If We Had a President... What We Should Do About the Gulf Disaster

June 5, 2010 (LPAC)—As predicted, the Gulf of Mexico oil "spill" has hit the Florida Panhandle, and a widely circulated computer animation from the National Center for Atmospheric Research is now forecasting that the oil will reach Florida's east coast within weeks, and then enter the Gulf Stream, to spread across the Atlantic Ocean. Whether this potential trajectory can be stopped at this late date, is not clear.

Given the absence of a patriotic President, representatives of Twenty-First Century Science & Technology magazine have begun to mobilize questions among scientific professionals on what emergency steps need to be taken to stem the disaster. The following recommendations are the result of the first discussions with experts in the engineering field, including offshore oil drilling. None of the proposed steps, many of them totally obvious, have been done. There will be more to follow:

* Replace BP with a government/military Tiger Response Team if BP fails to stop the flow of oil with its current measures.

* Activate at least three super tankers with oily water separators to track down the underwater plumes—there's a ton of qualified manpower available, including from the Navy, but nothing is being done.

* Initiate a major effort by the National Labs, to concentrate on finding solutions to stop the wellhead flow.

* Start emergency purchasing of hundreds of additional boom/microbes/organic oil cleanup compounds for deployment, and prepare to mobilize the manpower to use them, from the National Guard to high school students needing summer jobs.

* Declare a National Emergency now—already we're facing decades of impact and 70% of the problem is still underwater.

* Centralize the command in a high level "muckety muck" (with a big Checkbook from Congress), and get moving.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/