
A scientist has written “…a thin petroleum film floating on the surface of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans …will also impede water evaporation. If the solar energy that evaporates water is blocked, the only alternative is for the surface water temperature to rise. Warmer water will accelerate Arctic Ocean melting … mammals such as polar bears …will probably not survive."
See Life Threatening Danger at http://www.aesopinstitute.org
Kevin Costner has been supporting development of a centrifuge which can clean up oil. These should be in round-the-clock production, on as massive a scale as possible and deployed as rapidly as they are completed
Here is a way to dramatically attack the oil itself, as well as the damage to wildlife and marshes resulting from the oil gusher.
http://thejaghunter.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/bioremediation-six-weeks/
http://www.ospreybiotechnics.com/fox13.html
Methane in the arctic may conceivably soon pass a tipping point, which could extinguish millions of human and animal lives in a few years.
If there is still time, several alternatives are pregnant. See Moving Beyond Oil and Running on Water on the Aesop website!