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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Gulf Oil Disaster
This most recent oil disaster off the USA's gulf coast underscores a number of environmental and political realities we all face...with global implications. Lets look briefly at the cause and effect of this situation without examining the hows and the whys this happened or who is to blame. Lets just look at the "macros"...
Interesting that this USA offshore drilling operation is owned/operated by BP...NOT a USA oil company. Do they care as much or have as much liability as a USA company would in this situation? I admit, I have not studied or been following this CLOSELY, but I did catch news interviews with the CEO of BP and a few other interviews from industry "experts". Major "passing the buck" and cross finger pointing from all sides. Can anyone just step up and admit we ------ up and we'll get it fixed?
And of course, we know who will pay the price for repairing the damage. You think BP or governmental agencies will pay the bill? HA! It will come out of the consumers pockets WORLD WIDE even though the USA will bear the brunt of the environmental fallout of this huge oil-spill. Gas has already gone up 20 cents a gallon here in Panama since this disaster. See any linkage?
OH...and hope you don't eat or buy a lot of seafood. This area has 20% of the USA's supply of fresh seafood...and there is NO fishing going on right now. Any guesses on the prices for shrimp, lobster, etc in the USA in a couple of months? I think its back to "Big Macs" for a lot of Americans with skimpy budgets and big appetites.
And the biggest macro of all...how long will the USA continue to consume so many fossil fuels compared to adopting greener, cleaner and more economical in the long run technologies and energy sources? Just watch the money flow from the world oil providers to the banks to the governments...and you will understand why the world is still so dependent on fossil fuels.
In case you need reminding...fossil fuels are non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form, and reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being formed. And they account for over 86% of our energy sources in the world. The day of reckoning is coming sooner than we know it...and in this relatively small way it is already here.
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3 comments:
El Desastre del petroleo en el golfo, ha sido una noticia que estoy siguiendo cada dia con mucho interes, la verdad soy un poco ecologista y me aterra la situacion de las aves y los peces que se alimentan de estas aguas.
Tienes razon Ed, nada ni nadie va a poder pagar el gravisimo dano causado por este accidente, el dano ecologico es realmente el que mas me preocupa, toda esta naturaleza hermosa, totalmente abandonada.
Me duele en mi corazon ver las imagenes de todas estas aves cubiertas de petroleo, agonizando lentamente, que espantoso.
Es tan grande la arrogancia del imperio Americano que yo creo que a muy poca gente le importa.
Humanos y su sed de riqueza, esta es la respuesta.
BB
Classic corp crime. Now they don't have to pay either. At least for now. How crazy. Why b/c if the raise the liability then small companies can't drill. Where is the logic there? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyu2d2cu1mw&feature=player_embedded
Posting Bill's commentary:
There are over seven other nations that are drilling or preparing to drill in the Gulf. I wonder if they have the technology that we have. They definitely won't pay for damages...you can bet on that.
This is a disaster but not the end of the world. Hopefully, lessons can be learned.
FACT: We have enough oil on dry land in the western states and Alaska to produce more oil than in the gulf. The oil shales are huge. A spill on land can be plugged rather quickly and cleaned up. Remember the first Iraq war when many wells were set afire? But this government over the last number of years will not drill it.
Environmentalists are as more to blame for this disaster than the oil companies.
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