<I presume the whole point of convening a panel of scientists is to get guidance.>
If that was the point, the panel would have been convened before the decision was made, not after. 700,000 gallons of dispersant was in the Gulf, before this panel of scientists was convened.
And, if it turns out later that the use of dispersant (or its use in this manner, which has never been done before) is worse than useless, then the scientists now share part of the blame. They have provided an aura of scientific respectability, to a decision made for economic and political reasons.
When I don't know something, I say "I don't know", rather than making something up. And that's what those scientists should have said. I've looked, and this is a subject on which there are almost no hard facts available. There is next-to-nothing to base a conclusion on.
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I nominate the ROV and ROV-operator as Man Of The Year. They are the heroes of this story. When this is over, there should be statues of ROVs erected all over the Gulf coast. Maybe I'll write a poem that can be engraved in bronze on the base. It'll keep me occupied, while I wait for my BP stock to go up. |
