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Mainstream media carefully dances with the government, as they release the bad news in the Gulf of Mexico, one little bit at a time. For almost two months, we have heard the chorus: the only sure way to fix this oil volcano is through a relief well. All those other methods were really burning time, but no worries, the ultimate solution is coming in early to mid-August. Everything is going well, according to BP and all their talking heads.

Deep down in the blogosphere, a fellow writing as "dougR" at theoildrum.com, and as SHR at godlikeproductions.com - wrote a detailed explanation of why the relief wells may not work at all. His argument centered around tiny clips and insinuations that all was not as it seemed.

Several knowledgeable writers at theoildrum, some of them oil drillers themselves, didn't like dougR's theory, and noted his lack of solid data or sources.

But now, we find just a few mainstream news stations preparing us for this very scenario. The relief wells may not work. On June 28th, 2010 the New York Times published an article by Henry Fountain. The title "BP Discussing a Backup Strategy to Plug Well".

BP says they are just planning a backup, even if it is never needed. They would install some kind of undersea pipeline system, to divert the leaking oil to an existing oil platform, miles away.

The New York Times finds experts who acknowledge the lower well casing could be so damaged that the relief wells may not work. An anonymous technician working on the relief project says the lower pipe may have, quote "been enlarged by the high-pressure flow of oil over the past two months."

What a surprise! Exactly the theory proposed by dougR. In my Radio Ecoshock blog I have a link to a 2 hour long podcast conference with dougR, a.k.a. SHR done by Godlike Productions. Or just search theoildrum.com for dougR - and be prepared for a barrel load of controversy.

Yet the bad news of no relief keeps leaking out like the oil. Here is ex-President Bill Clinton talking with Wolf Blitzer on a CNN news program associated with Fortune magazine. Clinton suggests the well may have to be blown up, because the relief wells may not work. What does he know, that we don't?

But first, let's go straight to an interview with scientist John Kessler, just back from a research mission at Ground Zero where the Deepwater Horizon drill ship sank. Kessler is using this eruption of methane, thought to be 40% of what comes out of that BP pipe in the Gulf - as an example of what might have happened when the Earth went into a killer hot zone 55 million years ago. Will methane emissions from the Gulf disaster change our climate? We find out, from a scientist who knows.

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