8/9/2019 No Gushing for Bam (amNEWYORK article)
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No gushing for BamBY HEATHER HADDON
[email protected]
Its change thats hard tobelieve.
When the artist whocreated the iconic Hopeposter turns on Obama,
youknow the president has anoil-soaked political mess onhis
hands.
Critics of the presidents
handling of the Gulf ofMexico spill disaster nowinclude staunch
Obama sup-porters such as Spike Leeand the artist who createdthe
famous poster, ShepardFairey, who recently saidObama was too
intertwinedwith corporate America.
And while its far tooearly to predict the spillslong-term
political fallout,
frustrated Obama backersin New York want Obama todo more, and
fast.
I dont think Obamasbeen very proactive, saidRuthy Effler, 28, of
the LowerEast Side. I mean, its ourplanet.
An ABC News/Wash-ington Post poll releasedyesterday had more
badnews for Obama. Sixty-ninepercent of the 1,004 peoplesurveyed
were upset aboutthe federal governmentsspill response. Thats
worsethan a 62 percent negativerating for the government
two weeks after HurricaneKatrina struck in 2005.
This hurts Obamaschances for re-election. Ifeel like he pushes
thegoing green effort, buthes not really doing muchabout the spill,
said JesseDunham, 22, of Long IslandCity.
Republicans were the
most annoyed, but inde-pendents also ranked highin their ire a
potentialproblem for Democratsas they go into midtermelections,
according topolitical consultant HankSheinkopf.
The president has beenperceived as being lack-luster in his
performance,he said.
More than half of Demo-crats also gave the govern-ments response
a thumbs-down, the poll showed.
Though the city may behundreds of miles away from
the spill, and scientists saidit appears the slick will notreach
local waters, imagesof oil-covered seagulls havehorrified New
Yorkers.
People are traumatizedand extremely upset, said
Dan Miner, a Queens resi-dent and chairman of thecity chapter of
the SierraClub. Its a World War IImoment. We have to preventthis
from happening again.
Tim Herrera contributed to this story.
91 Persian Gulf spill
The Gulf oil spill, above, is bad, but the world has seen
worse.
The Ixtoc spill in 1979 (PHOTOS: GETTY)
PERSIAN GULF During the1991 Gulf War, Iraqi forces
emptied oil terminals andtankers into the Persian Gulfalong the
coast of Kuwait inorder to deter a U.S. landing.Amount of oil
spilled:Approximately 11 millionbarrels, or 462 million gallons.The
oil slick reached 101 miles
from the shoreline.Damage done: Geologistshave reported embedded
oilsediment in the Saudi Arabiancoastline 12 years later.
IXTOC I A Mexican oilcompany was drilling
a well in 1979 near Ciudaddel Carmen when a blowoutoccurred in
the structure.Amount of oil spilled: Initially,oil was flowing into
the Gulf
of Mexico at a rate of 30,000barrels a day. Overall, 3.5million
barrels were releasedinto the Gulf.Damage done: Sea turtles
wereseverely impacted, and theTexas coastline suffered.
ATLANTIC EMPRESSThe tanker collided with
another tanker off the coast ofTrinidad and Tobago in 1979
and continued to leak as itsank into deep ocean.Amount of oil
spilled: 2.1million barrels of oil washedinto the ocean.Damage
done: The oil never
washed ashore. (AMNY)
The BP oil spill in the Gulfof Mexico has surpassed theinfamous
Exxon Valdez oil spilloff the coast of Alaska in 1989as the largest
in U.S. history.But its no match for some of
the largest slicks in the world.
HISTORICOIL SPILLS
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A bird in the Gulf of Mexico
