The Bloggers With The Most To Say
To Drill or not to Drill?
I'm an oilfield wife. My husband is a geologist by degree and engineer by trade. He's worked in the oil industry since the moment he got out of college. So do lots and lots of people in southern Louisiana. We are also liberals. Big time. So as I'm sure you know, there was an oil rig explosion last week, and a spill following it. Thank God, my husband wasn't on it, though I cried and cried for the 11 wives at home whose husbands wouldn't be coming back. Just heartbreaking.
Now there are lots of people saying, "See what happens when you drill for oil!?", and while I understand their sentiment, I'm all about the environment too, I can't help but be frustrated with their lack of logic. This is the first oil spill in the gulf in 26 years. The safety measures on these rigs are so stringent, and operations are strictly regulated by the feds (MMS). Oil is necessary. So is alternative energy. We must work on both, there's no question about it. So why are so many people, on both sides, so black and white on this? I'm so annoyed with people complaining about oil, yet drive non hybrid cars, even just around the block when a bike would be better. And I'm so annoyed with republicans in Florida who loved Bush and his oil connections, but are now pissed that gulf water on the West coast of Florida has now been opened (though closed again this morning by the POTUS). Not in my back yard, they say. Everyone wants oil, everyone wants energy in some form, but no one wants to sacrifice anything for it. Not money, not land, not the environment, not tourism, not convenience.
This is all over the place, I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm nothing short of frazzled right now. So what do you think about the energy situation in this country?
Now there are lots of people saying, "See what happens when you drill for oil!?", and while I understand their sentiment, I'm all about the environment too, I can't help but be frustrated with their lack of logic. This is the first oil spill in the gulf in 26 years. The safety measures on these rigs are so stringent, and operations are strictly regulated by the feds (MMS). Oil is necessary. So is alternative energy. We must work on both, there's no question about it. So why are so many people, on both sides, so black and white on this? I'm so annoyed with people complaining about oil, yet drive non hybrid cars, even just around the block when a bike would be better. And I'm so annoyed with republicans in Florida who loved Bush and his oil connections, but are now pissed that gulf water on the West coast of Florida has now been opened (though closed again this morning by the POTUS). Not in my back yard, they say. Everyone wants oil, everyone wants energy in some form, but no one wants to sacrifice anything for it. Not money, not land, not the environment, not tourism, not convenience.
This is all over the place, I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm nothing short of frazzled right now. So what do you think about the energy situation in this country?
Tags: alternative, explosion, louisiana, obama, oil, politics, spill
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jpeazy on -
First of all, while I am a tree hugger, I am not a tree humper.
That being said, I cringed at the speed at which the gov decided to cease all drilling. Most people would think "Well thats good because they need to know what went wrong here before the resume drilling". The only problem is that projects like this are YEARS in the making, and everyday they are behind, is a day that they are losing money. It would be like is someone said they would buy your house and you go buy a new one, but then there is a hault placed on moving into new homes. You're stuck with money flying out of your pocket each day that you are unable to move forword. Is money worth lives? Heck no, but as you mentioned, its been over 2 decades since anything like this has happened, and nothing in this world is going to work at 100%, 100% of the time.
Meanwhile, inner treehugger is flabbergasted at the loss this oil is creating. There is fiduciary loss of the actual OIL!, there are the animals that will die/become toxic, there is the fishing industry that will not be able to catch anything due to the water being toxic, the tourism to the Gulf will go down as well. Those sick tendrils of slick slowly creeping across the ocean poised to strangle out the life in the Gulf Coast are heartbreaking and nightmarish to say the least.
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Permalink Reply by Heather on -
Yeah, I think that's the thing people don't realize, it will be years before any drilling would begin on any of the areas newly opened, and drilling is continuing in other parts of the Gulf of Mexico. So little is known about the actual issue that caused the explosion, and while there are educated assumptions, we won't know for quite a while. I too am stunned by the oil slick, and shocked more than anything by the time wasted by BP to get this cleaned up. It's a week and a half later and it seems as if they're just getting to work. I just don't understand that, and neither do many people I know in the industry. Louisiana gets such a bum rap, not just from the nation, but from the universe itself it seems. Thanks so much for your reply, it's nice to hear a thought out opinion, rather than the knee jerk reactions (in both directions) I see on facebook and twitter.
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Permalink Reply by El Diablo Blanco on -
I think oil is all about politics. I mean the kind of politics that go way beyond government, and into the territory of "the people with all the money." Because, really, there's no good reason for us to STILL be using oil... when we've always known that it's a nonrenewable resource.
40 years ago, you'd require a "supercomputer" the size of your bedroom to do the things that can now be done on a Macbook Pro. And we're supposed to believe that, with all of this time we've had, we really couldn't have come up with anything better than oil?
People should read some of this guy, by the way: Nikola Tesla on Transmission of Electricity Without Wires (This is only a couple of pages from one book. But feel free to research further.)
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Permalink Reply by Juliana on -
start at minute 14
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/5/group_bp_has_one_of_the
when legislation sides with the american people and not corporations, we should discuss drilling.
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Permalink Reply by Eric the BeehiveHairdresser on -
I think that we of course do need oil for various things in our modern world. Though, not necessarily to convert to gas and power cars or homes. Other forms of electricity i.e. wind and solar enegry can power homes and cars and are currently doing that -- this alternate form of energy needs to continue in my eyes.
The oil wells that are currently in use, sure keep pumping them. The vast territories that have already been open up by the government to allow drilling, drill them up if need be. Having said that, I don't like the oil lobby trying to get more and more territory unlocked for drilling.
Also, hydrofracking in areas where the water supply is located is about the dumbest thing that anyone can do.
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Permalink Reply by Katie on -
Just in terms of this specific disaster, I think that like any accident, there are things that can be learned from it, and I hope this encourages better, more effective safety regulations and mechanisms. I know they already have so many regulations, but you just think of the men who died and their families...if that could be prevented in some way, so that other families don't have to go through that, I think that's positive.
I think ceasing drilling at least until the clean up is over is a good idea, if not because we need to find out what went wrong, but...can you imagine how horrible it would be if this were to happen again? It would be an awful coincidence, but...in my opinion, it's just not worth the risk.
On the whole, I believe we should limit drilling and focus on alternative energy solutions. Work on developing more energy efficient technologies, so that we need less to do the same things, and then from there, work on reducing how much we as individuals use. And it's worth noting, it's not just energy that we rely on from petroleum products. We also need to drastically reduce the production and consumption of plastics.
I think the focus from here on out should be on maximizing what we can do with the oil we're already drilling for, and then shifting gears to develop new energy sources and new energy-saving technologies, as well as pushing people harder to make the sacrifices necessary to reduce our dependence on oil. It's not even a question of whether or not drilling is bad or anything like that. It's just that it's a finite resource, someday it will be gone, and it's in our best interest to find newer, better, cleaner sources.
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