Brentin Mock's blog

Roughly two weeks after the second year memorial of the BP oil disaster, a few moving parts are looking like they're coming to closure, even if not on completely amenable terms. The federal judge overseeing the trial against BP has approved settlement terms.  And Mississippi passed a law to encourage local hiring in the wake of disasters.  Meanwhile, national policymaking and politics that affect the Gulf Coast continue. [...Read more]

Two years ago today the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, due to poor decisions made by BP and Halliburton engineers, killing 11 rig workers and spilling upwards of 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. As tragic as that moment was, the tragedy continues to spread, much as the 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersants spread far beyond the waters where they were targeted. [...Read more]

Two controversial stories hit home on the Gulf last week: One, concerning the ill-advised but fated Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama decided to greenlight the southern portion of, directly impacting the Gulf; and another concerning the troublesome trend of young, African-American males losing their lives after mostly trivial encounters with law enforcement officials, or those pretending to be. [...Read more]

The dead zone is a problem rarely mentioned in national Gulf Coast discussions, and whether BP oil entered the sea food chain after their disaster is a discussion neither the federal government, nor BP would like to have. For those who live and work off of Gulf Coast seafood, frankly it's not the most desirable discussion either. But as with talk about ubiquitous drilling in the Gulf, it's a discussion that needs to be had. 

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Last week, roughly one hundred Gulf Coast concerned citizens, advocates, environmentalists and scientists came together for the third Gulf Gathering since the first held in October 2010 not long after the BP oil disaster. [...Read more]

As Midwest and Midsouth communities mourned and regathered from tornados that claimed at least 30 lives and billions in destruction Friday night, Judge Carl Barbier announced a settlement between oil giant BP and thousands of individuals and businesses that lost money due to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. BP is estimating that this portion of the settlment will cost a little less than $8 billion. [...Read more]

A lot of worry is swirling around about what would happen if BP settles. [...Read more]

Last week, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier decided that in the civil trial against BP for their oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil company’s history of accidents and poor safety records won’t be admissible as evidence. Maybe that’s appropriate; I’m no legal expert so I can’t make that call. [...Read more]