Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and the Crude Economy...

This is almost as depressing as what is happening down here, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

This spill is going to kill our fishing industry. People need to eat.

Any good news regarding the blocking attempt?

Not Yet.

I will post here Monday morning.

They are now trying to block the leak with old golf balls and shredded tyres.

Chris N

The "Top Kill" effort failed.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
The "Top Kill" effort failed.

Sad but true,it's amazing they can use incredible technology to get the stuff out of the ground, but not to fix any problems.
Let's hope they sort it soon.

I just hope the leak gets plugged soon. It can't happen soon enough. I work for BP and he tragic loss of life and the huge environmental issues are just too awful. Lessons have to be learned to prevent this sort of tragedy happening again.

regards, Dev

Dev, I hope you are entirely uninvolved in the Alaska, Texas, and Gulf of Mexico f$#kups.

Phil Barry (who wishes he had not been a moderate in 1968)

quote:

Originally posted by Phil Barry:
Dev, I hope you are entirely uninvolved in the Alaska, Texas, and Gulf of Mexico f$#kups.

Phil Barry (who wishes he had not been a moderate in 1968)

Hi Phil

No I am not directly involved in any of them, but I did spend the first part of my 19 year career in BP working in Aberdeen so I understand the Exploration and Production world. I share everyone's concerns that about the terrible situation: I will be open and say the loss of life concerns me much much more than the spill, which will get remediated and cleaned up no doubt. No one should go to work not come home.

It's good to see the US Government working in collaboration with BP and the industry on this, despite the news statements from the Prez, that is what is happening on the ground, along with 1000's of volunteers.

regards Dev

There is one thing. At least this unfortunate accident happened to a major oil company who have the resources to mount this expensive clean up operation.
Just imagine what may have happened if it was one of the many "mom & pop" operators that work offshore in the Gulf.

none of the mom and pop operations are drilling in 5000 feet of water, the big boys are drilling in up to 10,000 feet of water.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
none of the mom and pop operations are drilling in 5000 feet of water, the big boys are drilling in up to 10,000 LN045179162US of water.

True. It would be easier to resolve if the water depth was shallower for sure. However, the higher the reward the higher the cost and the higher the risk.

Here is another interesting article showing why offshore oil production is so vital to the United States...


http://www.energybulletin.net/node/52965

Time to wake up!

Best,
BBM

Absolutely correct BBM. I suspect that the average punter has no comprehension of the scale of the fossil fuel industry and our dependence upon it. If we think a few wind-farms and solar cells on our rooftops are the answer, then we are deluded. In fact, there is no answer at all. Not that I can see anyway.

Our descendents are facing a global crisis as states increasingly to go to war over dwindling resources. Misery and suffering on an unimaginable scale. The fat lady has sung, I'm afraid.

Eventually, a much smaller human population will be left to try to maintain a toehold on an environmentally shattered and resource-depleted planet.

Whoa!

I have been saying that the population of today is unsustainable for a very long time - seven years on the forum, but for as I found out talking to an old friend recently more than 25 years!

I have will have no children. I would not will them to face what we leave for them to face.

Fortunately like you, dear winky, I am in my latter days being 48. I hope to survive, if in diminished conditions, my natural span due to old age. The next generation is going to face terror unprecedented.

By seventy years time the human population will be - in my view - between a fifth and twentieth of today's number. I have no wish to live to see the real bite of the catastrophe.

George

George

We are going to experience major problems with resource scarcity, and all that comes with it, far sooner than you seem to realize.

Here's an article that explains the predicament quite well...

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/52971

I wish Richard Heinberg was wrong, but I wouldn't bet on it...

Best,
BBM

For all my Christianity, I shall invest in a fatal dose of "Pheno-babiturates" - what the vets put animals down with - for myself, long before it becomes necessary to face off the end game, red in tooth and claw.

When oil cannot provide cheap nitrogen fertiliser, then the human population will soon slough off. Horrible but true.

ATB from George

[Frazer]Doomed, we're all doomed![/Frazer]

quote:

Originally posted by Svetty:
[Frazer]Doomed, we're all doomed![/Frazer]

You have to laugh.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
This is almost as depressing as what is happening down here, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

This spill is going to kill our fishing industry. People need to eat.

It's sad about your fishing industry, however there are plenty of healthy alternatives to eating animal flesh.

I imagine some fishermen now have some time on their hands, they should and I guess some are pitching in with the rescuing of god knows how much wildlife smothered in oil, dying a miserable and painful death.

God save the animals.

quote:

Originally posted by akseland:

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
This is almost as depressing as what is happening down here, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

This spill is going to kill our fishing industry. People need to eat.

It's sad about your fishing industry, however there are plenty of healthy alternatives to eating animal flesh.

I imagine some fishermen now have some time on their hands, they should and I guess some are pitching in with the rescuing of god knows how much wildlife smothered in oil, dying a miserable and painful death.

God save the animals.

Well, I won't comment on the ability of "god" to intervene here, but...

Yes the theme is definitely "don't worry so much about the fish, it is the fishing that is the issue".

Many so-called environmental concerns are thinly disguised self-interested economic concerns. There is a large mining project in Alaska that is being targeted by a very well-organised opposition. The opposition, at first glance seems to be concerned about the potential effect on the environment. However, I would contend that their real concern is largely self-interest and economic. They are the owners of hunting lodges and fishermen. They are basically saying "we're concerned that the mine might kill the wild animals before we get the chance to do it".

I'm talking about friends and neighbors who have been making a living fishing for generations.

It is no picnic to consider changing a lifestyle overnight.

It's all they know.

For myself, eating local seafood is part of the joy of life down here.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
I'm talking about friends and neighbors who have been making a living fishing for generations.

It is no picnic to consider changing a lifestyle overnight.

It's all they know.

For myself, eating local seafood is part of the joy of life down here.

The human consequences of this are undeniable and very sad indeed. Nevertheless, they the human consequences of human actions; and whilst grossly unfair at an individual level (fisherman out of work so I can afford to put gas in my monstrous SUV and fly overseas on holidays twice a year), as a society incidents like this are the price we tacitly agree to pay for our convenience and wealth.

From the sea-bird's or fish's perspective, there is no such offset. It is just all bad.

I'm not trying to diminish the distress that your friends and colleagues are suffering. Our occupations are a big part of what defines us.

While we remain fixated on the environmental disaster in the GOM, it is appropriate to gain some understanding of the bigger picture. This serves to keep things in proper perspective.

Here is an interesting article regarding the possible responses to the peaking of world oil production...

http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/pdf/pd...0Energy%20Crunch.pdf

What a wonderful world, and all that...

Best,
BBM

Only after the last tree has been cut down / Only after the last river has been poisoned / Only after the last fish has been caught / Then will you find that money cannot be eaten.