Oil? Nitrogen Fertilizer? Choose Your Poison.

Ahh, youth.

Massive increase in dolphin deaths

Over 500 dolphins have washed up, dead, along the Gulf of Mexico since last year’s Deepwater Horizon cataclysm caused by BP. While scientists are not sure why so many dolphins have suddenly become prey, en masse, to an infection that has historically affected only a dolphin every now and then, inquiries are focusing on the effects of millions of gallons of crude oil that gushed into the Gulf last year before the well was mostly closed. One report says 580 dolphins have died, with newborns being most seriously affected.

They might also consider its effect in concert with the effects of the tons of nitrogen fertilizer that are washed down the Mississippi from farmlands every year, that have caused a huge dead zone (six to seven thousand square miles) in the Gulf that cannot support life. Obviously, this is not just a concern to environmentalists, but also to fishermen and women whose livelihoods depend on harvesting shrimp and other sea life.

Did I mention that BP was just given a new permit to drill in the Gulf? Yessirree.