Early Alaska thaws curbing oil search

[Judi Lynn]

July 26, 2003, 8:50PM

Early Alaska thaws curbing oil search
Energy Department seeks new way to lengthen season
By JEFF NESMITH
Cox News Service

WASHINGTON -- Global warming, which most climate experts blame mainly on large-scale burning of oil and other fossil fuels, is interfering with efforts in Alaska to discover yet more oil.

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to help oil companies and Alaska officials find a way around the problem.

A state rule says heavy exploration equipment can be used on fragile tundra only when the ground is frozen to 12 inches deep and covered by at least 6 inches of snow.

However, because winters in the Arctic are becoming shorter, the number of days the tundra meets those conditions has shrunk from more than 200 in 1970 to only 103 last year, a state document notes.

The Energy Department is providing a $270,000 grant to help determine whether there are ways the equipment can be used even when the tundra is not protected by snow. (snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2012857

[LEFTofLEFT]

1. oh, what lovely irony

:)

[jamesinca]

2. When the ice caps melt they can establish a shipping lane

They will also have more hydro-electric power. More ocean to drill in. Picture the north pole oil rigs off shore, what a beautiful site. That is what is coming

[shirlden]

3. Gee, it is nice to be right.

I have been reading all that I can find on the global warming problem for several years now. I deduced this particular "problem" a couple of years back. The tundra will be so unstable that they will be unable to work on it any time of the year. So what happens......well it could turn into a swamp and they could build shipping lanes as they have in the La. bayou country. This in the end would likely be cheaper and more convenient for the oil companies, but it would mean the total destruction of 100's of square miles of Alaska. But then...."who cares"?? Our SUV's would have gas and the BFEE and friends would have more billions.

:shrug:

[lumpy]

12. Even in interior Alaska many homes are sagging into the ground.

The permafrost is giving way to warming conditions. That will create unstable earth foundations. People are going to have to dig deeper to install their root cellars and compensate for building structures. Mexico city has a similar problem , unstable ground.

[Democat]

4. Global warming is junk science!

That's what Bush says, right? Don't tell us he's wrong.

[IndianaGreen]

9. "winters in the Arctic are becoming shorter"?

Like you said, didn't Bush tell us that global warming was junk science and that we need additional research?

This sounds like a tacit admission that the planet is in trouble.

[Guaranteed]

10. Planet's gonna be fine...

WE'RE the ones who won't make it. I've always thought that we were at the mercy of the planet, not the other way around. Life is remarkably adaptable....things change, but something's always around to fill in the "niches" created. It just ain't gonna be us, is all.
Which, I guess, is a real shame. ;)

[Guaranteed]

11. Oh yeah, I forgot....GO COCKROACHES!! n/t

[UpInArms]

5. destroying the environment

in every way possible is the goal of the fossil fuel addicts -

the term "conservative" should be ripped from the Republican Party and be replaced with a more descriptive one - my choice would be reprobate

[libtexan]

6. Gee, this is

analogous to the way the *administration operates: Find a way around a situation created by people being stupid in order to keep on being stupid. I cannot believe Alaska is not getting into wind power. I used to live there and, holy shit, did the wind blow!

[loudsue]

7. No...wind power would make too much sense

And we know that these people aren't happy unless they're doing something to piss off the "libruls". It doesn't matter how stupid it is. They live for their hate and destruction, just to prove themselves.

Gawd! What are we doing to our precious EARTH!! You'd think repugs would have at least a marginal understanding of which side their bread was buttered on!

[lumpy]

13. Alaska is a big country.

Very little wind in the interior, little rain, mild summers but lots of winter cold.

[Sushi_lover]

8. Global warming imperils the pipeline

The pipeline is built on supports that are anchored in the permafrost. If the permafrost melts, the support sags.

The supports are actually spread over more ground than structurally needed. This is for thermal dissipation.

The original design of the pipeline did not account for global warming. Now the pipeline supports are sagging due to additional warmth hitting the permafrost.

The secret truth: The whole pipeline may need to be rebuilt.

[shirlden]

14. The whole pipeline does need rebuilding now

I recently read an article (forget where) that the "ancient" pipeline is in serious need of not repair, but complete rebuilding. It will not be in any condition to carry any additional oil even if they start drilling more areas. This is part of the reason that even the oil companies say it would be 7 to 10 years before the first drop of oil would come to us from Alaska. In 7 to 10 years we would not need it if Al Gore now occupied the WH. We would be deep into renewables.
If we had gov sponsorship of renewable right now, it would not only be a step in the beginning of a healthier planet, but it could do for the stock market and for the job situation what the tech bubble did in the 90's.

:argh:

[libtexan]

15. If you followed the debates over opening ANWR

then maybe you were privy to the BP whistleblower reports. Damning stuff. Completely shoddy, emergency shut off valves that don't work, corroding parts that needed replacement years ago and the inability during winter to get out to the areas where corrosion is the worst if a spill developed.

But reopening ANWR was halted, and now we're in Iraq. I'm getting sick of connecting the dots. When we get an honest person in the WH in 2004 I have vowed to put an American flag on my porch. Right now I'd be flying the skull and crossbones if I thought my windows wouldn't get smashed.

[kimchi]

16. Mother Earth has spoken.

you go girl!