The Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis

I live in NY and I am shocked at how little coverage or urgency is being conveyed by the media regarding this disasterous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I don't know just how big this spill is and it appears that BP really doesn't know either. Is it 5000 barrels a day? 20,000? 100,000? How much is a barrel anyway? I think 55 gallons. Even at 5k barrels x 55 = 275,000 gallons seems like an astronomical amount that has been pouring into the Gulf for over a month now. Still no fix. Are NYers not concerned? I give the benefit to the media that not all journalists are compromised and the oil conglomerates are not quashing the story with cash or other means. So why so little coverage NY?

Personally, I eat very little fish and while I like shrimp I can get it from any country now direct to my local Whole Foods or via frozen bags. The fishing economy is not my personal concern. What should concern all of us NYers and Americans though is $5/gallon gasoline. Every 10 cents that gallon goes up so does our collective blood pressure. My dad would throw an anyurism at $5 gas but never question a $2 coffee. Hes like many Americans I know. So lets get to the real story. The gulf oil spill will raise oil prices. Its not going to happen immediately. Maybe the trickle down effect will take 3 years. If you're an expert on oil economics chime in here.

My thinking is this: The US rents tracts of the Gulf of Mexico to oil companies to drill and extract. Congressmen MUST take action or look weak on the environment. This means that those tracts will go up in cost. My guess is that they will be harder to get too. Higher cost and lower supply will naturally be passed on to the consumer. Guess what? $5 gas. Are my numbers right? I don't know. Like I said, I'm a layman. I think my thinking is solid here though.

So how does this relate to politics? Well my boy Charles Schumer who is usually rather outspoken should be up in arms in the NY media about how this is being handled and what the impact will be for NYers. Higher gas prices. Get the word out. I know very little about Kirsten Gillibrand other than she was the lucky recipient of the seat used by Hillary Clinton for a few years. The word "used" is quite intentional but thats another story. I haven't heard her speak out about this spill. This is where our elected officals in my opinion should be speaking to their constituents on a proactive basis to evoke an opinion. Sure this is not a NY spill, but this is a national problem and a rather significant one. Nita Lowey, I just took the time to look you up. You're my local representative. At least I know what you look like now. Come around Mamaroneck sometime and say hi.

The bottom line is that our government representatives are not proactive, but rather reactive. We elected you to represent us. Communicate with us when we should be alarmed or excited or fascinated with a topic. This oil spill is an example to me of how our elected officials fail us. Just because it's not happening in NY doesn't mean it's not effecting NY. If you have to push our hot buttons to get us involved, i.e. icreased gas prices may result from this spill, then do it.

If you have thoughts on how this oil crisis will impact NY or will impact the US please post your thoughts. Feel free to teach me something. The point of my blog is to get some action, to change whats going on with our politicians, and to learn more about politics.