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A boat makes its way through crude oil that has leaked from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico on April 28, 2010 near New Orleans, Louisiana.

An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is five times larger than previously thought, and threatens to reach the Louisiana coast by Friday. An estimated 5,000 barrels a day is pouring into the Gulf near the site of a British Petroleum rig that exploded last week, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead. As cleanup crews work to contain and burn off the oil that covers an area 600 miles wide, how will the spill affect the environment and fishing industry? And what will be the political impact on offshore drilling?

Guests:

Ralph Portier, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Toxicology, The School of the Coast & Environment at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Donald M. Baltz, Professor and Chair of Oceonography and Coastal Sciences, The School of the Coast & Environment at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Peter Lehner, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council

Kenneth Green, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute