In a stretch, EPA chief compares oil spill size to Great Lakes

Could the Gulf oil spill influence the Great Lakes off shore wind debate? Photo: NASA

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson name-dropped the Great Lakes recently while checking out the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a Los Angeles Times blog post, Jackson flew over the spill and later said at a meeting in New Orleans that “it’s like all five of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes are oil sheen.”

It’s good to know that the lakes are still on Jackson’s mind throughout this disaster, but her comparison is a bit of a stretch.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that the spill is roughly the size of Puerto Rico, which has a total land area of around 3,500 square miles. That’s only around 4.3 percent of the Great Lakes’ surface area of 80,500 square miles.

But the point is well taken: The spill is big.

So big that it would be a shame to waste the opportunity to drum up support for clean energy alternatives, argues Grist’s Jonathan Hiskes.

Wind energy in the Great Lakes has seen its share of controversy recently, from Lake Ontario to Lake Michigan. Could an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico sway the Great Lakes’ not-in-my-back-yard crowd?