In the midst of a catastrophic oil spill, one might expect more pessimism from environmentalists than oil executives—especially when BP's plan to remedy the spill consists, roughly, of capping the leak with a gigantic dome with a straw on top. But desperate times call for radical solutions and a number of green advocates are putting their hopes behind the giant-dome strategy. Compare their opinions to that of Bob Fryer, a senior executive at BP: "This has never been done before. Typically you would put odds on something that has been done before." Here's what others are saying after the jump:

• We're Rooting for the Dome, writes Michael Richard at Treehugger: "If everything goes according to plan, this dome should help contain the spill and allow ships on the surface to siphon the oil... Let's hope that this works."

• 'Giant Dome for Gulf Oil Leak Is Next Best Solution' reads a headline at the liberal news site Salon. The article calls it the "best short-term solution" for bottling up the disastrous spill.

• This Could Actually Work, says Gregory McCormack, an oil expert at the University of Texas: "There is no reason to believe that these structures will not work as well in deep water as in shallow water. They need to be able to be placed directly over the leak so that the oil will rise to the surface. Any obstruction that prevents this placement will be a problem. Severe weather could handicap both the placement and oil recovery operations."

• All Bets Are... On  For those looking to profit off the success or failure of the dome, the betting site bookmaker.com has set the odds:

IT WILL REDUCE THE FLOW BY 80 PERCENT           +100                    

WILL REDUCE THE FLOW BY LESS THAN 80 PERCENT         -500                     

IT WILL STOP THE LEAK ALL TOGETHER    +1000                  

IT WILL MAKE THE LEAK WORSE                 +500                    

[The +/- Indicates the Return on the Wager.]

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John Hudson