“These Things Happen” Shouldn’t Be Allowed to “Happen” Here
“The fact is, these things happen”, said Louisiana’s U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on November 19, 2009. The flaming oil rig pictured here was responsible for a blowout that took almost three months to bring under control. During that time it dumped over 400 barrels of oil per day into Australian waters, eventually growing to the footprint size of New Jersey.
The Montara was built in 2007 and represents everything the oil industry touts as state-of-the-art advanced technology for “environmentally safe” drilling. BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig responsible for the recent blowout off Louisiana’s coast was built in 2001 and is also touted as safe.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) said 39 fires or explosions were reported offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in the first five months of 2009, the latest period for which statistics are available. Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injured and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf of Mexico according to the federal Minerals Management Service. An MMS review published last year found 41 deaths and 302 injuries out of 1,443 oil-rig accidents from 2001 to 2007.
“The tragedy off the coast of Louisiana shows we need to be asking a lot more tough questions of big oil,” U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said. “I think we need to look back over 10 years or so to see if the record denies the industry’s claims about safety and technology.”
Our Virginia legislators, from Webb to Warner to McDonnell to Nye, have jumped lock, stock and barrel into bed with Big Oil, ignoring #1 that “these things happen” and ignoring #2 that the environmental sensitivity analysis is flawed. So said a DC Court of Appeals last year, and the fact that MMS is proposing seismic exploration of the Atlantic is evidence all the more that for Virginia to proceed in the 2007-2012 program, with as little as we do know about the impacts of drilling, is very suspect and irresponsible.
Speak out against the rush to drill Virginia on Thursday April 29. MMS is holding a public hearing on Atlantic seismic surveying at the Hilton Norfolk Airport at 1pm and again at 7pm. The deadline for public comment is May 17. Email comments to GGEIS@mms.gov.
MMS is also accepting public comment on the 2007-2012 program. That deadline is May 3. Email comments to PRPcomments@mms.gov.
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April 24th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Eileen, I appreciate, perhaps more than most, your ability to turn a phrase. I probably enjoy it more than Senators Warner and Webb and Mr. Nye, who have in the past been the object of your lustful praise but have now apparently jilted you to jump in bed with “Big Oil” in a “rush to drill.” I do wonder, though, why you haven’t soured on the President (your candidate as I recall) who is also apparently between the sheets with ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, just to name a few.
Yes, the incident is tragic. No, it should not have happened. But unlike you, I happen to think that we can learn from things. Most importantly, I happen to think that it is more tragic to have our men and women, and our financial resources and national debt, stressed to the limits and beyond to defend foreign soil that produces our oil. And chief among those resources are the many dead and severely wounded. That, my dear, is truly tragic. But unlike you, I do not believe for a moment that we will all once again become druids and burn peat to heat our home and beeswax to read (or fuel your laptop and the server that runs this site). And unlike you, I have seen the data, and it’s true – the windmills and solar panels that you tout (for compensation, I wonder) cannot reasonably replace more that a few percent of our energy demands for at least a decade (it’s longer, but I’m feeling charitable while you mourn).
One imagines someone like you shouting during the Stone Age that the world would soon run out of rocks.
In the meantime, while we live in the most prosperous, most free, most economically-efficient and yes, it’s true, the best place in the world to raise a child — my heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones and I am hoping that at a very, very minimum we can learn what went wrong so that we can correct it and see the day when you and I and our children are no longer beholden to Iran, Iraq, Russia, Venezuela or any of those other idyllic societies for our energy.
April 24th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
6.5 days worth of oil off Virginia’s coast (based on current consumer consumption of 20 million barrels per day). We sit on 3% of the world’s reserve yet consume over 25% of it. We could drill everywhere and only raise that 3% a smidgen.
April 24th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Oil slicks look impressive but in reality do not mean much. The reality is, sometimes it’s more efficient not to clean up spills because of the law of un-intended consequences. Steam cleaning rocks for example, actually causes worse consequences than the actual spill that would eventually evaporate and /or disperse. Looked great for the cameras in 1990 but the reality was, as enormous as this spill was, it no way compared to natures own eruptions, seeps and quakes and it produced many more jobs during the process. Whole companies on the verge of bankruptcy were given as new lease on life and today prosper because of it. That being said, if you don’t wan drilling let me know how much over 4.00$ a gallon you are willing to spend. The oil companies know as soon as we reach $4.00 / gallon we are a wash with alternative energy. Question is what moves us one way or the other?
April 25th, 2010 at 4:44 am
CW, you are actually going to argue that oil spills create jobs? Please bring that argument to our friends in Alaska still suffering the impacts of Exxon Valdez. Whomever is employed to clean up Virginia beaches is doing a damn fine job because I’ve not witnessed very much of those “natures own eruptions, seeps and quakes” showing up on our Virginia beaches.
April 25th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Do you really, seriously, think that a greedy, major multi-national oil company that cares only about its profits will drill for that teensy amount of oil? That “smidgen”?
Of course not. Which is why you have nothing to fear, because you know how much oil is out there and no company is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars — if not billions — for so little return. That math only works in this Congress.
April 25th, 2010 at 11:46 am
And thus you see, Curious, just how frustrating this whole drilling discussion has been in Virginia. It’s nothing more than one mother f*cker of a political football.
April 25th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Eileen: Well said. I’ve noticed it is really quiet in Richmond these days since this platform blew up and is leaking oil.
April 25th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Eileen,
I am lucky enough to have stumbled upon a free WiFi tonight. Early yesterday when I purposefully stopped where I knew there was free WiFi I was amazed that you had not yet posted something like this.
I will note that I have heard Barack Obama does not have any second thoughts on approving the offshore drilling he is allowing due to this incident.
I also already had thought about what I myself was going to say to your post. First, while the incident itself in should in no ways can be described as humorous, I did chuckle in anticipation of what I was going to hear from you about it. It is almost a fortuitous coincidence that it happened so shortly after the decision was made by our President for you and for others who share your viewpoint. It is tragic that it happened, but if the tragedy was ever going to happen the timing was perfect for you.
In my opinion, the timing serves me well also. It points out that everyone should be forced to realize the consequences of their continuing consumption of products, including automotive fuel, that comes from crude oil. The citizens of our nation should be forced to look the consequences of their addiction to crude oil in the face. These consequences should not be fostered off on the citizens of nations with far off shores alone.
At times I suspect that the real agenda of those opposed to offshore drilling is to drive the price up. It almost seems that way. Let me give a comparison. Some Republicans are opposed to tax increases because they oppose big government. They do not mind huge deficits because if the national debt becomes large enough they will get what they want because the costs of the interest on the debt alone will force smaller government on the American People. In some ways some environmentalists seem to be almost as shrewd. If they can drive the price of crude oil products up, there will be less consumption because of the costs alone. Yeah, the wealthy will still be able to afford unlimited consumption and the middle class might be able to afford some, although reduced consumption rates, but think of all the reduced consumption by the lower class that is completely priced out of the market.
Please do not think I am trying to paint you as being a hypocrite in this paragraph. Let me first state that if everyone followed your example our nation and our planet would be better off. But let me attempt to make the point that your leadership is not enough. If every American citizen consumed only as much products that come from crude oil as you did, we would still be importing crude oil from foreign sources. We are already staring peak oil in the face and we do not need to artificially and prematurely accelerate the challenge peak oil will present our economy. We can strive to change and break our addiction, but we do not need to subject our economy to shock treatment while we do so.
Now, if you do not want to live with the environmental risks of offshore oil drilling, I suggest you lead by example. While you have made it apparent that you are facing struggles in the current economy, you would be the perfect example of others can help further reduce our dependence on crude oil if we just did it like you did. While you are struggling, I think I can say that you are still more fortunate then many. Even during the best of times, some struggle even more.
Until America comes up with a solution that protects the interests of the poorest of the poor while we break addiction, I am going to insist that consideration of these people’s needs be included.
I’m getting windy. My point is that I am hoping that current experimentation into fusion power bears fruit. Fusion power will solve most problems although even this will not satisfy everyone. However even the most optimistic will admit it is going to take time for fusion power to be realized – for decades have they been saying fusion is only a decade away. In the meantime we need to switch to alternative energy sources (which I insist includes nuclear) to bridge the gap.
My hope is that in order for people like you, Eileen, to continue to provide the leadership we need you do not think you need to become Amish to lead by example.
April 25th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Eileen, I was afraid that was where you were headed. We do not know how much oil or gas is off our coast, because the moratoria (“just say no”) decreed that not only could we not drill, we couldn’t even do research for three decades. So our official government policy has been one of willful ignorance. Should we have the same policy for stem cell research?
We have some 30 year-old data using 30 year-old technology, but 30 years ago we did not know how to find shale gas either, and in just the last few years we have found more than a century’s worth.
Let me just ask this question: If we knew that we could supply 100% of our energy needs domestically using oil and gas (big jobs improvement, hundreds of billions of dollars staying home rather than going to foreign countries), and we had a CAFE standard that required true vehicle efficiency (40+ mpg), and a good portion of the revenues from offshore drilling were earmarked for home energy efficiency and energy assistance for low-income homes, should be just say no?
I am proud to say that we live in a LEED-certified home (45% less energy consumption than my prior home), We walk to do most of our shopping, and I drive, on average, 23 miles per week. We recycle everything, get hand-me-downs for our kids, filter our own water, and compost. We’re not perfect, by any stretch. But we try to do our part.
And part of doing our part is our belief that we have a responsibility to look out for those who don’t have the advantages that we do. It used to be that Democrats were for people first. Good people who don’t have my advantages cannot afford $4 gasoline or $0.15 electricity. They can’t afford LEED-certified homes and they largely can’t afford homes near their work. A $20 window kit or a $75 tune-up for their car may mean the difference between meals for the week or day care for the kids.
For those folks, energy is about 15% of their pre-tax income. Cheap is good. Let’s fix the consumption end and the domestic supply equation. Starving off supply will only drive up costs and hurt good people.
April 25th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Eileen,
When was the last time you were in Valdez? Just ask the thousands of Crowley Maritime employees about their saved jobs. Ask the fishermen about how “poor” their catch is these days. Ask the majority of the locals (off camera) about their current economic plight.
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