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Politico Allows BP Exec To Mislead Public About Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Impacts
From DeSmogBlog:
Geoff Morrell, the senior vice president of communications at BP, wants the whole country to know that the company’s negligence that led to the Deepwater Horizon oil geyser has not destroyed the Gulf of Mexico. And all of those fears about lost revenue and declining tourism along the Gulf Coast? That never happened, according to Morrell.
Politico allowed the BP executive to use its platform to spread some of the most egregious and misleading information about the health of the Gulf of Mexico that we’ve seen to date.
Granted, it is Morrell’s job as VP of communications to put a positive spin on such a negative story for BP, but his op-ed in Politico goes far beyond whitewashing the problem. Morrell has completely fabricated a story that those of us who live along the Gulf Coast spot just as easily as we can spot the BP tar balls that still wash up on our shores.
Here are a few of Morrell’s more outlandish claims from his op-ed:
Advocacy groups predicted the spill could have “generational” impacts on Gulf shrimp and that Gulf Coast tourism could suffer “up to $23 billion of losses” and take years to recover.
None of those things happened.
… the evidence to date shows the Gulf environment is rebounding and that most of the environmental impact was of short duration and in a limited geographic area.
The first claim about the shrimp shows that Morrell hasn’t picked up a newspaper since the early days of the oil spill. Reports consistently show that the oil from the spill — along with the Corexit dispersants that were pumped by the barrel into the Gulf waters — has caused severe deformities in marine life, especially in the shrimp stocks. In addition to finding shrimp with oozing sores and body deformities, a common problem occurring is that shrimp are being born without eyeballs. Morrell’s claims that “none of those things happened” is a great talking point, but the facts say otherwise.
As for Morrell’s claims that the impact was both short and limited, this, too, is a lie.
Researchers this year have determined that the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico has been increasing at an alarming rate since the oil spill, and the researchers attribute the expansion to the oil spill. In other words, it isn’t just a coincidence.
Furthermore, studies out of Penn State have shown that Gulf coral has suffered a significant decline since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, in areas where oil never hit. The bottom line is that the simple process of diffusion pushed the oil into every nook and cranny of the Gulf, and the effects will be felt long after Morrell has left this world.
Politico allowed the BP executive to use its platform to spread some of the most egregious and misleading information about the health of the Gulf of Mexico that we’ve seen to date.
Granted, it is Morrell’s job as VP of communications to put a positive spin on such a negative story for BP, but his op-ed in Politico goes far beyond whitewashing the problem. Morrell has completely fabricated a story that those of us who live along the Gulf Coast spot just as easily as we can spot the BP tar balls that still wash up on our shores.
Here are a few of Morrell’s more outlandish claims from his op-ed:
Advocacy groups predicted the spill could have “generational” impacts on Gulf shrimp and that Gulf Coast tourism could suffer “up to $23 billion of losses” and take years to recover.
None of those things happened.
… the evidence to date shows the Gulf environment is rebounding and that most of the environmental impact was of short duration and in a limited geographic area.
The first claim about the shrimp shows that Morrell hasn’t picked up a newspaper since the early days of the oil spill. Reports consistently show that the oil from the spill — along with the Corexit dispersants that were pumped by the barrel into the Gulf waters — has caused severe deformities in marine life, especially in the shrimp stocks. In addition to finding shrimp with oozing sores and body deformities, a common problem occurring is that shrimp are being born without eyeballs. Morrell’s claims that “none of those things happened” is a great talking point, but the facts say otherwise.
As for Morrell’s claims that the impact was both short and limited, this, too, is a lie.
Researchers this year have determined that the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico has been increasing at an alarming rate since the oil spill, and the researchers attribute the expansion to the oil spill. In other words, it isn’t just a coincidence.
Furthermore, studies out of Penn State have shown that Gulf coral has suffered a significant decline since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, in areas where oil never hit. The bottom line is that the simple process of diffusion pushed the oil into every nook and cranny of the Gulf, and the effects will be felt long after Morrell has left this world.
Keep reading at DeSmogBlog.com.
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