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Oil Spill

Oil Spill

Date: Jun 18 2010

Themes: News

Grammar: Present Progressive Tense

Intro

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On April 10, 2010, a nightmare became reality. An explosion rocked an oil rig platform off the coast of Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven people died in the explosion and the damage to the environment that has followed has already been catastrophic.

With thousands of barrels of oil still gushing into the water, the disaster in the Gulf is only getting worse. Listen to Marni and Devan share their anger and shock over the spill.

Dialog

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Marni

Marni

Devan

Devan

Marni:  So I am just astounded that the Gulf…the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still happening.

Devan:  It’s pretty unbelievable. You’d think that before they start offshore drilling, they would know what to do ahead of time in case of emergencies like this. But they seem completely clueless as to how to solve this problem, and it’s like, how did that never come up in discussion before about what to do if this happens?

Marni:  I absolutely agree with you, it just seems like there’s so much…you know, there’s no accountability right now with BP, and I can’t believe that they’re not being held accountable for this. It’s just like, they need to pay, they need to clean up the spill, and it needs to be dealt with.

Devan:  The thing I’m interested to see as to what happens is what it’s going to mean for the future, as far as like our environmental policies and if we’re gonna continue to do offshore drilling, or if we’re gonna seize this opportunity to be like, OK, now it’s time to really get serious about clean energy.

Marni:  Yeah, because obviously the consequences are just too great. We’re seeing the worst oil spill in US history, and the effects…I mean, the Gulf of Mexico is trashed. Louisiana is, you know, just completely destroyed yet again. And now all the oil is actually seeping as far east as Florida. So it’s just…you know, who knows where this is gonna end up. It’s just really baffling.

 

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Discussion

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Marni and Devan can’t believe that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still happening. Two months after the explosion, oil continues to gush into the water off the coast of Louisiana.

Marni thinks that BP, the company responsible for the spill, needs to do more to stop it. She thinks that it is their responsibility to fix the problem and pay for the damage that has been done. Marni thinks the oil company needs to be held accountable.

Devan wonders what will happen in the future as a result of this spill. She hopes that this disaster will lead the US and other countries to invest more in clean energy.

What do you think about the oil spill? How much damage do you think it will cause? Should the US and other countries change their policies on energy and the environment?

 

Comments

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Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Oh Gosh! You know if this spill still happen till now it means that it's really terrible!

You know,imagine how much damage this must have cased?! But don't worry,what man cause damage to nature will return to himself,sure!

06:15 PM Jul 20 2010 |

fawaz-sama

fawaz-sama

Saudi Arabia

disaster always happen , but when people have caused it , this is where we wonder that , is people life is cheap . all of us must be on one man heart to stop those who behave carelessly to people life.

09:54 AM Jun 24 2010 |

Ca_Brazil

Ca_Brazil

Brazil

 BP have to be held accountable for it. if they work with it they must  know what to do in all kinds of situations. since its a large  oil company they will do everything to get rid of it, hope they cant. All countries should invest in clean energy as soon as possible.

01:41 AM Jun 24 2010 |

salinger

Germany

i think they should have been  prepared for bad scenarios like this but they are not.the most important thing i couldnt understand is one of the biggest oil companies doesnt know how to solve problem.i dont believe  how they behave unresponsible way…

12:52 PM Jun 23 2010 |

zaej

Mexico

 

We need to begin to stop our oil dependency, rigth now there is thecnology to do that. Why do we continue depending to oil?

 

We can use electric cars, ethanol as gas for cars, solar enrgy to get hot water in houses, etc.

 

 

08:35 PM Jun 22 2010 |

caandrade

caandradeSuper Member!

Ecuador

yes, they seem clueless, they don't really take care about our planet, they only think on money, I agree with you Miss_gorgeous, they must be punished by that!!, it´s the worst environmental  disaster I´ve ever seen.

05:48 PM Jun 22 2010 |

Miss_gorgeous

United Arab Emirates

wish they put more hard roles for those who try to distroy our planet, as it is our treaseure resource that make as live well .. otherwise we gonne to die …

 

 whose with me ????

03:11 PM Jun 22 2010 |

Eydo

Eydo

Turkey

IT IS JUST DISATROUS !....FOR OIL THEY RUIN OUR LIFE:((((((((((

08:02 AM Jun 22 2010 |

rosendo

rosendo

Mexico

i dont know what's the matter with the oil spill, USA and England are brothers and they support eachother  , so nobody here will pay anything ,us will pay like all the time. the damage was already and USA and England do nothing , just tried to mop the sea to distract the viewers.i dont know , may be this is  an strategy made by USA goverment , like porcine flu , just god'll know.

saludos.

saludos.

11:09 PM Jun 21 2010 |

Ana Christina

Brazil

I think that if this fact had happenned anywhere else in this world, the country would have been punished . Once more U.S.A damaged nature and nothing happens . The Worst's it's still polluting water .Try to imagine the end of the story. Maybe that's y scientists have been looking for water in other planets.

12:17 PM Jun 21 2010 |

Holmes nash phil

Malawi

Bg chief vows to stay: Bp chief exctive tony hayward said he didnt plan to quit over the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill,as the energy giants bid to containt the crude appeared to reach a turning point. Public and political pressure has been mounting on London-based BP to cap its gushing seabed oil well and take full financial responsibility for the cleanup and damage caused to Gulf coast fisheries,wildlife and tourism.light now we are looking forward to you mr Tony .holmes,malawi.

08:48 PM Jun 20 2010 |

Holmes nash phil

Malawi

Bg chief vows to stay: Bp chief exctive tony hayward said he didnt plan to quit over the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill,as the energy giants bid to containt the crude appeared to reach a turning point. Public and political pressure has been mounting on London-based BP to cap its gushing seabed oil well and take full financial responsibility for the cleanup and damage caused to Gulf coast fisheries,wildlife and tourism.light now we are looking forward to you mr Tony .holmes,malawi.

08:46 PM Jun 20 2010 |

Holmes nash phil

Malawi

Bg chief vows to stay: Bp chief exctive tony hayward said he didnt plan to quit over the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill,as the energy giants bid to containt the crude appeared to reach a turning point. Public and political pressure has been mounting on London-based BP to cap its gushing seabed oil well and take full financial responsibility for the cleanup and damage caused to Gulf coast fisheries,wildlife and tourism.light now we are looking forward to you mr Tony .holmes,malawi.

08:45 PM Jun 20 2010 |

Lonia

Lonia

Taiwan

I saw the seabirds stained the oil all over their bodies. Their feathers can adust themselves to temperature. Once it stained by oil, they will lose their temperature and then died. The oil cann't be easily removed by washing-up liquid. It is very dangerous to all the species in the Gulf of Mexico. 

05:33 AM Jun 20 2010 |

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

the worst thing is that this could be prevented, BP knew of the problems some months ago and didn’t do anything

11:16 PM Jun 19 2010 |

jiangbenji

jiangbenji

China

The oil spill accident is a serious catastrophe this year by far. The Gulf of Mexico has been completely polluted, and, still, are getting from bad to worse. The balance of biology circle there has been destroyed. Many fish, coral reefs, and other marine lives died, as well as the eleven people.

In my opinion, BP should hold accountable for this, however, If this company cannot deal with this big oil spill problem, Obama's government should help. The most important thing right now is to clean the oil, rather than to blame whose fault.

I believe it is time for us to change the form of our energy. Since everyone knows that clean energy is our future, we should turn our future to now. Less pollution, less trouble. Whereas, it would be difficult and time-consuming that all nations work together to use clean energy.

 

11:12 PM Jun 19 2010 |

fiydoon

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

This is the  bad news that i've Heard since 9/11/2001.

I hope the oil spill finish very soon .so I think the BP must be hold accountable  

to pay environment destroyed, people damaged, as soon as possible.

   

07:19 PM Jun 19 2010 |

biodiversity

Italy

Oil is highly toxic to the marine and coastal environment and its impacts on wildlife can persist for decades.

It has been estimated that 400-600 species are potentially at risk: whales and dolphins, tuna spawning areas, turtles and seabirds.

birds
 

WWF International Director, James Leape, said: "The ecological and economic devastation now unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico is a reminder that offshore oil exploration and production is in fact deeply hazardous and we should think twice before opening up even more delicate and treacherous waters to development".

I hope so.

 

06:50 PM Jun 19 2010 |

mona.f1985

mona.f1985

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

 it is a miserable event and i tink we shoudnt lay a blame on any body instead we should think how we can eliminate this catasroghic event so that we can experince this to perevent other oil rifinety from having such a bad experince 

09:50 AM Jun 19 2010 |

esz8

esz8

Saudi Arabia

Thanks a lot for this lecture :)

08:35 AM Jun 19 2010 |

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