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Gulf Oil Spill: Similar Disaster Could Occur in Arctic Later This Year
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has heightened fears of a similar disaster occurring off America's Arctic coast, where Shell is due to begin exploratory drilling later this year.
President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the Anglo-Dutch firms plan's to drill off the coast of Alaska.
The sun rises over an oil-soaked beach on May 23 on Grand Isle, Louisiana. The Alaska Wilderness League said in a statement that it would be almost impossible to mount the kind of clean-up witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico, describing the Arctic as one of the "most remote and extreme environments on Earth". (AFP/Getty Images/File/John Moore) Activists have claimed that the remote nature of the proposed drilling site, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds would be formidable obstacles to any potential clean-up operation.
The Alaska Wilderness League said in a statement that it would be almost impossible to mount the kind of clean-up witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico, describing the Arctic as one of the "most remote and extreme environments on Earth".
Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Mexico, there was no end in sight for the massive clean-up operation, as BP officials said on Sunday that one of their efforts to slow the leak was not working as effectively as it had initially.
A mile-long tube inserted into the leaking well siphoned some 57,120 gallons of oil within the past 24 hours, a sharp drop from the 92,400 gallons of oil a day that the device was sucking up on Friday, according to John Curry, a BP spokesman.
However, the company has said the amount of oil siphoned was likely to vary from day to day.
Over the weekend Mr Obama created a commission to examine what caused the explosion on and subsequent leak from Deepwater Horizon BP rig and to "make sure it never happens again".
He noted concerns about the "cozy relationship between oil and gas companies and agencies that regulate them".
However, the president underlined that he remained committed to retaining off-shore oil as part of his energy plan. "Because it represents 30 per cent of our oil production, the Gulf of Mexico can play an important part in security our energy future," he said.
The establishment of the commission came as oil continued to gush from the rig, blackening more of the Louisiana's marshlands and beaches. Even at the lowest estimates, more than six million gallons of crude have soiled Gulf waters.
Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, said that the latest bid to stop the leak in a ruptured pipe 5,000 feet below the surface would began on Tuesday or Wednesday. A "top kill" operation that has never been tried before will shoot heavy mud into the pipe then seal it with cement.
With the crisis entering its fifth week, the Obama administration has been forced increasingly on the defensive for responding too weakly and placing too much trust in BP.
Normally friendly voices have begun to criticize the president personally. James Carville, a former Bill Clinton campaign manager and Louisiana native, said the president had been "lackadaisical" and "naïve".
Chris Matthews, a popular liberal cable TV presenter, said the president was "acting a little like a Vatican Observer".
"The president scares me," he said. "When is he actually going to do something? He doesn't want to take ownership of it."
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said: "There's no doubt that we have had some problems with BP's lack of transparency: We asked that a video feed [of the oil gush] be made public, and that took ten days. We have sent letter recently in order to get them to post their air-and-quality data."
74 Comments so far
Show AllI predict that we will see a photo op with BP spokeperson and Obama having a beer together.
Bavarian Pilsner, no doubt.
Oh My Goddess, a Presidential Commission!
Thats what I like, a man of mercy when it comes to civilians in a "war" zone but Macho man when it comes to multinationals. Snark Alert!
I understand Shell wishes to perform a test spill. Not Snark!
Financial meltdowns and environmental catastrophes provide great opportunities for corporations to demonstrate the power they have over all three branches of the US Government.
Maybe use the presidential commission to plug up the well!
"When in DOUBT
Leave it OUT!"
Obama's appointment of "heck of a job Ken" Salazar was a traditional "thank you for helping me get elected". Every Senator knew that and those who voted for him are just as responsible for the lack of oversight by the Obama administration of the oil industry. This was one of the first signs that "things in Washington would continue to be done as they always had been done". The Obama-swooners in the MSM ignored it.
Immediately after FDR was sworn in as President he went against the advice of many of his cabinet members and financial experts and declared a national bank holiday. Against the advice of experts and to the horror of the central banks of England and France FDR took the country effectively off the gold standard. He established the primacy of the Federal Government over the Federal Reserve Banks to the equally great horror of their director in Washington.
BHO, you are not an FDR. Not even by a light year. You do not deserve to be re-elected in 2012. You are even weaker than the much maligned president Carter.
At the very least you should order Secretary Salazar to take off his idiotic hat in public or else get fired. Remember: he is supposed to serve at your pleasure. Are you pleased with him?
"Immediately after FDR was sworn in as President he went against the advice of many of his cabinet members and financial experts and declared a national bank holiday. Against the advice of experts and to the horror of the central banks of England and France FDR took the country effectively off the gold standard. He established the primacy of the Federal Government over the Federal Reserve Banks to the equally great horror of their director in Washington."
I watched a lecture given by some 35-40 year old "professor" to a bunch of young college students on the Great Depression. According to him, everything was all right until FDR was elected. Then he interfered with business, causing it to fail and the depression began. Then, he started WW-II to deepen the depression and further impoverish the American People. Then, the economy continued to tank until Ronald Reagan came to power and removed the restrictions on big business. Since then, we've all been prosperous thanks to unregulated business.
I damned near threw my computer out the window! I lived through that era and know what happened. No wonder the country's in such bad shape, if that kind of garbage is being taught to the new generation.
Lie, obfuscate, cover up, stall, but don't even think of killing the well.
Killing the Gulf? Yeah, whatever.
Hell, Obama and Salazar issued the permit and an environmental waiver for the Deepwater Horizon in April 2009. The Center for Biological Diversity took them to court and the court ruled against the drilling operation. Obama then had it overturned.
After a court battle that serves the interests of BP and Goldman (with 6 million shares of BP), there's no way Obama's going to hinder BP's investment. He's just gonna stand back and blather on about the law, the rights of private industry, sending more observers, and getting tough with BP.
He's such a corporate tool. I don't think he'd give a hoot if the GOM turned into a bubbling, toxic brew as long as BP gets their booty.
I used to always say that the president of the US is nothing more than middle management. This asshole is isn't much more than a management trainee, although he does take orders from BP and GS quite assiduously.
Middle management is a good description.
Obama is incapable of choosing sides and fighting for a position. He seems to think that his job is to reconcile differences between competing factions of reasonable people when what is really needed is a LEADER who can FIGHT tooth and nail against a violent, ignorant and profoundly unreasonable conservative criminal mob.
Obama is a wimp. He is directing traffic at a demolition derby.
The deepwater problem in the Gulf was a combination of the methane pocket that blew out the entire drilling rig, and the ice crystals that jammed up the 100 ton top hat. The Arctic Ocean problems, besides those just mentioned, are vast amounts of methane that are now releasing from the Arctic Ocean continental shelves, and just maybe ice crystals and clathrates in that environment. It's like trying to land on the moon -- lots of things might go wrong and the government itself needs to invest heavily in basic science and backup systems.
Or they could invest in steady R&D improvements on solar-friendly buildings that don't burn fuel oil. Those work now.
>>
The deepwater problem in the Gulf was a combination of the methane pocket that blew out the entire drilling rig, and the ice crystals that jammed up the 100 ton top hat.
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And now they are drilling two relief wells next door to the methane-blown-out well, using similar floating drill rigs, in the same 5000 feet of water, in the same ultra-high-pressure oil/gas field. What could possibly go wrong?
With mass production solar cells would become dirt cheap. The cost of labor to install them would be more than the cost of the cells. How could mass production become the norm? Oh, I don't know, maybe spend a trillion dollars a year on them instead of the same amount to protect oil company interests overseas. Never happen. No oil company profit there. Probably not much for Goldman Sachs either. But, cap and trade will be a windfall for GS so we'll take that direction. Mass profit for BP and GS takes priority over cheap power for the masses.
"With mass production solar cells would become dirt cheap."
And the cost of the raw materials to produce them would skyrocket, driving the finished cost way up as we deplete the minerals and materials to make them. Minerals and materials that are even scarcer than oil.
Hmm... we seem to be in a bit of a bind, don't we?
Apologies for earlier needless, useless sarcasm, now edited out. I do not want to alienate anyone here. One never knows who or what or where or how some useful original idea may evolve.
We could study the process used by plants using chlorophyl to create energy from sunlight. Some researchers in Pittsburgh have come up with a "paint" that converts light to electricity. I don't know what rare materials may be employed in that process, but certainly it is worth pursuing or following up.
Yes, we are in a bind. Even uranium is a finite resource.
I get pretty sarcastic myself sometimes.
I have a 20 year old solar panel that is still making electricity. Over the same time period my very efficient Honda generator would have used 15,000 gallons of gasoline plus oil and maintenance.
If ten million homes had had the same installation 20 years ago that would have amounted to a savings of 150 billion gallons of gasoline, or 3.5 billion barrels which happens to be the low side estimate of the reserve in the Gulf currently gushing its guts out. My little townhouse just happens to face south. I need to find out what the cost of installing solar cells on that half of the roof would amount to. I'd like to generate enough electricity to heat my hot water.
Kent use thermal panels for hot water, photovoltaics would require more than 10 times the cost.
Good point. To self: "DUH!"
No we are only in a political bind,
There are soo soo many ways to produce renewable energy you would be shocked,
for instance scientists are working on GMO tobacco leaves for photovoltaics.
Just today the German company Nanosolar said it could provide power as cheap as coal with it's printable, silicon free panels that rely on abundent materials.
In tropical waters platforms can use Ocean water temperature differentials to turn turbines
The Tesla bladeless turbine (called a Fuller Turbine) 33% less expensive than standard turbines
Geothermal heat pumps
Ambient sound electric generators
If one can build a Nuclear Plant, or Oil refinery then one can build renewable equipment.
You have no idea how many ways are being developed to provide renwable energy even with such a misguided energy policy
Well said
We should plug up the well with golf balls? And if that doesn't work, plug up the well with mud?
Just a suggestion: kids used to plug up the junior high school toilets with big wads of paper towels.
"The Alaska Wilderness League said in a statement that it would be almost impossible to mount the kind of clean-up witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico..."
did I miss something? as in a "clean-up witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico"? What clean-up?
good point!
the aerial photos of boats with their paltry little booms attempting to skim an oil slick the size of new jersey were pitiful and truly disheartening. and the real monster now lies below the surface in an immense plume of oil the size of which is hard to imagine. just wait for hurricane season. what a catastrophe!
More like a lake than a "plume". Plumes are long and skinny like a plume of smoke from a stack, or a plume of water from a garden hose. The "leak" itself could be described as a plume, but this "plume" of oil ten miles long, three miles wide and three hundred feet deep is a LAKE. It is one third the length and as wide as the largest of the Finger Lakes, Seneca. Go look up Seneca Lake on Google Earth. Cut out the middle third of the lake. That is the size of the "plume". And there are more than one "plume" of oil in the Gulf. If it washes up on beaches its not really a big problem as it is easily cleaned, except for the ocean ecology under the surface as it approaches land, which is admittedly a big exception. If it comes ashore into a wetlands environment it will destroy, kill, the wetlands. It would be impossible to put a dollar amount on the damages.
BP needs to be seized, including all of its real estate, buildings and equipment, the stock of all stockholders needs to be seized, and the heaviest fines need to be imposed on the company AND ON THE STOCKHOLDERS who have financed this Corporation of Death known as BP. If a 401K takes a big hit, well tough shit. Know what you are investing in. Pay attention. Do not invest in the destruction of the earth or you may have to pay heavy fines.
Airborne slime all the way to Jackson. Stephen King could not have dreamed up such a scenario..
How much worse could it get? Oh, I don't know, maybe a category 5 hurricane moves in and lingers over the Gulf 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, speaking of airborne slime all the way to Jackson or even Jacksonville. Too bad it couldn't all dump out over the Hamptons at the east end of Long Island. I bet we'd see some quick acion then.
yep
If Obama doesn't WAKE UP and demand that BP fix this mess immediately, instead of lying to the public while doing nothing, he will be remembered for all time as the President who destroyed the United States ecology! In the end, it's all going to be on him, not BP!
AND HE SHOULDN'T EVEN THINK OF ALLOWING DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC!!!
nobody can "fix this mess" except mother nature and it will take her hundreds of years to do so. and don't forget that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. the "mess" is far bigger than anyone realizes at this point.
The top kill was announced last Friday to begin on Sunday. It's now Monday, and the spin is that BP will begin on Tuesday or Wednesday.
BP hasn't got a clue what it's doing.
The entire fiasco was at the very limit of technological capability to begin with. They screwed up, 11 people died as a result, and now humanity is staring the single greatest ecological disaster in history right in the face. As one person put it, "We stabbed a monster in the chest and spit in it's face. Now it's pissed."
And just to add insult to injury, Sarah 'Drill, baby, drill!' Palin is harping that Obama is in bed with the oil companies.
NO SHIT, BITCH! Did she just roll over in her own oil pimp bed to find she's sharing it with a former CIA man?
Gods, please, someone slap that woman silly.
Oh. Wait. Waaaaay to late for that. She's already brain-damaged beyond recovery.
11 people died initially. There will be a lot more after the carcinogens and toxic material works its way into the atmosphere and the food chain.
We asked that a video feed [of the oil gush] be made public, and that took ten days. We have sent letter recently in order to get them to post their air-and-quality data."
~~~~~~
Sent a letter?
"However, the president underlined that he remained committed to retaining off-shore oil as part of his energy plan. "Because it represents 30 per cent of our oil production, the Gulf of Mexico can play an important part in security our energy future," he said."
He forgot to mention that you should get used to eating tofu with artificial fish, shrimp, or oyster flavoring because won't be able to afford the real thing much longer.
"Because it represents 30 per cent of our oil production, the Gulf of Mexico can play an important part in security our energy future," he said."
Translation = The US has a big geezley contract with BP to supply oil for the US military, and we really really need them or I would be forced to bring all the troops home.
“However, the president underlined that he remained committed to retaining off-shore oil as part of his energy plan. “Because it represents 30 per cent of our oil production, the Gulf of Mexico can play an important part in security our energy future,” he said.” (from the article)
It truly amazes me how some Progressives continue to try and sell Obama as believing in Green Issues. I can’t be the only Green to think Obama’s grade on the environment so far is a D?
He still believes in off shore drilling even after the monster ”THE BLOB” was released and is still expanding by the second because the oil is still spewing out. He is for building new nuclear plants which are unsafe. He believes in clean coal and hasn’t ended the practice of montaintop removal mining. Why would a Green Party member vote for Obama in 2012 when he has such a bleak record on the environment?
” Normally friendly voices have begun to criticize the president personally. James Carville, a former Bill Clinton campaign manager and Louisiana native, said the president had been “lackadaisical” and “naïve”.
Chris Matthews, a popular liberal cable TV presenter, said the president was “acting a little like a Vatican Observer”.” (from the article)
James Carville is from Louisiana and is seeing his beloved home turn into a toxic mix of death being brought to its shores. He is worried about the health of the people who live there. This is in his backyard so he has every right to be angry at the way our government is handling this unfolding disaster.
Why do people who live there have to fight government to start building their sand bar that they are having to get a permit before they can start building a defense to stop the oil from reaching the wetlands that are now dying? It is heart breaking to see what is happening there. I spent time in LA and met people whose family had been there for generations who live in Southern LA. They are nice hard working people, the real salt of the earth people, who are willing to fight to save their environment and home, but who have to deal with getting permits before building their defenses? This is wrong!!!!!
People might not agree with James's political views, but one thing I have always thought about him was that he is a honest and passionate man. I am glad he is speaking up for the people in LA who are fighting the fight of their life to protect LA from " THE BLOB".
Chris Matthews is another honest and passionate man. He and the Ed Show are really great. If Obama wants to start doing something than he needs to tell the government to not force people who are trying to fight “THE BLOB” to get a permit before they can start doing the work needed to build their sand bar to stop the oil as a first defense. Tell government to get out of the way and let the people who have ideas to help the situation get to work and not MAKE them fight the government before they can start working to put their plans in place. They are trying to stop the damage that is being done and shouldn't be delayed in putting into play their ideas to see if they work.
Maybe the answer is that we have a government who is over their head and needs to step out of the way and say "I don’t know" what to do and let the local people in LA who have ideas put those ideas to work and untie their hands of having to get permits? Does that seem like a logical first step?
Chris Matthews I believe is Catholic so he would understand my praying to St Jude to step in and help the situation. He is the saint known for lost causes. We must find a way to stop the oil and untie the hands of the people in LA who have ideas to try. I just pray that this idea they are trying next works. If not, we will continue to have ” THE BLOB” get bigger and bigger each passing day.
Yeah, in fact the arctic disaster might be the same disaster after a few percent of the Gulf Gush hits the loop current fan and follows the Gulf Stream north.
Out of 12 Valdez equivalents already spilled in the gulf and another 20 or 30 to go before they can seal it, it's not too hard to imagine at least one Valdez equivalent reaching the arctic on the Gulf Stream.
Not hard at all.
FCK the media for not reporting the seriousness of this disaster.
Not only are the lands and seas being contaminated, but this spell is releasing Benzene into the atmosphere, Benzene is highly caricinogenic. .
FEMA has indicated there no plans to evacuate the region at this time .
Now a reminder of the aftermath of 9/11 where FEMA and the EPA assured the people that the air was safe to breathe this later proved to be a lie.
It a good thing all those people have "Health care" now is it not?
Hmmmm ...... Maybe this, like the healthcare "reform" bill, is just another gift to health insurance industry .....
Is this some kind of monstrous science experiment? Does oil freeze? Will an arctic oil slick impact global warming? Will it kill off polar bears and seals as easily as it kills egrets and pelicans? Heck, only one way to find out.
Too much of the "Progressive" media is becoming increasingly wimpy on this and so many other subjects. They report ongoing disasters with blurbs or in terms of "human interest" stories.
When it comes to facilitating or even suggesting that we need to disenthrown our "historic" president and his ilk, on both sides of the aisle, at the polls, they are out to lunch. Try emailing places like DN to get them to really deal with preventing stuff like Arctic drilling and see what happens ......
I attempted to email the EPA.
They have the least accessible website I have ever seen. Contact addresses are listed by legislation used.
You can't just write to them.
They really don't want to hear from the public. That is obvious.
That shows stealth rather than transparency.
In the news here in Norway tonight it was reported that under the so-called "red-green" coalition government of the Workers´Party and Socialist Left, the politicians have consistently ignored the advice of their environmental researchers, and instead listened to the oil industry, approving more than a dozen new drilling sites outside the coastal line of Norway. Seems it matters little what party they belong to, they go with the tide of the "free market" and ignore the will of the people.
It must be time to change the oil in your fjords.
excellent!
No need to worry. Goldman probably has the bases covered.
They invested in the probability of a Gulf blowout.
Caution: Criminal minds at work.
http://pesn.com/2010/05/05/9501645_No_joke--Goldman_Sachs_shorted_TransOcean/
No joke: Goldman Sachs shorted Gulf of Mexico
"It turns out that Goldman Sachs really did place shorts on TransOcean stock days before the explosions rocked the rig in the Gulf of Mexico sending stocks plunging while GS profits soared -- benefitting once again from a huge disaster, having done the same with airline stocks prior to 911 then again with the housing bubble.
In response to the alleged Goldman Sach's shorting story, Paul, who is an expert on the Gulf Oil subject, provided the following intelligence:
There is a reason they could have known the rig was going to fail up to two weeks ahead of its failure. The nature of these wells is that they leave the drill mud in the well and compress using very heavy drill mud to keep the well from blowing up unlimited. The well would begin to bump (similar to boiling a big bubble) and the acoustic signals would tell the rig was in trouble that far ahead. Goldman Sacks could just have had inside info. They also know the scale of things. This is the best explanation. It could be otherwise.
If you were going to sabotage a drilling team, all you would have to do is load a lighter mud in the mix as they pulled a drill pipe. .... There are lots of ways to have this happen either accidentally or deliberately. Goldman teams are great on statistical stuff sort of like the odds of rolling dice. They might just have figured stats for probability of a failure.??? Of course we could surmise other reasons are possible."
What about the thousands of undersea wells that have or will be plugged after most of the oil has been pumped out. How long will the caps last? If the cap fails will excess oil leak out? Off shore drilling should be suspended until the day when aircraft no longer crash to the ground unexpectedly.
There's reportedly a 50% chance that the North Pole will be ice-free by this September. A BP-sized spill in the Arctic Ocean means that the ocean is turned into a giant heat-absorbing device, similar to a solar pond. Down here, we might get a stronger hurricane. Up in the Arctic, this would be a clathrate-cooking disaster, remarkably accelerating a runaway global methane release.
The runaway global methane release is going to happen. I believe we are past any possible reversible "tipping point". I'm wondering if we'll even last as long as December 21, 2012.
Hey, what the heck, we humans had a good run. It's just too bad that we were so very clever, but so very unintelligent.
Clever: we can build an atomic bomb.
Intelligent: we will not build an atomic bomb.
Clever: we can drill oil wells 20 thousand feet into an ocean floor 5000 feet below sea level.
Intelligent: we will not drill oil wells 20 thousand feet into an ocean floor 5000 feet below sea level.
You get the idea.