The Consequences of 'Drill Baby Drill:' More Than 90 Oil Spills A Day In U.S.

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/water/136793/the_consequences_of_%27drill%2C_baby_drill%27%3A_more_than_90_oil_spills_a_day_in_the_u.s./

The Consequences of 'Drill, Baby Drill': More Than 90 Oil Spills a Day in the U.S.
By Kari Lydersen, AlterNet. Posted April 16, 2009.

And that's just the fraction of reported spills. While big tanker disasters make the headlines, the daily toll of the oil industry is huge.

The 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska on March 24 got much attention, including reports that significant oil still pollutes the area and many fish and animal species and the Alaska Native economies that relied on them have still not recovered.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Cosco Busan oil tanker which slammed into San Francisco's Bay Bridge and caused a major spill in November 2007 is currently on trial.

Such dramatic tanker accidents are what normally come to mind when people think of oil spills. But oil spills and ongoing leaks from pipelines, platforms, storage tanks and other infrastructure are actually a daily occurrence in Alaska, the Gulf Coast, California and other parts of the U.S.

Companies are rarely punished for such occurrences, yet these sources of contamination create serious and ongoing public health and environmental problems that communities are often left to deal with on their own. These spills happen from rigs, pipelines and infrastructure both on land and offshore, with the most serious health and environmental consequences coming when oil and related contaminants pollute waterways or seep into groundwater.

The Coast Guard National Response Center, which tallies all reports of oil spills, logged more than 33,000 in 2008. Pipelines and platforms accounted for more than 1,300 each, and storage tanks suffered more than 2,400 spills.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, a reported spill should be any "Discharges that cause a sheen or discoloration on the surface of a body of water; discharges that violate applicable water-quality standards; and discharges that cause a sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or on adjoining shorelines."

A 2002 report by the National Academies found that an average 880,000 gallons of petroleum enter North American ocean waters because of oil drilling and exploration each year, mainly from leaks in the Gulf of Mexico and off Southern California, northern Alaska and eastern Canada. (The report noted that other human sources, including land-based runoff, boat and jet ski engines and aircraft jettisoning fuel are a much more significant source, introducing about 30 times more petroleum into the ocean each year.)

Worldwide, the report said, 210 million gallons of petroleum enter the sea annually from the extraction, transportation and consumption of crude oil and related products. Oil also seeps naturally from the ocean floor into the water, about 180 million gallons per year according to the National Academies.

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[Optical.Catalyst]

1. Considering the crisis we have with Global Warming, more drilling is absolutely the wrong answer

Investing in clean, renewable energy sources should be President Obama's top priority. Cap and Trade of carbon pollution is the first step in controlling the CO2 emissions and equalizing the economics of the problem between the major producers around the world.

The time to take action on the replacement of dirty fossil fuels with renewable energy sources is Yesterday, not Today. Every citizen of the world will benefit from stable energy prices, greater energy efficiency, and the knowledge that we are doing something positive for the environment.

[taterguy]

2. Overturning the laws of physics is gonna be a bitch

It takes a lot of energy to move something that weighs a couple thousand pounds.

Maybe it's time to start questioning whether or not automobiles should be the default method of transportation.

They come in handy once in a while but that doesn't mean they have to be used all the time.

I suspect that if we only used them when we had to we'd save more oil than we currently drill for off-shore