Speaking of the liberal media: from the Rolling Stone-
“Even after the president’s press conference, Rolling Stone has learned, the administration knew the spill could be far worse than its “best estimate” acknowledged. That same day, the president’s Flow Rate Technical Group – a team of scientists charged with establishing the gusher’s output – announced a new estimate of 12,000 to 25,000 barrels, based on calculations from video of the plume. In fact, according to interviews with team members and scientists familiar with its work, that figure represents the plume group’s minimum estimate. The upper range was not included in their report because scientists analyzing the flow were unable to reach a consensus on how bad it could be. “The upper bound from the plume group, if it had come out, is very high,’ says Timothy Crone, a marine geophysicist at Columbia University who has consulted with the government’s team. “That’s why they had resistance internally. We’re talking 100,000 barrels a day.'”
“The median figure for Crone’s independent calculations is 55,000 barrels a day – the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez every five days. A source privy to internal discussions at one of the world’s top oil companies confirms that the industry privately agrees with such estimates. ‘The industry definitely believes the higher-end values,’ the source says. ‘That’s accurate – if not more than that.’ The reason, he adds, is that BP appears to have unleashed one of the 10 most productive wells in the Gulf. ‘BP screwed up a really big, big find,’ the source says. ‘And if they can’t cap this, it’s not going to blow itself out anytime soon.'”
