BP's engineers are well aware of the fact that methane exists in crystalline forms at that depth, yet they still endeavored to build and lower that steel catch bin. I guess now they can say that they tried. The slick and subsurface plumes in the gulf are bad enough, but what will happen come hurricane season when the oil is lapping off the surf in high winds and is deposited thickly not only on the marshes and beaches but atop every community straddling the shorelines?

And yes, this accident was completely avoidable with proper planning. Ocean drilling, even deep, can be done safely, but not as long as the oil companies can think of harm as an expensible cost of doing business.

Apparently that fail-safe device didn't work because some idiot wasn't concerned enough about the risk or serious enough about the job to make sure that the batteries running the damb thing had a charge. The only defense against Corporate Stupids is to make the cost of failure so expensive that proper work gets done.

One would think great minds would have a "safety net" in place prior to any such exploration. But there comes a danger and a threat that may be on going as long as this oil well continues to pour out into the gulf.

Realizing the magnitude of confusion the offshore oil spill has created, why hasn't President Obama and his administration addressed the oil spill as a National Security Breach?

With all of the activity on the ocean,the fishing trawlers,cruise ships, vessels that are helping with the oil spill, how easy would it be for a planned terrorist group to get past the International Waters, and into our gulfs and tributaries, perhaps initiating attacks similar to those of the Somalian Pirates,or even Al-Qaeda, planning an attack at sea, in our gulf, rivers and tributaries instead of the air?

Also is the Coast Guard patrolling the waters looking for other vessels that may see the oil spill as an opportunity to dump sewage, toxic chemicals or anything that may not only cause harm to our shores and wildlife, but pose a risk and a threat to the people that reside on or near our coastal waters?

Is the Air Force and Navy working to keep our waters safe and security tight, while this fiasco oil spill becomes more than a disaster with dire consequences for our greatest resource ... The American People?

Does anyone know if the President or his administration has addressed these issues?

Sleep tight tonight America, we're in good hands.
Are we really?

Also, it is much more difficult to pollute space...

BP could probably stop the leak but I believe they don't want to because they want to capture the leak instead of shutting off the flow. Note that anything they have tried is stuff that will keep the oil going into their ships and money in their pockets. BP put a cork in it already

Hey, where did all the "drill, baby, drill" people go?

Anybody else think that maybe these dispersants could be the reason for subsurface oil? I say cap the thing asap and leave the extra chemicals out of the process. So much for seafood from the gulf and eastern coast for the next 20 years, Thanks.

"We are all responsible in a way for this mess, our sense of entitlement and love of convenience trumps all else..."

Speak for yourself. I didn't create this economy, and I don't have a sense of entitlement unless you mean that by being an American I am automatically guilty of something. More's the point, I've been talking and voting to support nuclear and solar power for thirty years. I don't "own" any of this oil fiasco. I didn't vote for the jerks who put foreign companies in charge of extraction of US taxpayer owned assets. The car I drive has outstanding fuel economy; I'm not the guy towing the quad behind the rv behind the 10-cylinder pickup. None of this is "on" me.

We could replace alot of our fossil fuel consumption ANY TIME WE WANT TO START DOING IT. But as long as "money buys access, not legislation, nudge nudge wink wink" is the rule, that which is best for America or desired by most Americans won't have jack to do with it when it comes to writing legislation.

I'd like to have some expert geologist explain why the drill hole cannot be planted with a circle of explosives deep beneath the seabed and crush the opening and pipe shut with a simultaneous surrounding underground blast. With all of the ocean pressure and the added pressure from the weight of the seabed geology and physics should be able to calculate the required pressure to oppose the oil and gas leak. I think BP doesn't want to do this because they see all of the dollar signs they put into and that can come out of that hole in the ocean floor.

Additionally I just want to comment on how idiotic it is to try and blame this catastrophe on the current administration which in the one year that it has existed has gone leaps and bounds past the previous administration in it's recognition of conservation issues. It's equally idiotic to suggest that people quit trying to place blame because some humans are definitely at fault and it's important for the welfare of the nation to find out who and why.

This is why we study economics. Economics involves choices. We chose to drill in deep water. Outa sight, outa mind. We chose to drill in deepwater rather than ANWR. Some places, and our caribou, are too sacred.

I appreciate the difficulty that deep sea drillers face. There is absolutely no margin of error there, as in space. However, if we don't drill, someone else will. We need the oil. Our options include buying oil from the Middle East (Al Quaeda). Easing restrictions on drilling on land, or not using oil. If you opt for the latter, I really don't want to see you in a car, train or plane.

There are ways to stop this well, but we as Americans are not willing to even think about accepting these methods as an option. Marshall, how do you travel? Is it so hard for you to realize that our world NEEDS oil for so much of our daily lives? Would you rather see the last remaining wild places on this continent converted to oil fields? Or how about what relatively few grasslands we have lefty being turned into corn fields for ethanol production? This spill is tragic indeed, and the fact that BP is still dancing around with their hands up our rectums certainly isn't helping the situation. But we will stop this thing and it will get cleaned up. It will cost us a lot of money, but it will be money well spent in terms of the clean-up. YOU, Mr. Marshall, need to get realistic for a moment. Out of all the offshore oil rigs, we had one blow. It was bound to happen at some point and it could have been stopped a long time ago. NUKE THE WELL! And don't barage me with a buch a feel good, save the fish crap before you read into the process first. We have been setting off nukes underwater for how long? Wouldn't it seem like now would be the time to do it more than ever?