Major oil spill off California's coast could become an 'ecological disaster' (CNN)

[ItsjustMe]

A swath of the Southern California coastline is now covered with oil after 3,000 barrels' worth gushed into the Pacific Ocean this weekend, officials said.
The spill -- equal to about 126,000 gallons of post-production crude -- is a "potential ecological disaster," Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said Saturday.
As of Sunday morning, "the leak has not been completely stopped," the city of Huntington Beach said in a press release. It said preliminary patching has been completed to repair the oil spill site, and additional repair efforts will be attempted.
"Currently, the oil slick plume measures an estimated 5.8 nautical miles long, and runs from the Huntington Beach Pier down into Newport Beach," the press release said.

[brewens]

1. What with all the fires, it'll probably burn off, and I don't like seafood anyhow.

[onethatcares]

2. can't say I blame ya,

and if they were to light it up the water would be warm enough to swim in. sheesh, they never consult average laypeople about these things.

[LT Barclay]

3. A few important things to note:

First Katrina Foley in the interview at the end said they have been working for years to restore areas including a wetland and it was DESTROYED IN A DAY.

Another important point is that booming and the majority of cleanup efforts will be useless at this point. It will primarily be a beach cleanup. I hope it lands soon before it destroys a bunch of marine mammals.

Finally, the Sierra Club just ran an article about how the NIMBY attitude was slowing the transition to wind power and offshore wind even in Vermont.

[czarjak]

4. Fossil Fools! "Drill Baby Drill" Hilaryious, huh, rubes?

[markpkessinger]

5. Where there's a pipeline, there WILL be a spill . . .

. . . Maybe not today, maybe not this year, maybe not in the next five years, but it will happen sooner or later.