The situation is bad enough without doomsday predictions.

Much of the reason for the confusion is that no one really knows the consequences of the oil volcano (I find the word spill inadequate) or how to fight it.
All methods being tried are palliative and/or experimental. Intersecting the well by drilling hopefully will work, but effects still will be evident for years even if the intersect drilling is successful.

Weak regulation by MMS,
unnecessary fears about oil shortage (fueled by bad politics),
drilling in advance of development of safe engineering technology,
failure to expand substitute means of generating energy (which will take years to become important contributors),
and a company(s) and investors (us!) with a cowboy attitude of damn the cautions, the pot of gold awaits,
all have contributed to the catastrophe.