X Prize offers cash for oil spill cleaners

This Thursday, the X Prize Foundation will announce its next competition: a challenge to inventors and entrepreneurs to find ways to clean up after such environmental disasters as BP's Gulf gusher. The effort won't encompass the entire mess that BP has made, nor will it target all the oil released in future underwater …

[mafoo]

i know!

One giant tub of swarfega, sorted.

[Hud Dunlap]

so they haven't heard about kevin Costner.

Kevin Costner has already spent $40 million on something that works. His problem was the red tape because it didn't take all of the oil out, only 95%.

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2010/06/26/hero-of-the-gulf-the-feds-fought-costner-and-costner-won/

Or how about this one.

http://water.usgs.gov/wid/html/bioremed.html

So why aren't these being used more?

[John Angelico]

Rapid deployment ...

... sounds all fine and dandy, but how will the prize winner handle the political delays?

[The BigYin]

That's easy

"The CEO of any organisation that is found to be responsible, or partially responsible, for any environmental incident (e.g. oil spill) will be held personally and infinitely liable. Should the CEO be bankrupted, such financial responsibility will be spread amongst other members of the board (COO etc)."

Or something similar. The only way to get people to take responsibility is to MAKE them responsible. This is true for banks and any other industry. At the moment those with the power (CEOs etc) bear no liability or responsibility and when things do go tits up, they can expect to leave with a massive golden-goodbye.

If you are I messed up in a similar manner, we'd be facing summary dismissal.

[TeeCee]

I can see it now.

<Enter, stage left, bloke in comedy Zorro outfit>

"Do not paneec, I weel clean your oil spill........"

<Takes out roll of paper, tears off one (and only one) sheet, mops entire Gulf of Mexico, wrings out sheet of paper into oil barrels>

"Whenever you need oil removed, call for Juan Sheet!!!!!"

<Smile, gleam of teeth, exit stage right amongst women swooning at his cleaning prowess>

[BlueCollarCritic]

The solution to the Oil Spill ALREADY EXISTS

The solution to cleaning up this mess has come in several forms already but the governement (the Feds namely Obama) do NOT WANT THE SPILL TO GO AWAY; not yet a least.

Several tankers/ships designed to celanup ocean oil spills have already made offers to clean this up only to be turned down by the US Federal Governement. This X Prize ocntest is a spin mechanism to distract the public and subtly put out the mesage that no cleanup solution exists curently and that thsi is why the governement has not fixed the spill yet.

Such BS.

[Martin Budden]

straw mats

I'm pretty sure there is already some clever straw mat solution that is cheap and effective.