Gulf of Mexico Oil Contamination
The oil leak is still spilling oil in our precious environment. For five weeks now.
I don’t wonder that the risk was initially rated low as a realistic rating would not have allowed to drill for oil in the first place.
I don’t wonder that the problem was initially belittled by BP . This is just how corporate marketing and politics works. If you say enough often and loud that there isn’t a problem, people start beliving it. The massive use of Corexit oil dispersant helped to reduce the visible amount of oil on surface and help to keep those claims alive.
I don’t wonder that equipment and preventing counter-measures where not installed when they where too costly in the view of the oil industries. So there was only a weak blowout preventer valve as the only backup. Provit has priority .
I don’t wonder that it is very complicated to shut the hole. There is a massive pressure at the well an the whole equipment seem to be messed up. After the last attempt to stop the oil failed there is little hope.
I wonder that all the experts are not able to reduce the mass of oil spilled. You can’t stop them, but it should be possible to pump the oil from the well . Clearly this costs much money, but there are little short time alternatives.
This catastrophe did also show how much the politics depends on the oil industries – even Obama.
I fear this catastrophics will come out much worser than we think it already is.
The only consequences is not to boycott BP, but to boycott the whole oil industries by developing and supporting renewable energy sources. There is enough energy on planet. And no, atomic enery is not the solution.
Update 2010-05-30
History repeats itself . The only thing human learned from history is that human didn’t learned from history.
posted at: 23:58 | path: /politics/energy | permanent link to this entry
