29/07/2010

Available for over a year

One hundred days of grim headlines, of horrid pictures and of politicians scrambling to look angry and concerned. One hundred days since an explosion on an oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed eleven workers and ripped a hole in an oil well 5,000 feet beneath the sea surface. At its worst, the leak was spewing out 19,000 barrels of crude a day. On this week's One Planet we get the latest from Louisiana from our environment correspondent David Shukman. Mike then debates the future of global energy production with a panel of guests - three people with very different takes on the BP disaster. Author Richard Heinberg explains why he's keen to see this incident act as a wake up call for America to wean itself off oil; Thomas Pyle from the Institute for Energy Research fears a knee jerk reaction from law makers that will overburden the industry with regulation; and Mike's also joined by Sarah Emerson, president of Energy Security Analysis, who suspects the incident will be forgotten about by those in Washington come Christmas. As ever we want to hear your views - email the team at [email protected]. Or send us a postcard. Our address is One Planet, BBC World Service, Bush House, London. Also in this week's show, Mike spring cleans the One Planet office as the team get ready for a short break off air. And as we shovel piles of paper into the recycling bins, it's time to ask whatever happened to the idea of a paperless office? Jo Fidgen finds out for us. Finally we look back at some of the most memorable moments from the past series. The team will be in and out of One Planet HQ over the next few weeks, so if you want to follow events here, remember you can join the team on Facebook, the link's below. Mike will be back with the usual One Planet from the start of September, do join us then. Have a happy August.