Poor Florida!
Says M. Lance Phillips, a Texas oilman leading the charge to overturn Florida’s ban on oil drilling, “We really do want to do for Florida what oil and gas have done for Texas.”
Meanwhile… below the fold is a map depicting all the damaged pipelines as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Something else for Florida to look forward to!
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February 15th, 2010 at 7:26 am
And yet, not a single pipeline or platform had a spill. Louisiana has one of the best offshore ecosystems in the country. Texas has become almost self sufficient. Florida and Virginia need to start drilling.
February 15th, 2010 at 11:09 am
“Not One Drop Of Oil Spilled”? Not Quite.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
David, lest anyone get mislead by the news article to which you posted, the whole truth is that the spills from offshore pipelines from the greatest natural disaster in American history were contained and did not reach land or sensitive shoreline environments. However, the massive on-land Murphy Oil refinery tank farm in New Orleans was built, like everything else there, below sea level. When the levees failed, so did the tank farm. The contamination was mostly (but not exclusively) from the Murphy Oil facility. It, like all of New Orleans, should have never been built below sea level.
Also, in the interest of being 100% accurate, since I believe that is a virtue, the National Academy of Sciences has documented that every year there is more oil in the marine environment from “natural seeps” than from wells, platforms and pipelines. That’s a bad fact for you, but it’s a fact, and it ain’t made up.
I agree with your point that “not a drop was spilled” is untrue, but the point you are trying to make is equally misleading.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Was that NAS document before or after the Timor Sea spill?
February 16th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Cargosquid said, “and yet, not a single pipeline or platform had a spill.” As Curious acknowledged, that is “untrue” (or, less charitably, a lie). That was the only “point I was trying to make.”
Natural seeps are not a “bad fact for me.” According to the National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, natural seeps contribute 46% of marine oil pollution. That part is beyond our control. The other half is our fault. Why add to it?
Does a bear shit in the woods? Isn’t that “natural?” Is that an excuse for people to shit in the street?
February 17th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Nope. Not a lie. Be nice. I try to be. Just reporting what I saw on the TV. Guess they were wrong. Again. But, Louisiana still has one of the most productive and healthy offshore systems.
The truth is that we need more domestic oil supplies to come online. There are more spills from tankers than from pipelines. With population growth comes greater energy needs. We need more of everything. Do we continue to buy it from countries that hate us? Is it ok with us for THEM to drill while we “keep our beaches pristine”? Then again, when they run out, we’re sitting pretty……
We need all forms to be developed. Oil, Gas, Nuclear, Wind, Solar, and anything else we can think of.
February 17th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
To cargosquid’s reply I would add only that I believe we need all of that — and more efficiency. I may be the only person in the world who thinks we should aggressively drill (yeah, baby!), aggressively promote solar and wind, and aggressively promote efficiency. But all of those are both economically and environmentally sound.
We have lived on cheap energy for so long that it is easy for us to overlook the low-hanging fruit on efficiency. (Notice I did not say conservation). Efficiency means picking the right fuels for the right applications and using them wisely.
We could meet Kyoto by shuttering every coal-fired plant and using only natural gas to create electricity. But we could also wash dishes with single-malt scotch.
What we can’t do is shutter every coal-fired plant and live off the sun and wind. Not yet anyway, and maybe never, but if we don’t become more domestic in our energy solutions we will end up beholden to the Chinese for lithium to make batteries for our cars, just as we are today dependent on foreign oil.
February 21st, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Why must environmentalists continue to insist that all environmental consequences of their driving around in their fuel efficient vehicles must come from somewhere else? I don’t care if you drive a 50 MPG Prius, a percentage of the fuel you put in your tank comes from overseas.
Why do you insist we Americans are so special that we must no endure the environmental consequences of our crude oil consumption? If we are going to consume it, we should endure the negative consequences. Why is it only OK if the consequences are endured by people far from our shores?
If increased domestic production is unacceptable, lead by example. Park your automobile and strap on your roller skates. You might also consider using something other then toilet paper before you exit the bathroom.