How do you feel about the BP oil spill?

[veranadine]

Wow! I am having a really hard time wrapping my brain around this global ecological disaster.

The Gulf is essentially a big oil holding tank at this point and ancient sea turtles, highly intelligent dolphins and peaceful sea birds are all dying en masse. The plants and plankton will be next, not to mention the human suffering and loss of livelihood along the coastline.

Usually I can hide behind my cynicism or my self-righteous belief that I am an aware, vegetarian, organic-gardening eco-hippie, but the reality is that we all have to witness this tragedy and try to make peace with whatever role we may have indirectly played in its manifestation.

I am having a hard time grasping its scale and how I feel about it.

How about you? What are your thoughts?

[desertrat]

For now the world still runs on oil. Most of drive a car/pu/suv or ride a buss. We clean up the mess ,and hope it aint to bad. Something went wrong with something they call a blow out preventer. This type of device will need to be made fail safe to prevent new accdents. This is not my field of expertice so I need to trust thoes in the oil indrusty to do the rite thing. desert rat

[Scipio]

I think the spill is not too bad. I've heard that 14 good men were killed in the explosion, which is certainly a tragedy, but it is a blip in the scale of things that have happened recently, such as major earthquakes killing thousands upon thousands.

I'm not too concerned about swamplands, bugs, and birds, compared to human life. I wish the spill didn't happen moreso because of the wasted oil that could be used to improve people's lives, the explosion that harmed people, and other effects on human beings. Oil is the most life-giving of raw materials harnessed from the earth, it fuels our industrial civilization (the same industrial civilization which anyone over 20 years old should worship today, because without it they would be dead), so any loss of an oil well is also a shame.

[Dignity]

I'm opinionated regarding this oil spill.

I don't think anyone acted fast enough, nor provided enough emergency help. At no time on news clips was there ever more than two boats out in that stinking mess trying to contain it. Only two!! Am I supposed to believe that only two were available????? No one near the coasts trying to keep it out at sea. Just two lonely boats trying to make it look to the ignorant public like they're making an effort.

I believe this oil spill was deliberately allowed to get to this proportion in order to create government jobs. I believe that! Already the call for workers has begun and the pay is $10-$16 and hour.

America has stopped paying unemployment benefits to those that have already collected 99 weeks. Until the recession these benefits were given for like only 26 weeks. Then it was upped to 52 and then on up to 99. No one has ever NEEDED to get unemployment benefits that long ever before. The recession is responsible, but we can't get our congressmen to vote in yet another extension and as they dilly dally, people are losing their cars and homes and becoming homeless. I know, because I belong to other forums and have read the stories of those who are suffering!!!!!

When people don't have money coming in, then they don't have the funds to spend in their community causing an even worse recession. SOMEONE had to do SOMETHING so I believe.........I really believe this......that the oil slick was allowed to get out of control in order to create jobs that will in turn give at least the local economies a boost. I am mortified that this was done at the expense of so many animal and marine lives.

[ar81]

Reuters: BP oil spill infographic


The irony is that oil comes from dead creatures, and when it comes out it brings more death.

[veranadine]

While I can appreciate other people's interest in conspiracy theories, I myself was really talking about the environmental and economic impact of such a major disaster.

What if we had given up on dirty, inefficient technologies like oil, coal and nuclear and invested in solar, wind and ocean wave energies back in the 1970's when it became clear that we were impacting our environment on a massive, negative scale? Would we be in a better place both fiscally and ecologically?

To ar81...that irony is not lost on me at all. I am sure that the spiritual energy of life being built on death is a contributing factor in world affairs today. Would it be different if our economy, education, entertainment and political structures were built instead on living people, living ideas and living energy?

[desertrat]

Solar, wind, wave energy and maby zero point energy if some one can make it work , are the way to go . Is your roof covered in photo voltatic cells ? I will put some up when I have a few more bucks. On flt 800 they tested the aircraft wreckage for traces of explovies. They blamed bad wires in a fuel tank. All the new cars have a fuel pump in the gas tank. Why dont we hear of one of then exploding ? McVey was a nut who knows who helped him. I guess North Korea mite of launched a torpedo at the rig . What would they have to gain? N. Korea would be a big loser in a war with the USA . Its more likely a faulty part or a bad weld somewhere . Its too bad a lot of fish and sea birds die in this distar. desert rat

[seeker5]

The discussion on North Korea attacking the oil rig is off-topic to this thread. Please continue that discussion here:Article on North Korea attacking the Gulf Oil Rig

[Mounds]

I feel similairly to Dignity.
I'm a nature lover and to see this happen is a real shame. This is going to cause some serious damage to the ecosystems.
I also feel that they were ill prepared for this kind of an event and they did not act fast enough. Typical crap when it comes to the environment. The all mighty dollar will win everytime.

[Cochonette]

Got hair?

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by veranadine

Wow! I am having a really hard time wrapping my brain around this global ecological disaster.

The Gulf is essentially a big oil holding tank at this point and ancient sea turtles, highly intelligent dolphins and peaceful sea birds are all dying en masse. The plants and plankton will be next, not to mention the human suffering and loss of livelihood along the coastline.

Usually I can hide behind my cynicism or my self-righteous belief that I am an aware, vegetarian, organic-gardening eco-hippie, but the reality is that we all have to witness this tragedy and try to make peace with whatever role we may have indirectly played in its manifestation.

I am having a hard time grasping its scale and how I feel about it.

How about you? What are your thoughts?

Well you greedy Americans caused it.
You raped the earth.
Now reap the consequences.

[JSB]

Originally Posted by Cantando

Well you greedy Americans caused it.
You raped the earth.
Now reap the consequences.

Yeah! BTW, you run your cars on fairy dust in the UK, don't you? And all those North Sea rigs are drilling for chocolate syrup, right?

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by JSB

Yeah! BTW, you run your cars on fairy dust in the UK, don't you? And all those North Sea rigs are drilling for chocolate syrup, right?

Well, If you hadn't pumped oil in the first place, and went into Saudi, Kuwait, the Gulf, etc, and other places to get more of the stuff, there wouldn't be any cars running on oil!

Let's make money, let's get fat. That's what it's all about. Isn't it?

Who cares what the earth is going to look like in 100 years time.
We'll all be dead anyway!

Do you have kids?

[Andrew Brunelle]

The oil spill is terrible. It is just awful from every vantage point. Offshore drilling is dangerous to begin with, so I think we should've expected this to happen at some point. It's just another problem us pesky humans have caused trying to take more out of the landbase than we give back and now we've killed a bunch of sea creatures attempting to feed our insatiable lust for oil.

[mityno]

Originally Posted by veranadine

The Gulf is essentially a big oil holding tank at this point and ancient sea turtles, highly intelligent dolphins and peaceful sea birds are all dying en masse.

I may be wrong so please educate me, but I didn't know sea turtles and dolphins frequented the northern areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf beaches from Texas to Florida? I don't ever remember hearing of them there. The same goes for orcas, whales and salmon.

I always thought dolphins were most abundant in the Pacific Ocean and sea turtles in the Atlantic and Pacific.

For sure it sucks that the Japanese herd dolphins into coves and shoot, spear and bludgeon them to death, so I know there are lots of dolphins in the Pacific.

[ar81]

The irony is that many Americans have supported using oil.
Today Americans are losing money because of oil.

[JSB]

Uh, the company that just f*'d up and caused this entire disaster is BP, as in British Petroleum, but you don't hear me screaming about the evils of Great Britain or all the awful things done by the British Empire throughout history.

A post-oil society sounds fantastic, but in the meantime, if you want to live in the modern industrialized world, petroleum is the lifeblood of it all; modern society simply cannot function without it. For now, if you're using anything made from or with plastics, eating anything grown with artificial fertilizers and outside your own backyard, or buying anything manufactured or transported in any way, your lifestyle is dependent upon oil.

It sucks, but we're all hooked on the crack-pipe, and we're all poisoning the Earth, so as long as you're using things like computers and polyester and plastic, and NOT living the lifestyle of a hunter-gatherer in harmony with nature, you might want to get off your high horse and recognize that your lifestyle is just as responsible for creating the world's insatiable demand for fossil-fuels as everyone else's.

Originally Posted by Cantando

Well, If you hadn't pumped oil in the first place, and went into Saudi, Kuwait, the Gulf, etc, and other places to get more of the stuff, there wouldn't be any cars running on oil!

Let's make money, let's get fat. That's what it's all about. Isn't it?

Who cares what the earth is going to look like in 100 years time.
We'll all be dead anyway!

Do you have kids?

[veranadine]

Originally Posted by mityno

I may be wrong so please educate me, but I didn't know sea turtles and dolphins frequented the northern areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf beaches from Texas to Florida? I don't ever remember hearing of them there. The same goes for orcas, whales and salmon.

I always thought dolphins were most abundant in the Pacific Ocean and sea turtles in the Atlantic and Pacific.

For sure it sucks that the Japanese herd dolphins into coves and shoot, spear and bludgeon them to death, so I know there are lots of dolphins in the Pacific.

Mityno, give me some credit for reading and knowing about what I am posting. ;-)

On the dolphins: "Bottlenose dolphins are distributed worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. In the western North Atlantic, these dolphins occur as far north as Nova Scotia but are most common in coastal waters from New England to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and south to Venezuela. This is the most common cetacean of the Gulf of Mexico and along the Texas coast."

On the sea turtles: "Five of the world's seven sea turtle species are found in the Gulf of Mexico: leatherback, hawksbill, green, loggerhead and Kemp's ridley. Each of the five sea turtle species of the Gulf is now classified as either threatened or endangered and could become extinct unless steps are taken to protect and enhance its populations."

[ar81]

BBC News - How big is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?

[mityno]

Originally Posted by mityno

I may be wrong so please educate me...

Originally Posted by veranadine

Mityno, give me some credit for reading and knowing about what I am posting. ;-)

Would you prefer 10 merits or a Gold Star for credit?

[desertrat]

There are news reports from the workers of oil drilling platform . They say they were drilling and hit a pocket of methane and then real hot oil that when it came out of the well set fire to the platform . No torpedo , crazed mainack on a boat loaded with explodives , or nuclear bomb . desert rat

[Piercetheveil]

Originally Posted by Cantando

Well you greedy Americans caused it.
You raped the earth.
Now reap the consequences.

Nice! LOL. I will refrain from blabbering on about how pointing fingers at individual countries makes sense only to the ignorant. We are a we now. Global where all things are loosely (many times tightly) joined.

[desertrat]

Unless the platform works are lieing it was a very bad accdent . With the platform a mile under the ocean it mite be a bit hard to prove . The news accounts make sence , and unless some one comes up with something else , I will belive it was an accdent . desert rat

[Double]

I think the emergency response time has been a bit slow. I wonder why it took so long to stop oil from leaking out into the ocean(Has it even been stopped yet?). There are alot of oilrigs around those areas right? Was it not an accident waiting to happen kinda of situation? Someone must have expected this could happen

I wonder what kind of contracts these oil companies are given by the government they are probably very lax on responsibilies toward environmental disasters.. Its kind of ironic that the government hasnt been able to interveen and make these such things happen when they claim to be the alpha protector of the environment. And again how could it take so long in order to stop the oil leekage

[mityno]

I heard they should be drilling another well close by to bleed off the pressure that is causing the leak.

[desertrat]

They made a heavy concreet box to set over the well head , but at that depth its real cold and it frose . I dont know if they are going to make it work. desert rat

[mityno]

Originally Posted by desertrat

They made a heavy concreet box to set over the well head , but at that depth its real cold and it frose . I dont know if they are going to make it work. desert rat

I thought the oil coming out was scalding hot? Didn't you say you saw a report about the oil being so hot it set off a methane gas leak and that is what caused the rig to explode? If this is so, then how did the box freeze with scalding hot oil gushing out under it?

[veranadine]

The cap dome containment system seems to have failed for the time being:

"BP, facing a barrage of lawsuits and clean-up costs soaring above 10 million dollars a day, had pinned its hopes on a 98-ton concrete and steel containment box that it successfully lowered 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) down over the main leak.

But the contraption lay idle on the seabed as engineers furiously tried to figure out how to stop it clogging with ice crystals."

[Brutha]

I wonder what kind of contracts these oil companies are given by the government they are probably very lax on responsibilies toward environmental disasters.. Its kind of ironic that the government hasnt been able to interveen and make these such things happen when they claim to be the alpha protector of the environment. And again how could it take so long in order to stop the oil leekage

Under the Bush administration they did a lot to deregulate.
If you want a government to be able to respond in such situations than you have to think differently about funding certain government agencies.

[desertrat]

The oil when it comes out of the pipe is hot and the sea at a mile down is cold. I guess when it gets to the top of that big heavy concreat box it gets cold and frezzes . All I am doing is repeating what I hear on the news . I am shure after this event new regulations will be imposed and new deep water drilling may be baned . desert rat