Although the leak has been stopped and even if no oil escapes for 48 hours, the flow of oil and gas has not been stopped permanently. If the pressure within the cap on top is low, it may mean that oil is leaking out further down the well.

This past Monday night’s Town Commission meeting was another meaningless convergence; an exercise in futility. The agenda consisted of 14 items, all of which could have been confronted and decided in one hour.

As BP continues to be criticized for the way it has responded to the Gulf oil spill, its American-born chief operating officer is again making the case that the British company is doing all it can. And, Doug Suttles tells NPR’s Melissa Block, the entire oil industry and the government will learn valuable lessons from the disaster.

Mote scientists have completed a round of environmental sampling designed to provide a “before” snapshot of Southwest Florida’s coastal and marine habitats, should there be an “after” caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The economic damage caused by BP’s Gulf oil spill is now impacting Longboat Key and Sarasota even though no crude oil has yet arrived. “Home Closing Mired in Crude,” was the headline in Sunday’s Sarasota Herald Tribune. It seems crude oil is not only destroying wetlands and beaches in Louisiana and Alabama but, as the Tribune noted, also affecting the economy of areas as yet untouched by oil.

Longboat Key Captain Wayne Genthner is concerned that Sarasota’s Oil Spill Response Plan will not be enough. “We need a Plan B, a better than BP Plan B. The booms are failing to protect Pensacola Sound because they are not engineered to withstand the current. We need better booms with better resistance to current,” said Genthner.

“Waldo,” an underwater robot launched by Mote Marine Laboratory to patrol for oil and oil dispersant in Southwest Florida waters, was re-launched Tuesday, June 15, off Sarasota, after Mote Marine Laboratory scientists replaced the robot’s satellite transmitter, which had failed to “phone home.”

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, filed a bill this week that would remove a cap on financial liability for oil companies responsible for accidents. The current law limits financial damages to $75 million for companies responsible for a spill.

While BP, the Obama Administration and the national news media take turns pointing fingers and prognosticating the ultimate impact of the ongoing oil disaster, area businesses are quickly taking action to protect their bottom line exposure to the incident.

If you believe in Darwin, as I do, then you are persuaded that man has evolved onto the highest step in the animal kingdom, thanks largely to his magnificent brain and to oppositional thumbs.