It seems BP is totally at a loss as to what to do about the problem.  They have not only lied about the circumstances surrounding the situation numerous times since this all began a month ago, but they've also fumbled every potential fix thus far while also doing a horrible job in preventing the spill from spreading.  The feds, on the other hand, seem content to go "Why are you looking at us?? We can't handle oil!  You so crazy." and leave everything to BP.  The Coast Guard is assisting somewhat with preventing the oil from making landfall, but they aren't doing much, and apparently both parties are totally screwing up any attempt to contain the spill via booming by botching the deployment of the boom hoses/rope.

The oil is already seeping into our marshland:

This will not only destroy the ecosystem of our marshlands, but will hinder us when the next storm arrives.  Marshland is a crucial element in decreasing the storm surge associated with incoming hurricanes (I want to say the formula is a mile of marshland decreases storm surge by a foot), and if we lose enough of this, the chances of the New Orleans area flooding when the next storm arrives even with little rain at all increases dramatically.

On top of that, our fishing industry is slowly being destroyed, hundreds of fisherman are now out of work, and depending on how this continues, much of our swampland could be ruined too, impacting tourism on top of hunting/fisheries. 

If we can't get a handle on this soon, the long term ramifications could be far more damaging to Southern Louisiana than Katrina.

Here are some shots of the spill from a commercial flight flying overhead:

I honestly can't say anything other than, those people are fucking idiots. I really hope someone will step up and get a grip on the situation soon.

glad to see that safety standards and precautions are so good then...

This comment might have been funny a day after the spill had happened. 

Tens of thousands of barrels of oil are pumping into the Gulf per day, and this has been going on for over a month.  You can find oil on the coast from Louisiana to bits of Florida.  It's also starting to hit the beaches of Cuba, a country who's incredibly weak economy is propped up almost solely by tourism.

Americans should refuse to buy oil as a protest. They should make the company suffer by using bicycles and public transport.

pig's may fly...

That would be what a true American who is keen on protesting against this unforgiveable act would undertake.

OMG what have they done to that poor bird!

As far as I can tell, the trouble is that due to the nature of the incredibly deep well, plus the sheer size of the spill, there's very little that can be done to contain it, either at the source or on the waves. Your only chance to really deal with the problem is before it happens, and obviously the safety protocols weren't sufficient (or they weren't followed, and therefore the oversight wasn't sufficient).

There needs to be a freeze on deep-ocean drilling until the source of the problem can be identified and safety can be assured. Fortunately, a project off the coast of Newfoundland was just halted so that safety and oversight requirements can be increased in light of the Gulf spill. Until last week, Chevron was still greenlit to drill a well a full kilometer deeper than the Gulf of Mexico well.

My main concern is that even tighter regulations might not assure safety. What if the occasional natural gas blowout is the price of harvesting oil from the deep oceans? Are we going to be willing to just walk away from all that energy?

I think the Governments been a bit light and a bit too hands off because BP Is a Democrat Oil Company. (Obama got more of their money then anybody.)

I'm kinda surprised nobody actually developed countermeasures to stop such a thing for when it occured.  This kinda of stuff I'd think is inevitable.