Some people are actually dumb enough to believe that this Oil Gusher isn't a big deal.

Just one question --

EXPLAIN THIS!

Class D felony for snapping pictures of the cleanup? WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO HIDE?

There is 0% chance that BP is being honest about this. Absolutely zero percent.

It's no wonder that people are left to dream up doomsday scenarios that will result from this catastrophe. A) If it wasn't apocalyptic, BP wouldn't be so secretive B) Nothing like this has ever happened before.

Coast Guard Bans Reporters from Oil Cleanup Sites
July 6th, 2010

Flashback: U.S. COAST GUARD THREATENED CBS NEWS CREW WITH ARREST FOR FILMING OIL SPILL DISASTER; COAST GUARD SAID THAT THEY WERE ACTING UNDER AUTHORITY OF BRITISH PETROLEUM; “THIS IS BP RULES. IT’S NOT OURS.”

Via: Raw Story:

Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week.

It’s a move that outraged observers have decried as an attack on First Amendment rights. And CNN’s Anderson Cooper describes the new rules as making it “very easy to hide incompetence or failure.”

The Coast Guard order states that “vessels must not come within 20 meters [65 feet] of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law.”

But since “oil spill response operations” apparently covers much of the clean-up effort on the beaches, CNN’s Anderson Cooper describes the rule as banning reporters from “anywhere we need to be.”

A “willful” violation of the new rule could result in Class D felony charges, which carry a penalty of one to five years in prison under federal law.