

Gulf Oil Spill Solution -- a YC Collaborative solution - jaekwon

.<p>I think YCombinator provides a near optimal interface for discussion if you use it right. Let's try to use it for something constructive.<p>I was reading about the current Oil Spill crisis, and noticed that Google's special discussion page was shut down even though the problem isn't solved! (http://www.google.com/moderator/#15/e=68c8&#38;t=68c8.41) In fact, recent news states that all plans so far have failed, and we're reverting to an older solution (that didn't work). Any developer knows what that means -- we're <i>really</i> in the gutter now.<p>Call me naive and hopeful, but I think YCombinator forum's superior simple interface w/ the creative minds here can help solve this crisis. To help with the Oil Spill crisis with constructive discourse, just follow the special rules below when posting. The reason for all these rules is to collaboratively hack the hacker-news system to work like a collaboration system.<p><pre><code>  1. Keep posts here Short and Factual

  2. Questions should be bulleted with numbers

  3. Please Answer questions if you can, prepended with the
     bullet number

  4. Note Citations on the bottom of your post

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     a new and better post can't climb up later

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     rants), below 0 is OK. (maybe YC can prune these later)

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</code></pre>
The top posts are categorical, so make sure you're posting in the right category!
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jaekwon
Technical / Physical Questions

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jaekwon
Specifically in the case of the Gulf, why is there so much pressure in the
reserves?

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jaekwon
Potential / Partial Solutions

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jaekwon
Stop using Corexit and chemical dispersants.

1\. Dispersants to "treat" spills in the ocean is unprecedented

2\. The EPA / scientists are concerned about long term environmental effects

3\. Even the CEO of Nalco doesn't endorse this strategy, while the company is
still selling Corexit

Sources

1\. [http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/05/28/28greenwire-we-
have-...](http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/05/28/28greenwire-we-have-nothing-
to-hide-oil-dispersant-maker-s-42602.html)

2\.
[http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.p...](http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x539709)

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jaekwon
Media, News, Resources

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jaekwon
1\. Google endorsed "Crisis Response" page
<http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/>

2\. Google Moderator for the oil spill
[http://www.google.com/moderator/#15/e=68c8&t=68c8.41](http://www.google.com/moderator/#15/e=68c8&t=68c8.41)

