Mississippi GOP Governor "Oil? What Oil?"

www.huffingtonpost.com...

The biggest problem facing Mississippi in the wake of a massive oil spill in the Gulf isn't tarred beaches or ecological waste, the state's governor Haley Barbour said on Sunday. It's the national press corps, which, he asserted, is inflating the disaster's current impact and, as a result, decimating the state's tourism industry.

In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, the Mississippi Republican veered as close as any elected politician could to insisting that the biggest oil spill in the history of this country had been overblown -- at least when it comes to his state.

"The truth is," he said, "we have had virtually no oil. If you were on the Mississippi Gulf coast anytime in the last 48 days you didn't see any oil at all. We have had a few tar balls but we have had tar balls every year, as a natural product of the Gulf of Mexico. 250,000 to 750,000 barrels of oil seep into the Gulf of Mexico through the floor every year. So, tar balls are no big deal. In fact, I read that Pensacola or the Florida beaches when they have tar balls yesterday didn't even close. They just sent people out to pick them up and

Well, any Mississippi ATSers wanna post pics and prove or disprove what this guy says?

It's becoming harder and harder to figure out what's information and what's spin. If I had to go with my gut on this one, I'd call shenanigans. Hold up the rug, sweep the oil under it, turn around and smile saying "welcome to Mississippi!! No refunds on accommodations!! Since the smell of crude is making you sick, visit our air quality controlled gift shop!"

I'm in MS. I was on the coast (Biloxi/Gulfport) yesterday, and the beaches looked just like they always do. There's no oil on the horizon or anything like that, and I didn't notice any tar-balls, or strange smells in the air. That isn't really the point in my opinion, though. The governor was being honest about the state's tourism industry taking a hit, but I think playing down the impact of this disaster is just about the most embarrassing thing he could have done.

Honestly, the governor's a big-business GOP member. Right now, the oil is hurting the environment, and small businesses. The oil-spill's PR is hurting the Casinos.

My real worry is that we're entering hurricane season, and a decent hurricane will pick up tons of oil and spread the disaster far and wide, possibly even onto land. A hurricane like Katrina with all of that oil out there would be an unmitigated environmental nightmare, and would also obliterate the Gulf's economy.