By Cathryn Castle Whitman
Given its location, some have likened this disaster to Hurricane Katrina, but the analogy doesn’t hold water. True, humans were responsible for what happened to New Orleans in that, for decades, politicians and other decision-makers were warned about the sorry state of the city’s crumbling levy system. But, ultimately, it was Mother Nature who put those events into play. This time it’s different. Mother Nature has little to do with the environmental havoc making its way to shore, aside from creating the crude oil in the first place. This debacle was brought to us entirely by the platform owners Transocean and BP, who convinced government officials that they could easily manage the worst-case scenario of a blown well several thousand feet deep on the sea floor – despite the fact that they didn’t have a proven, fail-safe plan in place before the drilling began.
If the spill creeps its way down the Florida Loop Current and has an impact on my home here in the Florida Keys, a local disaster unlike anything anyone has ever seen or imagined could result. The possibility that this already stressed ecosystem could be dealt a punch it might never recover from in our lifetime is an idea that I don’t believe I’ve yet fully grasped. It’s just too horrible to seriously consider.
But let’s be honest. Certainly, after any disaster, as much energy is put into assessing blame as in responding to the actual emergency. And, make no mistake; both BP and Transocean make excellent targets. Yet to find the primary culprit responsible for the spill we have to look in the mirror. In my view, this mess was caused by hubris, assuming that we had a technical capability that, as events have shown, we clearly don’t. (And let’s not forget that government officials signed off on this project, too.) It’s likely that, while serious, the incident might be all over by now had it happened in shallower water. The heart of the issue is that, unlike their promises otherwise, BP and Transocean couldn’t handle the technical challenge of the depth. The assumption that responding to an emergency 500 feet below the surface was no different than 5,000 feet clearly was a foolish and costly mistake.
So, the question must be asked, why are companies pushing the technological envelope so far? The reason is no secret; it’s our addiction to oil. It’s clear that we won’t get serious about weaning from the petroleum teat until we have to pay for it.
We’ve gotten used to paying at the gas pump, but soaring fuel prices don’t seem to put a dent in our addiction. Now the price has skyrocketed yet again – only this time the currency has changed. Can we really afford to pay for our oil dependency at the expense of fragile coastal ecosystems?
I am utterly sick about this environmental mess and the fiasco that it has become. But hey, the libs have forced us to drill off land and way off shore, into the hands of the feds who have (or should have) control and oversight over how we conduct drilling, especially out there, so there is plenty of blame to go around.
ReplyDeleteHopefully when this is done it will have forced us to prepare for the worst so that if this ever happens again, not a drop of oil will ever reach shore. We don't have to stop drlling. We have containment technology and just need the contingency plans and enough resources always standing by.
STOP DRILLING NOW! Shut everything down. If we buy all of our oil from the mideast so what. If it causes pain and hardship to people and the economy, and it forces us to move much faster to renewable wind, solar, hydro, so be it. There is no gain that comes without pain. In a hundred years we will look back with thanks. In the meantime look what our corporate greed and unquenchable thirst for oil has done.
ReplyDeleteHey Louise,
ReplyDeleteLet's destroy the world economy and go back to our caves? The either-or arguments, from both sides, are ridiculous. Unfortunately right now, oil fuels the world. Obviously we have to relieve our dependence. We've been working on alternative energy since the crisis of the 70's. It ain't there quite yet. As technology advances it will be. Perhaps massive incentives should be put in place to help move it along. In the meantime to stay energy independent we cannot just stop producing our own. It has to happen in stages and that's what needs to be incentivised and planned out and managed. It may be a longer term effort than you who are on the far left ecologically want, but when the technology and will and patience and practicality come together it will be the revolution you want. And it won't destroy the economy in the process.
Hopefully we can all agree that this is a disaster from which it will take decades to recover.
ReplyDeleteAnd I suspect we can all agree that the US economy (as well as the industrialized world's economies) is dependent on oil. Like it or not, oil has enabled the success of our country and our economic system.
The left eco-radicals have crippled us by restricting nuclear power, borning coal, and drilling for oil where it currently is on land. This disaster is a gift from heaven for people like Louis Q - now we can also stop drilling offshore if he has his way.
Sure, we would all like to think that solar power and wind power are the magic solutions to our problem - and that they are just around thr corner.
But the sad fact is that neither are economically feasible now, and probably will not be for many generations to come.
My solution? Let's have a national poll with just one question - do you favor drill-baby-drill or not.
For all who vote no, then we can ration their gasoline, cut off their air conditioning, and encourage them to heat their home with solar power. Let them go without all of the goods that oil brings...the food they eat is fertilized with fertilizer made with oil, everything they own got to them by truck, train, or air...all depending on oil. They will have to forgo future dive vacations, since they can't fly without oil.
To Carolyn Whitman --- yep, this is a HUGE problem, and yes, it is a darned shame that it happened.
Get your liberal friends to back off, let us build nuclear power plants (here's a fact for you, Ms Whitman...in our great country, fewer people have died in nuclear power accidents than have died it Ted Kennedy's car...pretty incredible record, right?)
Get your friends to back off on burning coal - with today's technology it is amazingly clean, especially when you consider it in light of the Gulf oil spill. We have hundreds of years of coal in the ground - just let us mine and burn it.
Get your friends to invert THEIR money in developing solar and wind power. I'd be thrilled if every liberal got rich by bringing a new idea to market. But stop taxing me so you can "tilt at windmills" as it were.
The problem is in the extremes. Always in the extremes
ReplyDeletewe had the chance to do something remarkable in the 70's - and we did nothing, nor are we really doing anything now...using food crops to make a fuel that cost more fuel to make than it produces.
ReplyDeleteSadly we will not do anything this go round, except whine a little more and pay a few dollars more for a tank of fuel.
The real cost of oil/gas will never be accounted for. Build nuke plants and cut back on lighting buildings for the sake of lighting buildings
I have been an environmentalist since long before the word was invented in the early 1970's. And, I have tried to walk softly on Mother Earth my whole life. I live without air conditioning, ride the bus, and drive only when necessary. To me, the BP blowout is a horrifying desecration. I have waited for safer alternative fuels and "Star Trek" energy solutions for 40 years. Frankly, I've lost hope that they will ever happen.
ReplyDeleteSolar, wind, wave, tide, ocean thermal energy conversion, geothermal, and hydropower will never be able to generate enough electricity to power the big cities of Earth. Since the melt-down at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, no one wants to live next to a nuclear power plant.
As for alternative fuels, Mother Earth doesn't have enough land and fresh water to grow enough grain to make enough ethanol and biodiesel to replace petroleum, as well as feed the 6.8 billion people on Her. And natural gas and hydrogen come from oil wells.
Even if everyone gave up their personal cars, all the buses, trucks, and trains burn diesel, as do all the ships, except for out nuclear subs and aircraft carriers. Jet aircraft burn JP fuel.
Mankind will always be dependent on, and drilling for oil until Mother Earth and we are all extinct. So we damn well better learn to do it better, safer, and cleaner, as well as learning to fix problems and clean up accidents in an effective manner.
Most of all, I'm really sick of the political propaganda on all sides. It's time we all suck it up, face reality, and do whatever is necessary to get it all done.
It'd be nice if comments here were limited to the question asked in the poll and not a slam on someone else's comment. A little respect goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteAs to the poll, I do not believe we should discontinue offshore drilling, but we must have a better safety net in place for containment in the future.
When disaster strikes in other countries we are among the first to respond and send aid and manpower to address the problem. Why in the world, when this disaster hit us at home, did we refuse the help and technology from other countries? They have been standing by for two months while our government refused the help??? Another very serious manifisation of what is wrong with our current politicians.
ReplyDeleteWhats up with our President? Does he not care about the US in any way! I say no. There is no urgency here. Why ? We need to make BP pay for this in more ways than just money. Send BP and any other oil company that wont put into place emergency responces that would prevent these kinds of disasters or get out of US waters period. Yes I know that they are providing jobs for some US citizens but is it worth it to lose an complete job industry and Eco system for a few jobs?
ReplyDeleteIsn't today's BP the amalgam of British Petroleum and AMOCO. Makes no sense drawing that line in the sane because it holds no water. BP is not a British company. Let's be careful where we throw our stones now.
ReplyDeleteWS
I sent this recently who quite literally dislikes President Obama and how a "review letter" in regard to the oil riggers lost jobs if they shut down these deep water well until a better plan is conceived, implemented and utilized. I believe this was forwarded to me to light me up. This was my reply... very similar to yours:
ReplyDeleteYes... this was a good read. I do have much sympathy for all of those directly or indirectly affected by this horrible, horrible situation. Many more that this letter paints. Life is full of unsung heroes in every aspect of it. And most are paid well (exception for the police, in high crime cities) for the dangers they encounter everyday. These are their choices. This is their love. The coal miners, the fishermen, the military, etc. We have all lost and will continue to lose something from this for a long time.
The fact of the matter is what the government was told by BP and others that the technology is there and the chances are small this would ever happen. AND if it did it wouldn't amount to much and would be a "manageable discharge". Well guess what.. it did happen. Guess what again... it's clearly not very manageable. Did anyone of these heroes ever blow the available whistle...no. They were all so disturbed and should have been by these demands, but no one said anything to those that needed telling? They all still had jobs.They were all making too much money to care... until now. Now they're whining. There are literally hundreds of deep water rigs sucking the earth dry. They all have their sipping straw in planet earth and they ALL make record setting multi-billion $$ profits every quarter, with Exxon leading the pack. Is anyone (BP) asking them for help or even more questionable, are they offering any...
This wasn't caused or accelerated by our government and most certainly NOT Pres. Obama. He's on a slippery slope with this. He jumped in and put a moratorium on these deep water wells. He wanted to take a step back and THINK (something many past Presidents failed to do) He wanted to find out exactly whats going on, who's to blame and what really caused this. Frankly I would have done the same thing. Shut 'em down till we know where to go with it. Is it worth it?? hell yes!
There are Feds scattered about these rigs... regulators, if you will. But they too fall prey to the disgusting human trait of greed, entitlement and collusion. They too can be bought and those that don't play are eliminated from the game. Greed is in our genes. It's in our blood, our DNA... just like war. It's been going on since man was created, or evolved, and will continue well past our existence. Now these guys, families, workers, and such, complain about too much Government regulation, but then ask where the regulation is when the shit hits the fan. Where's the money... where's the help? They can't have it both ways.
These Tea party wackos are the ones that cry the most when the "regulations" are felt. When they believe or perceive that their rights are being taken away. Most of them don't even have a clue on how they actually got these alienable rights. Many of these geniuses have demanded they just nuke it, torpedo it, dynamite it, C4, "just blow the damn thing up" when they have absolutely no clue about the environment down 5000 ft. The American nuclear submarine, the Seawolf Class, has a test depth of about 1500' and literally crushes at about 2500'. This well is at a depth where a torpedo would crush at about 2000 ft on its way down. Where a nuclear bomb would produce a mere burp. Where the water temperature is well below freezing.
This greed and entitlement in our DNA and the mirror is the first place to be looking! Gotta have it and gotta have it now... mine... mine... mine!
Let's face it... you just can't wake those pretending to be asleep.
Stu
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The earth provides enough to satisfy every mans' needs... but not enough for his greed.