BP and Transocean has illegally spewed more than 100 million gallons of oil and other toxic pollutants into the Gulf of Mexico on April, making it the worst oil crisis EVER in the United States of America.

Just when it seems like BP can't sink much lower comes news that BP's poised to begin a massive, risky, never-before-tried drilling project in the waters off Alaska.

Today's New York Times broke the story in a major front-page expose on the energy giant's plans to drill this fall in the Arctic's fragile waters. There was supposed to be a moratorium on new offshore drilling projects, but BP found a way around that.

"The project, called Liberty, would include a dicey technique of drilling two miles beneath the sea and then up to eight miles horizontally -- all under enormous pressure in a pristine sea that would be devastated by an oil spill". The project already has its state and federal permits, but BP still has to apply for its final permit to drill, which is expected later this year.

"It makes no sense," Rebecca Noblin, the Center's Alaska director, told the Times. "BP pushes the envelope in the Gulf and ends up causing a moratorium. And now, in the Arctic they are forging ahead again with untested technology, and as a result they're the only ones left being allowed to drill there."

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is considering opening vast new areas of the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico to offshore oil exploration.

source: endangerd earth online