Are they stupid or are they evil?

A government panel said Thursday that the gash in the ocean floor left by the burned-out Deepwater Horizon oil rig may be leaking up to 50,000 barrels per day. U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt, who is coordinating the estimates, said the most credible daily flow rate is 20,000 to 40,000 barrels a day.

Thursday was at least the fourth time since the disaster began April 20, when the rig exploded and killed 11 workers, that BP or the government has dramatically raised the estimate of leakage from the site. BP originally said that the leakage was about 1,000 barrels per day.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-06-11-oil-spill_N.htm

First, the oil company and the administration told us that 1,000 barrels per day of crude oil were leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday, we were told it's up to 50,000 barrels per day.

Today's breaking news - -

A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."

Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, "I'm letting the document you have speak for itself."

In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/deepwater_horizon_secret_memo.html

Both the oil company and the Obama administration are either stupid or evil.

It's one or the other.

I'm assuming the oil company is evil and the administration is stupid.