I imagine that once the leak is fixed the politicians and the media will move on, leaving the fishing communities high and dry, and facing a marine ecosystem collapse similar to the aftermath of Exxon Valdez.
BP will probably do some extremely cursory and cosmetic amount of cleanup on a few beaches and then declare the Gulf of Mexico clean. I expect many of the compensation schemes promised will not materialize, or fall far short of expectations. Rather like in the financial sector, the profits will be privately accrued and the disasters left for the public to deal with.
It's also tourist communities, which are abundant on the gulf coast. They make most of their money in the same few months that oil is spilling and losing just one season has a huge impact.
We talked to a souvenir shop owner in Alabama who was on a [still] pristine beach but was down $50,000 already in the first month of his peak season. All the toursits thought his beach was oily and stayed away.
BP will probably do some extremely cursory and cosmetic amount of cleanup on a few beaches and then declare the Gulf of Mexico clean. I expect many of the compensation schemes promised will not materialize, or fall far short of expectations. Rather like in the financial sector, the profits will be privately accrued and the disasters left for the public to deal with.