Offshore Drilling - The Reality Versus the Delusions of Benefits
The world cries out for renewable, clean and abundant energy sources.
As the growth of the nations creates a growing middle class, the amount of crude available does not, and cannot, keep pace.
To believe that the United States can ever drill its way out of the energy dilemma we currently face is to live in an alternative reality and not one grounded in scientific evidence.
Crude oil is a finite resource.
Natural Gas is also a finite resource, but since we have proven reserves that should allow us a window of some 100 years before it, too, is exhausted, we should be taking advantage of this reality and work to incorporate natural gas into our energy infrastructure wherever possible.
And we should do this in coordination with a true aim toward the ultimate goal of an economy based on renewable energy sources.
Granted, wind, solar, biomass cogeneration, as well as other means can be utilized even today, but not anywhere near the extent they should be.
And while it is true the sun only provides energy during day light hours, the development of batteries and storage systems to hold the power produced during daylight hours is hardly insurmountable.
It is also true that the wind does not always blow.
However, those same batteries and storage systems could provide adequate stand-by power for such lulls in direct wind power generation.
The current mess in the Gulf of Mexico where British Petroleum (BP), TransOcean and Halliburton all played a part in the fiasco has resulted in little more than fingers pointed at one another during recent testimony before the United States Senate.
No one has the cajones necessary to admit that mistakes were made and that each party shares in the responsibility.
Imagine, these people take a natural resource out of the earth and pay the citizens or the United States Treasury not one penny for doing so.
Yes, there are some regulations that must be adhered to, but those are currently minimal and most were put by the wayside during the Reagan and Bush, Sr.
and two "W" administrations.
Does anyone find it laughable that the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a federal government organization, was essentially co-opted by Halliburton during the reign of Bush/Cheney? Well, it would be laughable if the net result we are experiencing today were not a virtual calamity the size and scope of which remains unknown.
And how it is possible that any cap could or should be placed on the liabilities for some organization that pollutes and destroys while it makes money hand over fist with no cost except to the U.
S.
taxpayers? The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 sets the liability limit at $75 million.
BP made $5.
6 billion dollars in profit in the first quarter of 2010.
Note: this is profit, free and clear for three months out of a complete year.
Comparable profits were made by other large oil companies, as well.
Who says we are paying too much for gasoline at the pump? In 1989 the Exxon Valdez dumped approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil on the pristine shores of Prince William Sound.
Today, in 2010, this mess is still not completely cleaned up.
Does anyone truly believe that Exxon, now Exxon/Mobil is concerned about their moral or ethical obligations? They made the mess but who is paying today to finish cleaning up after them? Sorry, I forgot corporations are only required to make a profit for their stock holders.
You cannot impose any morality or ethics on a corporation.
After all, corporations are not "people.
" Although recent Supreme Court decisions might create an environment where that moniker could provide the legal standing required to bring suit that lays the complete responsibility for errors on the shoulders of those who lead such corporations.
This is a stretch, I know.
However, in today's world sometimes all we have is a glimmer of hope to cling to.
So for all those who rant, "Drill Baby Drill," I recommend you face scientific realities and the stark nature of today's imminent environmental crisis.
Strike one was the fact that no one did an independent appraisal of the fail safe devices on the Deep Water Horizon Drilling Rig disaster that claimed eleven human beings' lives.
That responsibility rests with the MMS and the Obama administration for not requiring true environmental impact statements.
Strike two are the negative pressure test results for the cement Halliburton had put in place the day before the explosion occurred.
Strike three is the simple fact recently made public that the battery that would have provided power to the blow-out preventer to enable it to operate in an emergency was dead and it was known that it was dead before the unit went into the water.
How is this possible? When you add the known hydraulic leaks on one of the rams of the blow-out preventer, there was essentially no fail safe in place during this operation.
Add this to the rush to drill and the choice not to use drilling mud to offset some of the pressure that comes with any drilling into a producing well, and you have by definition a calamity waiting to happen.
It should come as no surprise that the word of the leaders of British Petroleum (BP) is worth squat.
And you can add the word of the leadership of Trans Ocean and Halliburton, as well.
Trust is a key issue, but since no moral or ethical boundaries are applicable to corporations, perhaps we need to hold those people who make the decisions responsible for once.
As the growth of the nations creates a growing middle class, the amount of crude available does not, and cannot, keep pace.
To believe that the United States can ever drill its way out of the energy dilemma we currently face is to live in an alternative reality and not one grounded in scientific evidence.
Crude oil is a finite resource.
Natural Gas is also a finite resource, but since we have proven reserves that should allow us a window of some 100 years before it, too, is exhausted, we should be taking advantage of this reality and work to incorporate natural gas into our energy infrastructure wherever possible.
And we should do this in coordination with a true aim toward the ultimate goal of an economy based on renewable energy sources.
Granted, wind, solar, biomass cogeneration, as well as other means can be utilized even today, but not anywhere near the extent they should be.
And while it is true the sun only provides energy during day light hours, the development of batteries and storage systems to hold the power produced during daylight hours is hardly insurmountable.
It is also true that the wind does not always blow.
However, those same batteries and storage systems could provide adequate stand-by power for such lulls in direct wind power generation.
The current mess in the Gulf of Mexico where British Petroleum (BP), TransOcean and Halliburton all played a part in the fiasco has resulted in little more than fingers pointed at one another during recent testimony before the United States Senate.
No one has the cajones necessary to admit that mistakes were made and that each party shares in the responsibility.
Imagine, these people take a natural resource out of the earth and pay the citizens or the United States Treasury not one penny for doing so.
Yes, there are some regulations that must be adhered to, but those are currently minimal and most were put by the wayside during the Reagan and Bush, Sr.
and two "W" administrations.
Does anyone find it laughable that the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a federal government organization, was essentially co-opted by Halliburton during the reign of Bush/Cheney? Well, it would be laughable if the net result we are experiencing today were not a virtual calamity the size and scope of which remains unknown.
And how it is possible that any cap could or should be placed on the liabilities for some organization that pollutes and destroys while it makes money hand over fist with no cost except to the U.
S.
taxpayers? The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 sets the liability limit at $75 million.
BP made $5.
6 billion dollars in profit in the first quarter of 2010.
Note: this is profit, free and clear for three months out of a complete year.
Comparable profits were made by other large oil companies, as well.
Who says we are paying too much for gasoline at the pump? In 1989 the Exxon Valdez dumped approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil on the pristine shores of Prince William Sound.
Today, in 2010, this mess is still not completely cleaned up.
Does anyone truly believe that Exxon, now Exxon/Mobil is concerned about their moral or ethical obligations? They made the mess but who is paying today to finish cleaning up after them? Sorry, I forgot corporations are only required to make a profit for their stock holders.
You cannot impose any morality or ethics on a corporation.
After all, corporations are not "people.
" Although recent Supreme Court decisions might create an environment where that moniker could provide the legal standing required to bring suit that lays the complete responsibility for errors on the shoulders of those who lead such corporations.
This is a stretch, I know.
However, in today's world sometimes all we have is a glimmer of hope to cling to.
So for all those who rant, "Drill Baby Drill," I recommend you face scientific realities and the stark nature of today's imminent environmental crisis.
Strike one was the fact that no one did an independent appraisal of the fail safe devices on the Deep Water Horizon Drilling Rig disaster that claimed eleven human beings' lives.
That responsibility rests with the MMS and the Obama administration for not requiring true environmental impact statements.
Strike two are the negative pressure test results for the cement Halliburton had put in place the day before the explosion occurred.
Strike three is the simple fact recently made public that the battery that would have provided power to the blow-out preventer to enable it to operate in an emergency was dead and it was known that it was dead before the unit went into the water.
How is this possible? When you add the known hydraulic leaks on one of the rams of the blow-out preventer, there was essentially no fail safe in place during this operation.
Add this to the rush to drill and the choice not to use drilling mud to offset some of the pressure that comes with any drilling into a producing well, and you have by definition a calamity waiting to happen.
It should come as no surprise that the word of the leaders of British Petroleum (BP) is worth squat.
And you can add the word of the leadership of Trans Ocean and Halliburton, as well.
Trust is a key issue, but since no moral or ethical boundaries are applicable to corporations, perhaps we need to hold those people who make the decisions responsible for once.
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