A month after a BP oil rig explosion led to crude oil being pumped directly into the Gulf of Mexico, the scandal over who is to blame for it is only gathering momentum.
An estimated 28 million liters of oil has gushed in the water, though some scientists say the real figure is much higher.
The powers that be are still trying to shut off the oil tap, which is seeping scandal, politics and corporate domination into Washington's on-going investigation.
BP's Deep Water Horizon explosion sparked a fire on April 20, two days later, the government agency that was suppose to be watching BP began its probe. President Obama came to the rescue.
“BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill,” said president Obama, talking to press in Venice, US. “But as president of the United States, I’m going to spare no effort to respond on this crisis as long as it continues.”
The once vivacious advocates of “drill, baby, drill” have disappeared, along with solutions to the problem. Obama sent SWAT teams as the oil reached the shores of Louisiana. The media has coined it “Obama's Katrina”.
“From hurricane Katrina and now with this gulf oil explosion of BP… [these are] things that show that profit’s over people,” said Lennox Yearwood, director of The Hip-Hop Caucus movement.
The truth begins to unravel. The scandal begins to form.
“The agency allowed rigs like deep water horizon to drill near certainty the blow-outs would occur without adequate back up devices,” claimed US senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) concerning the situation.
The department of interior has announced a temporary halt to all offshore drilling projects until the May 28 investigation wraps up. As that announcement was made, the same department issued exemptions for 27 oil companies to continue offshore drilling projects.
In the hot seat, Congress summons the culprits – BP, Transocean and Halliburton – they all blame each other, and later admit they did not fully cap the rig, which led to the explosion.
The agency responsible for regulating the oil industry is exposed for its cozy industry connections. The government vows to break up the agency and install transparency – all this as Bloomberg business reports that same agency is the government second biggest money maker next to the IRS, raking in $13 billion dollars last year alone in royalties from the industry.
And yet the rig is still gushing 25-65,000 gallons of oil into the ocean per day.
So how do the American people feel about all of this?
“This shows to people that our government does not protect us,” said one US resident.
“I think that’s unfortunate that the gulf, both, ecologically and socio-politically is suffering, while two huge corporations bail out who is to blame instead of trying to work together to resolve the problem,” another said.
Meanwhile, the oil is still polluting the Gulf of Mexico, unraveling an ecological disaster of epic proportions, with what seems to be no end in sight.