A recent advertisement by the oil industry showing how a single platform can drill multiple holes, so we don't have to look at multiple oil rigs is nice, but given this disaster, can you imagine the destruction and harm to the environment if an oil rig with 5 or more wells attached to it caught fire and sank. The oil spill and resulting harm would be astronomical.
Yes, we do need to drill off shore for the short term to continue our energy consumption needs. But we must concentrate on replacing oil with renewable energy sources to power our transportation system and not decline our productivity and standard of living. I'm not ready to move back into a cave and burn wood for energy.
It is unfortunate that prior administrations depleted the national and state Treasuries to pay for a tax cut to the wealthiest individuals, one necessary, but prolonged war and one un-necessary war and an unfunded entitlement program (Medicare Part D). We now lack the economic resources to create incentives that would fast track the development of new types of energy, i.e. sun, wind, solar, ocean tidal, geothermal, hydrogen, natural gas, etc. We also face the political resistance of the oil industry to change their business model to these other energy sources. Oil has been very profitable and as supplies decline, it will be even more profitable. There is no good business reason to shift their focus and preserve what oil reserves are left for future generations. There are many products that come from oil besides energy, and we need to preserve what's left of our reserves to continue to produce these other products, such as drugs, plastics, chemicals, etc.
We do need to develop bio-energy resources without reducing food production, as there is huge demand for both. We must manage our agricultural land efficiently without depleting it as well. Bio-energy is also a way to provide economic stability to many third world countries if they can produce the plants that fuel the world. With that said, we do need to be careful not to become reliant on these countries for a majority of our energy consumption or we will end up in the same situation we are with the middle east countries and oil.
I'm of the age that the major impact on me will the the price for gas and other products from oil, as there is enough reserves through what's left of my lifetime. But the next generations will be without this valuable resource and cost will be huge, in both dollars and lives of solders fighting the wars to get access to the remaining oil reserves. These will be your grandchildren and great grandchildren sacrificing their lives for energy. Do we, the current adult generation, really want to leave that situation to them. I'm not that selfish.
They are estimating that it will cost 14 billion dollars to deal with this oil spill. However, a law passed by the George H. W. Bush Administration in 1990 after the Valdez spill limits an oil company's liability to 75 million dollars. There is a bill currently proposed to raise it to 10 billion, but will it be retroactive to this spill?
ReplyDeleteThis is a complicated issue, as the rig is owned by a separate company from BP. So both have liability. Some are saying that the government did not react soon enough, but in reality, it was BP's and the rig owner's responsibility to have a reactionary force trained and ready for such an event. When it became evident that it was beyond BP's resources, the federal government reacted, as best it can for something that is beyond our technological skill sets. The well head is a mile under water were no human can dive to and few submersibles can be close to it. Why the technologies that where to seal off the well head should something like this happened did not work is a critical issue to answer before any new deep water drilling is permitted.
The economic and ecological disaster will exceed far beyond the 14 billion estimate and will take more than two decades to deal with. After all it is BP that has profited from the oil with a 1st Qtr 2010 PROFIT of 4 BILLION dollars. We, the tax payer, should not be stuck with the billions it will cost to clean this mess up. This is a man made disaster, not nature, like an earthquake or hurricane.