Oil Spill: a Visual Context

Via Joseph Susanka’s post at Inside Catholic, a bird’s eye view of what we’re up against in the Gulf, where, we are now told, is much worse than we have known.

Calculating the exact flow of crude out of the bent Deepwater Horizon oil rig “riser” pipe on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is difficult. But it’s now likely that the actual amount of the oil spill dwarfs the Coast Guard’s figure of 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons, a day.

Independent scientists estimate that the renegade wellhead at the bottom of the Gulf could be spewing up to 25,000 barrels a day. If chokeholds on the riser pipe break down further, up to 50,000 barrels a day could be released, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration memo obtained by the Mobile, Ala., Press-Register.

The aerial pictures from Eric Gay of the Sacramento Bee are very sobering.

Oil and Sheen Moving Past Oil Rig

Off the Louisiana Coast

There are many more pictures, each more appalling than the last.

We’re in terrible trouble, here. Why does it seem like no one is sending a strong message that they are confidently in charge of this?

Yes, we’re in trouble.