Environmental disaster looms as Gulf oil spill reaches shore

More on the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from today’s Globe and Mail:

The oil slick could become the nation’s worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez in scope. It imperils hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world’s richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life.

“It is of grave concern,” David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press about the spill. “I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling.”

This is an excellent example of the kinds of externalized costs that make the true cost of energy production from oil staggeringly high.