And they want to do this shit off the East Coast of Virginia? The rig that blew up is one of the new deep water rigs of the type which would be used to drill off of Virginia’s coast. Anybody out there know where I can get a few dozen unused Exocet missiles…
Cheap?
Vodpod videos no longer available.
The oil disaster plaguing the Gulf of Mexico and our coastal states puts our desperate need for a new clean energy economy in stark relief. We need to move away from dirty, dangerous and deadly energy sources.
We are pleased that the White House is now saying it will suspend any new offshore drilling while the explosion and spill are investigated, but there should be no doubt left that drilling will only harm our coasts and the people who live there.
Taking a temporary break from offshore drilling is an important step, but it’s not enough. We need to stop new offshore drilling for good, now. And then we need an aggressive plan to wean America from dirty fossil fuels in the next two decades.
This BP offshore rig that exploded was supposed to be state-of-the-art. We’ve also been assured again and again that the hundreds of offshore drilling rigs along our beaches are completely safe. Now, we’ve seen workers tragically killed. We’ve seen our ocean lit on fire, and now we’re watching hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic oil seep toward wetlands and wildlife habitat.
This rig’s well is leaking 210,000 gallons of crude every day, wiping out aquatic life and smothering the coastal wetlands of Louisiana and Mississippi. As the reeking slick spreads over thousands of square miles of ocean, it rapidly approaches the title of worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, even worse than 1989’s Exxon Valdez oil spill. The well is under 5,000 feet of water, and it could take weeks or even months to cap it.
This disaster could unfortunately happen at any one of the hundreds of drilling platforms off our coasts, at any moment. It could happen at the drilling sites that the oil industry has proposed opening along the beaches of the Atlantic Coast.
Indeed, even before this spill, the oil and gas industry had torn apart the coastal wetlands of the Louisiana Bayou over the years. These drilling operations have caused Louisiana to lose 25 square miles of coastal wetlands, which are natural storm barriers, each year…
Video: Blame game in oil spill//
// //
Video: Fishermen help along Louisiana coast//
// //
Video: Fed scrambles against oil spill//
//
Indeed, even before this spill, the oil and gas industry had torn apart the coastal wetlands of the Louisiana Bayou over the years. These drilling operations have caused Louisiana to lose 25 square miles of coastal wetlands, which are natural storm barriers, each year.
Btx3's Blog 
brotherbrown
May 2, 2010 at 5:13 PM
Re: Virginia drilling, case closed!!!
So I have to know, are nuclear plants the answer?
LikeLike
btx3
May 2, 2010 at 10:18 PM
It will be a mix of technologies. Wind and Solar are probably the lowest hanging fruit – but underwater (using water currents) systems are also being built. One of the wilder ones I’ve seen is a geo-stationary winged blimp flying at 65,000 feet made of a new type of solar cell fabric.
The most effective will likely be micro-generation. The issue there is the grad and getting the unit cost down. The new generation solar cells are much less expensive than the old ones, and are a lot more efficient. I have seen one company making solar roofing material.
LikeLike
isochroma
May 4, 2010 at 3:47 PM
What a beautiful leak. I love the oily mass that bulges outwards from a bent pipe. A brown Rorschach blot of the automobile culture.
My most fervent hope is that all efforts to stop and mitigate this masterwork are failures. The incontinent flow of hydrocarbons shall continue for the decay of all.
I would love to see a sea of greasy Devil’s blood flowing into the ocean forever more. The spew that flew right on through.
Then the World can move on into its next phase, the Dark Phase of death, decline and destruction. Soon, all the works of humans will decay and so too will themselves be brought to the altar of slaughter, to account for their crimes of existence.
LikeLike
The Destructionist
May 12, 2010 at 5:32 PM
I have a sinking feeling that this oil disaster is being downplayed and may be much larger than we think. I wanted to know just how much oil was flowing into the ocean from that broken pipeline (in both barrels and in gallons) so I did some research on my own.
Barrels vs. Gallons
Most news articles claim that since April 21, 2010 roughly 4 million gallons of sweet crude have been leaked into the Gulf at a rate of 210,000 gallons per day. But according to an Associated Press article just posted today (What went wrong at oil rig? A lot), approximately 4,000,000 barrels have already spilled into the Gulf. When you convert those barrels into gallons, you end up with a whopping 168,000,000 gallons of oil: that’s a difference of 164,000,000 gallons from the previous estimate!
(Don’t believe me? Read the articles and convert the measurements for yourself.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-42484-Environmental-Health-Examiner~y2010m5d12-Toxic-chemicals-used-in-BP-oil-spill-cleanup-oil-to-remain-flowing-through-Gulf-VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill
http://www.calculateme.com/Volume/Barrels(Petroleum)/ToGallons.htm
LikeLike
btx3
May 12, 2010 at 6:02 PM
I remember when Katrina Hit. There were 28 separate oil spills visible from space…
That got covered up as well, when Bushit ordered the satellite feeds to the public shut down.
LikeLike