New Oil Spill Access Rules: Join the Live Chat
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New rules in the Gulf will make it more difficult to see the disturbing reality of this disaster. Despite promises of transparency and full access - photographers, reporters and the general public now could face fines and felony charges if they get to close to response vessel or booms. We're keeping them honest. Plus, Anderson's exclusive interview with Jimmy Buffett. What the superstar thinks of the spill and how the area will recover.
Want more details on what we're covering? Read EVENING BUZZ
Scroll down to join the live chat during the program. It's your chance to share your thoughts on tonight's headlines. Keep in mind, you have a better chance of having your comment get past our moderators if you follow our rules.
Here are some of them:
1) Keep it short (we don't have time to read a "book")
2) Don't write in ALL CAPS (there's no need to yell)
3) Use your real name (first name only is fine)
4) No links
5) Watch your language (keep it G-rated; PG at worst - and that includes $#&*)
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@Lisa in Louisville, I agree. But they are putting a lid on it and tying hands and keeping people informed on the needs that we could help supply.I can beleive it though.
Obviously neither BP nor the Coast Guard can get anything right. They are obviously making things worse, and want to hide it. We have a right to know what is happening and to see pictures and the news. We need to e-mail our senators and everyone else that might do something.
I love Margerita Ville just thinking of that song makes me feel young and dumb again .
Thanks CNN and Anderson Cooper,,with out you on this, We would of saw another lieing Government Cover up,
Encouraging public to swim in polluted waters...surrounded by booms and clean up workers...just don't take a picture!
I can't use names but let's just say this is third party info. Someone that BP hired to clean up the oil on one of the boats out there said they received orders from the top guy that they are not to clean up the oil, so that person said they sit out there and watch movies and eat popcorn. Can't you fly over and take pictures to verify this?
Just trying to help. My prayers to all.
Good for Jayce Dugarrd.......She want $30 million dollars award..... I agree with her, Anderson.......
Thank you Anderson for your tireless efforts to help in the gulf...It is absolutely ridiculous that our government is not responding to this horrific incident. Actually, there are not the correct words to describe their blatant lack of concern for our fellow Americans who will have this spill affect their lives for years to come. I was in Prince William Sound 3 years after the Valdez spill, minor in comparison to this, and only just then was wildlife beginning to reappear. How on earth can we keep them honest with this insufficient, nonsensical approach to this utter disaster????
Does everyone get it at last? bp is in control and has been from the beginning.
@ Jo Ann I do know this what I really was trying to say is why aren't we pressuring EPA, Clean Air & Water, etc... A little harder to explain why they aren't stepping up to the plate.
I hope that Jaycee is doing well...
We need to unite and continue focusing on finding solutions! How about sending a human operated submarine with a hydraulic mechanical arm to insert a rubber funnel that is connected to a hose to divert the oil up to the surface connected to a ship. Human operated and not robot operated is the key. Sounds simple but sometimes it's the simple solutions that are the obvious ones. Just trying to help here!
Hermes, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
not sure what to say about the al gore thing – guess they used the word "alleged" for a reason
I have relatives working clean up. One called me from the boat he is working on in Mobile Bay last week – a big, burly shrimper. He was trying not to cry and he was furious. Mobile Bay was covered in thick oil as far as he could see. He said he felt like the clean up was a "dog and pony show" and they were not accomplishing anything. And no, they are NOT wearing respirators for protection. I fear for his and all the other workers health.
I also know a worker who asked for an aspirin on the beach clean up and was fired!
Seems like that government and half of those judges are in bed with big oil ,so who do you think can be trusted?-none of them,Politicions in our Government only care about what is best for their political careers and have shown they dont care about anything else,they are all liers and can never be trusted.at least i have never seen proof that they can be trusted,ever..and when they get caught in their lies they side step it and create their diversions and fool the people ,Arizona had to take charge of their state and so should all the coastal states because that Government will not step up,,and still is in bed with BP-
Thank You Anderson for your continued coverage of the oil leak.. You are the only one telling us the true story. Keep the pressure on the government and BP. You seem to be the only one who is.
Is there an effective way to be heard? Is there a way for Americans to let our government know what we, the people, expect and want?
I feel the ocean will never be the same again. No matter what is said .
Dear Anderson,
this is the only dastardely motive i can think of:
1) BP uses dispersant in order to limit liability in the calculation of the amount of oil spilled.
2) BP does not collect oil in order to limit liability in caculation of the amount oil spilled.
The use of dispersant and not collecting oil are the greatest contributor to the escalation of this disaster.
Politicians behaving badly...tisk tisk Al Gore.
Good evening everyone.
sorry, i made a type-o before. my question is how can bp stop anyone from skimming the oil or trying to help?
i will add , you are doing one heck of a job!!
It is a travesty that this is allowed to happen. We have an obligation to this planet and the creatures that are part of it. To put obstacles in place to block people from trying to make a difference is just wrong. The coastal states involved in this man-made disaster need to take control of their coastlines and tell BP and the federal government what they need and demand that it be given. If BP and the government don't act, purchase what you need and bill BP. This clean up effort can't be lead by committee. Leading by committee is not leading at all.
"Inescapable embrace"? Is she kidding?
I have a feeling that this woman is telling the truth...
@Cecilia, sounds very believable.
Anderson's on fire tonight! The irony of the new rules to keep people away from the cleanup is that if BP and the government had been transparent and honest from the begining, the media (especially Anderson) could have been their best ally.
I heard the masseuse's statement. It reads like a cheap romance novel. Totally unbelievable.
Thank you Anderson for staying on this story day after day. You are the only one on TV who is staying with it and keeping the public updated with all of the details. Believe me, we know that you are not the enemy! Without the media access, the lies, deception, and lack of action will only continue.
Why have we not seen or heard interviews with our President about all the delays in getting the help that's really needed to the people of the gulf? We keep hearing "talk" about everything, questions asking why, but no answers. I don't want to hear questions anymore, I want to hear answers from the President of the United States about why he's not standing up for the people of the gulf, and the whole United States. He wanted to go down in history as a hero. Well that's never going to happen. He's going to go down in history as a destroyer of the country I love.
This looks like the beginning of the end of a democracy. They are taking away our right to free speech couched in keeping us "safe". BP and the Feds are in bed together. It's all about money and oil. Nobody cares about the average person and our wildlife. This is a travesty. We should all be on the White House Lawn protesting, but we're all too poor, exhausted and hopeless thanks to the powers that be. God help us.
what's next marshal law. The government and BP don't want the american public to know the truth. We have got to stop offshore drilling we are killing ourselves,and so many people to dumb to see it.
Thad Allen is an inept lost puppy.
Obama has sold out the entire Gulf Coast.
Anderson, what you are discussing right now points to the need for the President to be involved. He has the prestige to cut through the red tape. He says he is not a petroleum engineer and therefore he has backed off. We don't need him for that. We need the Commuinity Organizer,who, even from Washington can ask the questions of the residents and those on site and overrule the Coast Guard, the committee running this or whoever needs to be pointed in the right direction. He is the guy in charge. Aid is being turned away instead of being welcomed. As Truman said, "the buck stops here".
Who built those FEMA trailers that are "soaked with formaldehyde" any way and do they have any responsibility here?
Anybody who thinks we need to build nuclear power plants in this country is insane. You know multi-national corporations would build them and imagine the destruction and loss of life when an "accident" happened in a neighborhood near you.
"They want everybody like a seating duck!"
Thanks for continuing the coverage of the sadness, anger and confusion that is the oil covered Gulf coast and "keeping them honest" Anderson and the 360 crew. You keep it on our television and in our mind's eye. Today's bad news is toxic trailers for cleanup workers and government regulation to keep reporters and all persons at a distance so the actual damage cannot be observed nor can the public be aware of what is really happening in the affected area. Public safety, now really! How about public information?
@j sweeney,
I agree with you! Anderson & the 360 Team has been there for at least a month now reporting on this story....and doing an amazing job.
Can someone report on the progress of the relief wells that BP is supposedly drilling? This appears to be the only real relief in sight for this massive disaster, so it is critical that they are making progress on it.
In my view, BP should be pushed daily for exact figures which detail their progress on these relief wells.
Hi all,
When I heard the new rules I was so mad. Who do these people
think they are? Safety and security my foot. BP doesn't want us to
see what is going on. Most of all, I'm sick of these big wheels pushing
us around. Get the job done, now before all of our wildlife is dead!
I've always believed the corporations are in controll of our government and this just proves it!!
Today 65 ft. Tomorrow a mile. News org's should go to court and get an emergency injunction immedietly.
One of the most effective of tactics used by industry or government is to confuse an issue is with emotionally laden little issues. It appears that the lack of governmental and BP organization has now established a pattern. Why not look for the people, the big people, who are making a profit now and in the future from this catastrophe. We are being scammed again.
It is apparently documented that BP is burning marine life carcasses at night to avoid disclosure. Anyone else read about this?
bp did pay the government for the mess just the other day.... i look at that as a pay off.... government and bp in bad together...
I think it's time for " we the people " to take control and force a hard change! Everyone in the usa join hands let's hurt bp as much as we can buy none of ther products ruduce their earning's!! We must help our fellow americans!
I sit at home every night and watch Anderson Cooper in the Gulf, thank you for the great work you do. My heart breaks for the people living there and knowing there is not a darn thing I can do to help due to being unemployed for almost two years. I'd like to see our government step up to the plate and take control of this disaster but I don't see it happening.
Emily,
@Megan,
The only time that I recall hearing someone really outraged and with a plan was when (ret) Gen. Honoré was on.... Thad Allen doesn't impress me at all...
Yeah, I agree with you, You have good point there, I don't trust Thad Allen, he doesn't have experience his position as well.
Anderson, I saw the term "rock star" applied to you in one of the postings. I agree. Thanks for being so strenuously involved. they have destroyed an entire eco system – make them pay – there should be a rally toward the courts by all the viewers of your show – public pressure needs to become explosive in sheer numbers in derision of BP. Who allowed them to set the amount of the checks they're writing to the families? why is not Kevin Costner's equipment being bought up by the government and making BP pay for it? Why is BP being allowed to make any choices on their own? so many pieces to this evil puzzle, I can't even wrap my mind around it. thanks for keeping the noise up.
Loyal follower.
The safety zones around the boom are completely JUSTIFIED!. There are incidents of boom being vandalized in some convaluted belief that the culprit is making a "statement." Other boom is being cut by locals and fishermen who want to pass through an area be it for fishing or transit instead of using designated passes, etc. I've seen sections of boom that were cut with a knife defeating the protection efforts that all the workers, both contractors and locals, are putting toward the response effort to protect their communities.
65 feet away is fine, reporters can still get their stories, that's what zoom lenses are for!
According to an article from a british newspaper, the american government will not let BP fail.....so they are covering up for its actions....the same attitude they had towards Wall Street resulting in a massive bailout......they will end up bailing BP out because BP's finances are tied to the pension plans of the british people and they are getting 'mad' at americans for being tough on BP.
If americans want to know the truth, they need to rely on information from the foreign media because censorship in America is a reality.