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Exxon Valdez, 20 Years Later
Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of the worst environmental disasters in history, the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
After two decades, the memory of the spill persists for the commercial fishermen and Alaska natives whose livelihoods were destroyed by Exxon's recklessness. Sadly, the oil persists, too: A 2007 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study showed that 26,600 gallons of crude oil from the spill are still lingering below the surface of Alaska's beaches.
What has the oil industry learned since the spill? Not much. Oil spills are still a regular occurrence. Just weeks ago, a tanker off the coast of Australia crashed, spilling more than 50,000 gallons of oil and shutting local fisheries.
Here in the Bay Area, memories of the 2007 Cosco Busan spill are still fresh: Oil slicked birds, blackened beaches, and a stifled crab season.
It's not just tanker accidents that pour oil into our oceans, threatening to destroy fisheries and the coastal economies that rely on them.
Since 1993, U.S. offshore drilling has sent an average of 47,800 barrels of oil a year into the sea, according to data from the Minerals Management Service. Offshore drilling platforms are particularly vulnerable to storms: The Coast Guard estimates that roughly 9 million gallons of oil were spilled during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone.
Contrary to what the oil industry would like us to believe, there is no effective method for cleaning up an oil spill. And where there are tankers and offshore drilling, there always will be spills.
Instead of opening the door to more Exxon-style disasters with expanded offshore drilling, we should be embracing the clean energy solutions that will keep our beaches and marine life safe.
More offshore drilling will do nothing to lower gas prices or create energy independence. It will only add to the billions of dollars that oil industry executives have raked in year after year.
Fortunately, the Obama administration understands that Americans want clean energy and the jobs that come with it, not more bloated oil industry profits.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that his agency will be working to develop more of our nation's clean energy resources. Salazar is also allowing expanded public scrutiny for the offshore drilling plan that President George W. Bush pushed through in his waning days in office.
On April 16, Salazar will hold a public hearing on offshore drilling here in San Francisco.
Bay Area residents who care about California's coasts should let Salazar know that we support the administration's commitment to renewable energy, and that we want to leave the drill-everywhere days of the Bush administration behind us.
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Show AllSierra Club, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.
**and possibly the most corrupt.
Loves hunting and fishing, and exotic meat dishes for fund raisers, and makes deals with Clorox bleach...
Eh but what can you do?
The Humane Society of the US criticizes animal rights radicals but euthanizes animals left and right.
Mixed up priorities and ethics.
Greenpeace is the same. It doesnt campaign against whaling or sealing and tries to steal donations from groups that do like Sea Shepherd.
best to avoid the big Greens.
Nature Conservancy is another bad one.
There was a write up about a child molester who received a life sentence in a Texas prison for his crimes. Which means he will most likely be killed by another inmate since child molesters are the lowest ranking inmates in any system, and killing one is a badge of honor to the other inmates.
When the Exxon Valdez broke up in Price William sound it was after the company knew that the vessel was less than fit for duty, and did not have a double hull, as well as other safety precautions. But they made the decision to allow it to operate, most likley knowing that they would face small if any penalties if anything happened. They were right.
Until criminal activity such as the Exxon corporations is held in the same regards as the "Child Molesters" ,those companies will continue to operate in the same manner.
Instead of being fined out of business ---which would have caught the attention of other companies----39 years after the Exxon-Valdez spill Exxon/Mobile posted the highest annual earnings of any corporation in the history of the world.
Until the environment, countless animals for generations to come, the livelihood of thousands of people, and so much more is held as precious as an innocent child----there will be other spills and catastrophes---many of them may make the Exxon Valdez spill look like an oil slick in the bath tub in comparison.
Child Molesters rarely ever have the political clout that large corporations do, but neither of them should---especially in a Nation that promotes itself as a "Nation of Laws"----instead it remains a Nation where "all men are created equal---some are just more equal than others". If you can 'buy a president', then judges---even supreme court judges are very cheap and easy to add to the 'shopping list'. That is exactly what happened. And unless some major changes are made---very very soon---expect it to happen again and again and ----
Good Luck America, you really need it.
The Sierra Club and the San Francisco Chronicle are both Demok party appendages which puts them where the party is: Squarely in the extreme right gutter. In stark contrast, the people are on the far left with the Green party, as polls indicate.
The people demand a comprehensive energy policy, which combines zero carbon sources, strict enforcement of anti-collusion and anti trust laws, a halt to the promotion of gluttony, full federal support for the most efficient methods (for transport, etc), full costs in retail prices, and we want full ownership/control of energy production in the hands of the people.
The Sierra Club doesn't support a tenth of the people's demands. There can't be a real discussion of energy until the elites recognize the people's demands. While the elites suppress the people's demands, this isn't about energy. This is elite class war aggression.