"It is the first time Indigenous people have sued a multinational corporation in the country where the crime was committed and won," says a watchdog group.

Chevron has announced that it plans to file an application for deepwater drilling permits in the Gulf. But while the oil giant doesn't have the abysmal safety record of BP, we should still be wary.

The oil giant dumps its first--and largest--deposit in the escrow account set up to compensate for the spill. So will Gulf residents get paid now?

In possibly the worst incidence of deja vu in recent memory, BP says that it still might drill in the massive oil reservoir where the Deepwater Horizon leak unleashed over 4 million gallons of oil.

There may no longer be oil seeping into the ocean off Louisiana's coast, but the damage is done. And the cleanup process will be expensive, lengthy, and detrimental to the Gulf economy, according to a report (PDF) from Oxford Economics.

The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster may, believe it or not, give a boost to our ailing economy. Because while the six-month moratorium on new offshore drilling and the negative impacts on fishing and tourism in the Gulf will undoubtedly put a damper on the GDP, the temporary industry of cleanup workers could offset any losses--and perhaps even outweigh them. Does it matter?

The inspiring lecture series tackles the unfolding oil-spill disaster.