Offshore drilling is bad news, and we should say so
Offshore oil production is a growth industry that has produced numerous large-scale oil spills destroying an immense amount habitat and devastating wildlife. Clearly drilling is not the answer to any of our energy problems. It creates far fewer jobs than clean energy, it won’t help us become energy independent, and it definitely won’t help solve the climate change crisis.
This and what follows are what my visitors are discussing as we share our holiday together. Alberta supplies about 1.4m barrels of oil a day to the US, both from the oil sands and conventional wells. The oil sands, which contain the world’s biggest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, are set to grow as several projects come on stream.
Offshore drilling is bad news, and we should say so.
The BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill demonstrates the consequences of offshore drilling can be devastating to the coastal communities that depend on fishing and tourism. Approximately 640 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled: 100 miles in Florida, 362 miles in Louisiana, 108 miles in Mississippi and 70 miles in Alabama. About 1.84 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied: 1.07 million on the surface and 771,000 subsea. More than 34.7 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
As of July 28, although sporadic sightings of tar balls may continue, Florida’s shoreline is not expected to receive additional impacts over the next 72 hours. Observations by NOAA continue to indicate no significant amounts of oil moving toward the Loop Current.
Offshore drilling is bad news, and we should say so.
Early Tuesday a tugboat was pushing a dredge barge when the dredger hit a wellhead. Since then the wellhead has been spewing a mixture of oil, natural gas, and water into Barataria Bay in southeastern Louisiana. The resulting sheen covers more than six square miles. Cedyco Corp. of Houston is responsible for the well abandoned in 2008, and the company has hired Wild Well to secure it. – Read the full article.
EPA: Michigan oil spill may have exceeded 1M gallons
The Environmental Protection Agency says it believes more than a million gallons of oil may have leaked this week into a major southern Michigan waterway that leads to Lake Michigan.
On Monday July 26, 2010, a 30-inch pipeline in Marshall, Mich. belonging to Enbridge Inc. burst. EPA estimates over 1 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Talmadge Creek, a waterway which feeds into the Kalamazoo River.
The site currently includes a 25-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River, which is at higher than average levels due to heavy rainfalls. The site area lies between Marshall and Battle Creek and includes marshlands, residential areas, farmland, and businesses. — Source
Offshore drilling is bad news, and we should say so.
The B.C. government has been lobbing to get Ottawa to lift the offshore drilling and tanker moratoriums for years. British Columbians are rightly concerned as oil share oil drilling destroys more habitat than the province’s forest companies do.
On June 26 during events on English Bay, in Victoria, in Kelowna, and on Hornby Island and on beaches across B.C. gathered to oppose offshore drilling in non-political Hands Across the Sand rallies that began in Florida. “There is a message for people to wake up and see the damage that is being done and to say ‘no,’” said Renee Lindstrom, an organizer.
Offshore drilling is bad news, and we should say so.
The moratorium on offshore oil development in B.C. won’t be lifted any time soon, especially in the wake of the environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, according to federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice. Read the full article.
Federal ban on offshore drilling, oil tankers not legally binding
The government has also determined that the ban doesn’t apply to oil-tanker traffic, despite the widely held view that such vessels are prohibited from plying the waters along B.C.’s northern coast. — Read the full article
Ignatieff supports oil tanker ban off B.C. coast
The federal Liberals want to ban oil supertankers from British Columbia’s northwestern coast, a promise that would halt the building of a proposed $5.5-billion oil sands pipeline from Alberta through northern B.C.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s announcement that a future Liberal government would legislate a ban on the tankers pits his party against one of Canada’s largest companies, Enbridge Inc. — Read the full article
Tankers in Georgia Strait- the risk is growing
Here in the Strait, an increase in tankers taking crude from the oil sands out through Burrard Inlet means our waters are more at risk from a catastrophic oil spill than ever before. The decision to increase tanker traffic was made without any public consultation and the question has to be asked: are we ready? The answer is – no we’re not. Read more about the issue.
Offshore drilling is bad news, and we should say so.
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Thank you for the news and overview. The spills and dangers seem endless.
Normally I try to step back from the news but this has been a topic we have been discussing. I have a lot of company right now and will continue to have company until after labor Day. We all agree that off shore oil drilling and ocean tankers are not the answer to our energy problems and will only create yet more catastrophes.
Although I agree, if I say that down here, in Southern Louisiana, I’ll be hung from the nearest tree…
We have to kick the habit. We have to develop green energy before we destroy the planet.
Excellent post. I wish I could be more of an optimist, but until people stop driving gasoline automobiles and stop using natural gas generated electricity and using natural gas and fuel oil for heat and cooling and manufacturing; until they stop paving roads with asphalt; until they stop producing fiber, and making a thousand varieties of plastics; until they stop using petroleum to plow fields, produce pesticides and grow our food, propel our ships; fight our wars; make cable communication and wireless communication possible; make modern medicine possible…well, you see, until we can change our whole way of life and thinking there isn’t much chance that we will do more than protest and stop using plastic bags in favor of paper. I do hate to be such an incurable realist, but most people simply are not willing to give up the self-willed style of life that petroleum makes possible. Nuclear energy, wind power,and solar power together cannot fill this maw. But, this does not mean that we cannot continue to try to catch the conscience of the consumer and the corporation…perhaps, perhaps.
All of the people who are visiting me have changed their lifestyles drastically. They are not mainstream folks … lol :D neither am I … we are environmentalists and political activists who are all semi-retired now, but still conscious.
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