Slickless

Bad news for Barry - Armus, his ticket to cap & trade Nirvana, seems to be...departing of its own accord:

For eighty-six days, oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's damaged well, dumping some two hundred million gallons of crude into sensitive ecosystems. BP and the federal government have amassed an army to clean the oil up, but there's one problem -- they're having trouble finding it.

At its peak last month, the oil slick was the size of Kansas, but it has been rapidly shrinking, now down to the size of New Hampshire.

Today, ABC News surveyed a marsh area and found none, and even on a flight out to the rig site Sunday with the Coast Guard, there was no oil to be seen.

Well what you know about that?  It's almost as if oil leaking into the bottom of the sea is a naturally occurring process, and nature has already-existing natural mechanisms for naturally breaking down and naturally absorbing the crude.  It's almost as if the environment isn't as fragile as greenstremists religiously insist:

Scientists said the rapid dissipation of the surface oil was probably due to a combination of factors. The gulf has an immense natural capacity to break down oil, which leaks into it at a steady rate from thousands of natural seeps. Though none of the seeps is anywhere near the size of the Deepwater Horizon leak, they do mean that the gulf is swarming with bacteria that can eat oil.

The winds from two storms that blew through the gulf in recent weeks, including a storm over the weekend that disintegrated before making landfall, also appear to have contributed to a rapid dispersion of the oil. Then there was the response mounted by BP and the government, the largest in history, involving more than 4,000 boats attacking the oil with skimming equipment, controlled surface burns and other tactics.

Some of the compounds in the oil evaporate, reducing their impact on the environment. Jeffrey W. Short, a former government scientist who studied oil spills and now works for the environmental advocacy group Oceana, said that as much as 40% of the oil in the gulf might have simply evaporated once it reached the surface.

Doesn't mean Armus is no big deal, or that drilling safety isn't an important issue.  It does mean that nature appears to have the balance all on its own of which its self-styled eco-defenders are utterly incapable.

So if the spill is shrinking at a rapid pace - and the New York Times is reporting it - isn't the crisis Red Barry needs to ban drilling forever and economically destroy the Gulf region also evaporating?  And how will he justify the regime's planned two year political occupation of four states, three of which didn't vote for him in '08, when the only ongoing peril will be his anti-energy diktats?

Annnnnd how is he going to pacify his base that'll be incensed over this latest bit of incompetence?:

BP  (BP 37.94, -0.71, -1.84%) said Tuesday that it is incurring a charge of $32.2 billion from the Gulf response, and as such, it is claiming a $9.9 billion taxation credit.

Asked in a conference call Tuesday about whether it has discussed the tax credit with President Barack Obama’s administration, outgoing BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said, “We have followed the IRS regulations as they’re currently written.”

White House officials weren’t immediately available for comment. The Internal Revenue Service said it’s not allowed under federal law to discuss individual taxpayer issues....

A goof?

But half of that may now come out of government coffers, and it could prove to be embarrassing for the Obama administration, presuming the president and Hayward did not discuss the issue at their recent meeting, says David Desser, managing director of Juris Capital, which invests in corporate litigation. It was after that meeting that Hayward announced the $20 billion escrow fund.

“You would have thought in advance of that meeting, they would have thought of all of those issues,” Desser said. “How do you un-ring that bell?”

Ooopsy!

With apologies to John Donne:

No man is an [oil slick],
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the [mess],
A part of the main.
If a [tar ball] be washed away by the sea, 
[The moratorium] is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each [critter]'s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in [green jobs].
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for [me].

I picture something like this, only far more ridiculous....