h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

it was reported and shown in the news every time he mentioned it he made a point of saying "British petroleum" and not BP, so he is either missinformed, has a bad PR team beind him or was trying to make a point, and we in this country caught on to it, i bet he doesn't call vince mc mohans company WWF

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Look - this spill *really is massive*. It has been appallingly handled on many, many levels. It will have far reaching consequences way into the future. Why would the US even *bother* with petty anti-Britishness at a time like this? We're simply not an important part of the picture.
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True, but it's also true that Obama is pointing the finger very squarely at BP and not even mentioning the companies closer to home. I'm not sure that this is xenophbia so much as the US extreme parochialism. It's not so much an anti-Brit thing as a lets not be honest with ourselves about our own role in this. It's still bullshit though and in that sense I agree with Effers.

A few simposts.

>>it was reported and shown in the news every time he mentioned it he made a point of saying "British petroleum" and not BP, so he is either missinformed, has a bad PR team beind him or was trying to make a point, and we in this country caught on to it, i bet he doesn't call vince mc mohans company WWF
<<

Taff, have you got a link to something about that? It was mentioned earlier, but no-one seemed to have an actual example.

>Give us a call and tell us what you think. Or if you can't think - tell us what you reckon.'<

It might be better to re-phrase that as 'you guess' Yes you're right though

kea they showed a montage of obama doing it on the chanel4 news

british-british-british-british

How have I missed this entry. Because sadly I do not "know" one of the contributors/researchers. I hope that this will be corrected and I can learn the facts of this continuing tragedy and try to be "realistic" about it.
CME
AlsoRan80
Saturday 19th June 20106.34 BST

Obama does nothing by accident and understands the importance of symbolism. Anybody see the picture released to the press of the meeting he had with BP chiefs? Did you notice the huge painting that dominated the picture and the room? It was of Teddy Roosevelt on a charger - Roosevelt being the President that slapped down big business, bringing in heavy regulations on the big companies.

If this makes America invest more in alternatives to foreign oil, superb. Maybe we'll see fusion in my lifetime.

Hi new friends,

Is it not a good idea to invest in alternatives to "crude" oil?
I would have thought, reading all the contributions to this thread that it is a vital path to follow

Also ran80
Saturday 19th June 2010 18.55 BST

YOu might be interested in this thread Alsoran, where there was a discussion about alternatives to oil: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F19585?thread=7542325

>If this makes America invest more in alternatives to foreign oil, superb.<

Well it might also be good if China and India also do, and other parts of the far east..because that's where all the massive increases in oil consumption is going to happen in this century.

True up to a point. Continuing industrialisation will increase Asian consumption, no doubt about it.
Don't you think there's maybe a problem in the balance of established consumption though?
This sums it up for me (the deep stats are subtler, but the message is the same):
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/dem_image_cons_per_cap.htm

There are so many ways in which the USofA fails in its global responsibilities by setting an appalling example to the rest of the world through its own conduct. These examples don't just stop at energy use and other aspects of sustainability. The charge sheet also includes the humane and just treatment of prisoners, propriety in judicial practice, blind ignorance of extreme inequity and poverty in its own society, shoring up of totalitarian regimes abroad and fostering religious extremism, including the persecution and repression of a whole range of social attitudes that the rest of the developed world nowadays happily accepts as normal.

The greatest sadness of all is that we have glaring post-Bush examples of all of these. Obama has already well-and-truly caved in to the essential stupidity and despicable self-centredness of the general American populace. How can we ever persuade rising economies to act responsibly when established ones are such pigs?

(Still not a racist btw,Orcus. Just speaking from depressing but inescapable personal experience)

Interesting summary:

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/06/18/WhatHappenedBP/

Could be worse, could be Nigeria.

"If you thought the BP oil disaster in the Gulf region was the worst oil spill in the history of the world, think again. It is being reported that foreign oil companies spill more than 1.5 million tons of oil each year in Nigeria. Thanks to the spillage, the Niger region is one of the most polluted places in the world. To put it into perspective, imagine if BP's Deepwater Horizon spill happened every year. All of this happens with little to no fanfare, government intervention or assistance from the oil companies. This is a clear case of when a situation seems bad, there is always another one out there that's worse. Guess black folks and wildlife don't matter anywhere."

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/yearly-oil-spills-nigeria-top-bp-oil-disaster

Weird link SWL, it just links back to itself as reference

I was relying on some conscientious soul doing the digging

Good luck with that

Hi all,

There are some questions which |I would like to ask.

1.Who laid the oil pipe at such a great depth.?
2. when was it laid
3. We have seen the shored off sectionof the pipe. Where does the pipe originate?

That is something that is never ever mentioned. I am sure there must be some significance.

4. Is it crude oil straight from the earth?

5.Who gets paid for it?

Simple questions which I hope someone can answer.

Certainly oil has got the world both in a terible mess and also has developed it.

Christiane
AlsoRan80
Monday 22nd june 2010 4.30 BST

the pipe was from the surface to the well

the drilling rig was and crew were hired from transocean by BP and the pipe was like a sleeve that all the drilling bits and stuff went up and down

when the coast gaurd sank the rig the pipe buckled and ruptured

when a well is drilled and hits oil, it is under pressure, they pump stuff into the well to preasurize it more, so they don't need pump it to the surface

the way to reduce the pressure and stop the spill is to drill relief wells

Thank you for your explication.

I do not quite understand. The pipe seems to be lying ON the ocean floor surface.

Was it the rig that capsized that burst the pipe?

They never appear to have found out why the rig exploded . I had actually forgotten that there was a rig there in the first place.

Thank you for reminding me of that.

CME
AR80
22nd June 2919 5.00 bst