The future of the Gulf?

[SoCalDem]

If the Gulf is hopelessly polluted from oil, there will be NO OTHER "use" for it, except for oil production..
The Caspian is all but DEAD now, and the Black sea is on the same path.

[nc4bo]

1. An oil pumping wet dream.

Disgusting and I wouldn't be surprised at anything anymore ESPECIALLY when you take into consideration the size of the oil reservoirs under the GOM.

Disgusting.

[ensho]

2. yes, its like a coup. the oil barons won.

the Supreme Court said they could do it

[hamsterjill]

3. Heartbreaking

In so many ways!

[Blue Owl]

4. All Hail Precious Oil

Let us abandon all critical thinking and keep grubbing the black death that is choking our planet.

:sarcasm:

[lib2DaBone]

5. Well Done CONgress ....

You and your friends at Goldman Sachs have managed to turn an entire ocean into a toilet bowl.

Re-name the Gulf of Mexico.

It is now the "Ronald Reagan Neocon Mememorial Cess Pool."

[L0oniX]

6. Last pic looks like an oil spill monster face.

[pinstikfartherin]

18. That's exactly what I thought when I saw it.

And actually, it kind of looks like a sad face...

[SoCalDem]

19. Reminded me of "The Scream"

apropos:(

[Altoid_Cyclist]

7. Instead of a tourism based economy, it will be replaced by a dead zone economy.

With what's going on in the GOM, the Marcellus region, the Barnett region and all of the other gas and oil exploration sites in the US, it's going to become a little too routine to hear about "accidents" like this.

(Good)Stewards of the land..... not exactly.

[earth mom]

8. I read somewhere that they fouled the gulf on purpose so they could

do whatever the hell they want there. Drill baby Drill! :puke:

Unfortunately for those diabolical bastards, they didn't expect all that methane gas as part of the deal nor did they realize that they couldn't control the gusher.

:grr:

[SoCalDem]

9. Sometimes when you grab a tiger by the tail..the tiger will turn around and eat you

It's all giant science experiment...in a part of the country that's not all that versed in science:(..(the general populace).. I guess they are not praying loudly enough:(

[earth mom]

10. Exactly. What ticks me off is that if we had a real push for alternative energy

starting 30 years ago, this never would have happened. :argh: :cry:

[Scuba]

11. There's an old Chinese saying that applies...

...the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.

[earth mom]

12. Yes, the time is now. But are there any real plans in the works?

I've only heard talk...but nothing concrete.

[Scuba]

13. No. There was money available, but....

...Bush gave it to Big Oil in tax breaks.

[SoCalDem]

15. Unfortunately, our style of government makes it almost impossible

a president gets elected and within a year has to start worrying about how compliant a congress he may have at the midterm...and then a year later he has to worry about his own re-election as well as the possibility of a less favorable congress..

Long-term projects always fall prey to this, especially since the 24-7 prattlefests are always on hand to "warn" the public about how expensive/impossible a switch from almighty oil would be

[The2ndWheel]

14. Why's that?

[earth mom]

20. Were you around during the 70s? If not, read some history. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

31. We did have a real push for alternative energy 30 years ago

But 29 years ago, Ronald "GE Mouthpiece" Reagan shitcanned it.

[SoCalDem]

32. and did it boastfully, ridiculing Carter's attempts to "save us".

:grr:

[Art_from_Ark]

34. Every time I think of that smug ass Reagan

ridiculing, and dismantling, Carter's visionary energy policy, I want to scream! RWR was such a miserable excuse for a president, in so many ways

[pitohui]

38. "in a part of the country that's not all that versed in science"

and yet we know more about geo physics than you do

probably more math too

next question

don't try to help me by calling me stoopid, k, thnx

[pitohui]

37. yeah you read a lot of bullshit

yeah 11 men killed themselves on purpose so the queen of englands bp stock would go up, yeah, right

stop reading bullshit, stop reading conspiracy and fear mongering

diabolical bastards, my ass, they are people even as you and i

[frustrated_lefty]

16. After Katrina, I knew the Gulf was kicked in the gut, repeatedly.

I'll never go back to my home. Too many bad memories, too much loss. This Gulf mess, though, I think was the finishing blow. And it's not going to be a quick death, it's going to be slow and painful like the worst of cancers.

Words do not suffice.

[SoCalDem]

17. I was lucky to have enjoyed the Gulf in the late 50's early 60's

Clean beautiful aquamarine water, and too many sea shells for a little kid to carry..

[Mimosa]

27. Same here. Sad and depressed. n/t

[PacerLJ35]

21. It can recover

Let's not be so presumptuous to assume that mankind can destroy nature completely...after all, our world has survived cataclysm much worse than this. In fact, the Ixtoc oil well spill in the late 1970s spilled more than the BP well has spilled to date (although the BP well may eclipse that), and the Gulf mended and is not a dead zone. In fact, the BP well has still yet to eclipse the size of the 1991 Persian Gulf spill and the gusher in S. California that literally created a lake of oil (and a river of oil). Keep in mind that oil is an organic compound and can (and will) decompose over time.

The difference between the Caspian and the Black Seas and the Gulf of Mexico is our will to fix the wrongs. Russia isn't exactly the best example of environmental stewardship. They don't seem to have much trouble having rusting hulks of ships and rigs listing off their beaches. We do.

[LeftyFingerPop]

22. IXTOC has probably been eclipsed as we type this.

IXTOX was 140 million gallons.

The "high" estimate for this one as of today is pushing 170 million gallons.

The "low" estimate for this one as of today is pushing 100 million gallons.

[PacerLJ35]

24. Maybe

But it's still not THE largest spill...although it could very well go on to become the largest spill. In any case, although the Gulf will suffer damage and steps need to be taken to remediate that, I think the cries that the Gulf will become a "dead zone" are alarmist and will only serve to show in the future that environmentalists only cry wolf.

[LeftyFingerPop]

25. We'll see. n/t

[pitohui]

39. yeah talked to a man who worked the 91 persian gulf spill today

we can handle this, and we HAVE to handle this, what has happened has happened, the only way out is forward

negativity helps no one

[malaise]

23. Big Oil rules

http://www.wrmea.com/archives/may-june01/0105029.html


You know I wonder if the dispersant isn't 'supposed' to kill the Gulf.

[lunatica]

26. Except the Gulf isn't an enclosed Sea

It also has the deep Ocean Conveyor Belt that goes all around the world. If it keeps gushing eventually the oil will be picked up (if it hasn't already been picked up) by this conveyor belt which goes through the Gulf on the Gulf Loop Current.

The deep Ocean Conveyor Belt



The Gulf Loop Current

[PacerLJ35]

30. Yet another reason why the Gulf will survive

I flew over the spill last week. In sheer numbers it seems really huge, but over the vast expanse of water it actually seemed fairly small. Not trying to minimize it because on a local and even regional scale the spill is certainly a disaster. But talk of the Gulf becoming a dead zone seems over-inflated hype, especially considering that the Ixtoc well was about as large (give or take), took nearly 9 months to contain and didn't substantially dent the Gulf's flora and fauna. Ditto with the Persian Gulf, which suffered a larger spill and is nearly enclosed with little current compared to the Gulf of Mexico.

[lunatica]

33. I sincerely hope you're right

I mean that.

[Bragi]

28. The moratorium is key

Obama needs to keep indefinitely the moratorium on deepwater drilling and extraction. He gives up on this and the oceans controlled by the US government are screwed.

[Mimosa]

29. I fear it's becoming 'the plan'

That's why I'm torn about drilling now. It could be all the people along the Gulf have left to have incomes, to keep their roofs over their heads and buy groceries.

I know from experience after Katrina that government will not step in a 'make people whole.'

So if the Gulf is doomed, as I fear, the working people whose jobs are inter-related to oil and gas production need something. Can anybody in good conscience rob 100,000 to 200,000 people of their incomes? What would they do?

[TransitJohn]

35. The Gulf was hopelessly polluted before this travesty. n/t

n/t

[pitohui]

36. yeah well we're not "hopelessly" polluted

tired of the negativity frankly, tired of the exaggeration

if you just want us to give up hope and be depressed, fine, job well done

but why don't you ever ask yourself WHO BENEFITS from your negative attitude?

there was a day when there was no sun in the sky in los angeles, just a haze from all air pollution, maybe you're too young to remember, but if the whole country said, oh well, they're fucked instead of passing the clean air act, you'd still be in that place where "the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime"

if you want to be a no-hoper KEEP IT TO YOURSELF negativity doesn't help us, it hurts us

do you want to help or hurt?

Before the breathing air is gone
Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night time
Out where the rivers like to run
I stand alone
And take back something worth remembering.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Once this is finally capped, stops gushing, et al

bacteria exist that eat this crap. They evolved across aeons to do this, and why we don't have oil covered waters. They were not around, you and I would not be having this conversation.

Given the history of other spills in tropical waters, Ixtoc I comes to mind, ten, twenty years at most, and the gulf will recover.

I know this is too long for most Muricans, and no doubt for the fishermen in the area who are definitely affected. But after this stops flowing for starters NOT all the gulf waters are closed to fishing, and more and more waters will be opened over the years. Again see Ixtoc I. For god sakes, that was a mess and I have eaten both Red Snapper and Shrimp from the Gulf of Campeche...

So having a little perspective does help... oh and those two seas are mostly CLOSED systems. The Gulf is NOT a closed system.

:banghead:

[Phoonzang]

41. The Gulf was hit by an asteroid.

It survived. It'll survive this. *Intentionally doesn't mention how long it took the Gulf to recover from the asteroid strike*