Don't Shoot the Messenger

Of course it was probably too good to be true...according to a CNN.com article by John Sutter, Samantha Joye and another scientist published a memo saying that three-quarters of the oil spilled into the Gulf -- about 3 million barrels -- remains in the ecosystem. It's out of sight and perhaps out of mind, she says, but it's not gone.

This contradicts an earlier report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The government's "oil budget," which was based on observations and calculated estimates, was interpreted as saying as much as three-quarters of the oil is essentially gone, also according to CNN.com

But some people want to shoot the messenger. One jerk wrote her as such: ""You WANTED an ecological disaster and when it didn't happen you are literally willing to do or say anything to make it look like there was one," one person wrote.

She's a scientist and they're supposed to ask questions and she's asking good ones that no one has answered yet (like Where's the methane? What happens with the oxygen? How fast is the oil being degraded?) She's also defending the ocean. In general, that gets a shout out from Eco Ocean.

I know people are probably sick of bad news about the Gulf and none to happy to embrace the "good news" from the government, but the debate is healthy and the full story has yet been told. People like Samantha are doing good work. Let's withhold judgment until time and sound science give us the full picture.

Read the whole CNN.com story here.