Description:"The complete story of the devastating BP oil spill of 2010. The author puts forward an objective account of what happened, a documentation of the true costs, not the hyperbolic costs, and an explanation of the science and business of the spill and its remediation"-- Part I: History -- A brief history of oil spills -- -Arabian Gulf -- -Ixtoc I -- -Atlantic Empress -- -Fergana Valley -- -ABT Summer -- -Nowruz Field Platform -- -Catillo de Bellver -- -- Amoco Cadiz -- -- MT Haven -- -Odyssey -- -- Sea Star -- -- Morris J. Berman -- -- Irenes Serenade -- -- Urquila -- -- Torrey Canyon -- -- Montara -- Part II: The industry -- Various ways to extract oil -- Where does oil come from? -- -- early extraction and shallow well -- -- offshore drilling -- -- deep sea drilling -- -- the complication of combined oil and gas at pressure -- -- the risks in perspective of drilling, transportation, refining, distribution, and consumption -- Part III: What happened -- The Macondo spill -- -- history of the Macondo oil reservoir -- -- events leading up to the fire and spill -- -- partners in the spill -- -- early BP response -- -- U.S. Federal government response -- -- the science of determining the spill rate -- Part IV: The media -- For all the world to see -- -- the first example of transparency at the ocean's floor -- -- a spill in clear view -- -- the role of the media -- -- an assumption of moral responsibility -- -- the public face of BP -- -- 24 hour news cycle -- Part V: The science -- Engineering a solution -- -- what went wrong -- -- five contributing factors and their implications -- -- the effectiveness of various solutions -- -- deep sea dispersants -- -- the new phenomenon of subsea plumes -- -- when engineering meets politics -- Part VI: Politics -- A parallel political agenda -- -- a stalled U.S. energy bill -- -- concessions to offshore drilling in return for a filibuster proof energy bill -- -- a moratorium on drilling -- -- finger pointing -- -- Congress extracts a pound of flesh -- -- time to talk tough, heads must role -- Part VII: Business -- The market response -- -- loss of value of BP stock -- -- exaggerated claims of cost and liability -- -- promise to pay all legitimate claims -- -- the $20B solution -- -- a special master and his scope -- -- talk of bankruptcy, merger and acquisition -- Part VIII:- The fix -- Capping and abating the spill -- -- a final solution -- -- the cleanup effort -- -- long term effects -- -- direct and indirect costs -- -- the human toll -- -- the effectiveness of compensation -- Part IX: The law -- A complicated legal landmine -- -- statutory liability -- -- the Jones Act -- -- Who's in charge -- -- new laws in Congress can't be retroactive -- -- maritime oil spill law -- -- shareholder and class action suits -- Part X: Our role -- The world's insatiable need for energy and hydrocarbon based fuels -- -- we are all part of the problem -- -- past consumption -- -- demand from emerging nations -- -- future prospects -- -- all the easy oil has been tapped -- -- the economics of alternatives to hydrocarbons -- Part XI: -- Conclusion -- Where to go from here