Saturday, May 1, 2010

drowning in oil

There are a lot of risks when it comes to offshore drilling. From endangering people in a high risk job to endangering the environment if a serious accident occurs, offshore drilling is still legal and on the rise since the Obama administration opened up more shores for drilling two weeks ago.

In this incident specifically, the British Petroleum Company was drilling in the Gulf of Mexico when an improperly capped oil well exploded and killed 11 people last week. Since that day on April 20th, the well continues to feed the ocean roughly 5000 gallons of toxic oil per day. Not only did they lack proper safety precautions but they also don't have a clue how to stop the oil in case of an emergency. As of yesterday the spill has covered nearly 4000 square miles of the ocean's surface.

Offshore drilling would increase domestic production and supporters argue that this would significantly lower the price at the pumps. But at what cost? This could just be another case of one step forward, two steps back. We'd have more gasoline at better prices, but would we be hindering the technological development of hydrogen and electric vehicles while increasing the impact on the environment with carbon emissions and oil spills? There is also no saying how much lower the gas prices would be, if they would change at all.

Perhaps if people had more of an emotional connection to marine life this debate wouldn't be happening. Unfortunately the image of a Gannet drenched in oil doesn't have nearly same poignancy of a puppy or kitten drenched in oil. And certainly it's not poignant enough to turn back time on this issue by disallowing offshore drilling in the first place.


http://www.oilism.com/oil/2007/12/28/the-biggest-oil-spills-in-history/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7113915.ece
http://watchingthewatchers.org/indepth/1357122/obama-decides-go-ahead-offshore
http://fotosa.ru/stock_photo/Balance/p_2913668.jpg

6 comments:

  1. This is really horrible but if they do not cap this quick we are going to have a major, major catastrophe.

    The Gulf supplies 70% of our shellfish and shrimp not to speak of the rest of the horror there. Just wait! If this gets to the Gulf stream and moves up the Atlantic coast past main to Canada next is Norway and Europe. They better cap it quickly period!

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  2. The addition of your voice advocating for our environment is quite timely. The Gulf disaster is more and more heartbreaking as it worsens beyond anything we've ever witnessed.

    Good for you, to speak out.

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  3. Thank you both for your concerns! I agree that this disaster is one of incredulous proportions. Its effects are going to potentially bridge generations and even decimate precious species forever. The fact that it continues to flow is depressing.

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  4. Hi Antonia! This really is going to be all planetary all life changing. Why this happened really irks me but I will shut up!

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  5. No, I would love to hear why you're irked!

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  6. Antonia people keep telling me to forget about Cheney and Bush as they are gone. However as I keep saying, we will never be able to forget them.

    We will be living with their destructive militaristic oil legacy for decades at least but centuries if we are around that long.

    This is no exception! I noticed this morning that Rove said this gulf oil gusher is Obama's Katrina. I have to agree but Bush and Cheney created it.

    This is factual and right on! Bush Cheney and the energy czars

    All inspections of drilling and platforms stopped in 2001. Obama's mistake was not re instituting them instantly. Failure to do so could have been outside influence as I suspect.

    This resultant nightmare is just beginning, will be planetary life changing in many respects, And is another one of their destructive legacies.

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