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Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico


Siara

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If it goes unchecked this oil spill could be a horrible mess. What's it going to be like in those Gulf states without the fishing industry? What's it going to be like in those states without the tourist industry? Five years ago quite a few of those families lost everything they owned in Katrina. And now this.

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When the news that this oil rig exploded hit the press I posted a question on CNN's site: "Is there going to be an oil spill?" Conservative posters reamed me a new one for "not thinking about the families first". I WAS thinking about families first. The economy has been BAD (in case no one noticed). What's the potential collapse of two of that area's major industries going to do?

The vociferous conservatives on the internet always come out with a knee-jerk, rude, hostile reaction when they hear the word "ecosystem".

But the fact of the matter is that there is NO difference between the health of the Gulf of Mexico's ecosystem and the financial well being of thousands of American families. If people would just lose the attitude that education is an expression of left wing snobbery our country would be so much better off.

Ecology isn't important because the left wing is better than the right wing. Ecology is important because we are an animal species that is PART of ecology. If this oil slick goes out of control thousands of families are going to suffer big time.

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I can't help thinking that if thousands of families end up on welfare because of this there's going to be a lot of political double talk and rewriting of history on the right. It would be SO great if the people who failed to consider the importance of the Gulf's ecosystem admitted their error and used this as a learning experience. But they won't. The suffering of these families will only be an intellectual abstraction and this disaster will just be another roll of the dice in the never ending abstract game of political one-up-man-ship.

Reality is not a high school political debate. The rules of biology are not political spin.

Conservatives, I would like your response.

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As much as I hate to hear of an ecological disaster such as this one, it's not typical.

Didn't Obama just okay the drilling for offshore oil and in Alaska?

I keep hoping that the left is going to take the high road, but I am constantly disappointed.

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As much as I hate to hear of an ecological disaster such as this one, it's not typical.

It could be catastrophic. With things that could wreak that much disaster we shouldn't think, "How often does it happen?". We should think, "Could it happen?"

Didn't Obama just okay the drilling for offshore oil and in Alaska?

Yup. I was sad to hear it and I think he made a mistake. The reason I aimed my rant at the right is that those were the people who called me an idiot for mentioning ecology. I did not aim my rant towards the right because there aren't any hysterical idiots on the left.

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I think the silence you're hearing on this is because no one can disagree with you. How can they?

Although, I'm in favor of drilling for our own oil. Until we can transition to another energy source, we HAVE to have it.

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I think the silence you're hearing on this is because no one can disagree with you. How can they?

Although, I'm in favor of drilling for our own oil. Until we can transition to another energy source, we HAVE to have it.

I agree with you. We can't stop using oil.

Obviously, this is a tragic disaster and everyone feels sorry for the families of the dead and sorry that it happened.

I guess a point I wanted to make is that when the news came out about the oil spill half of the country reacted with "Oh shut up, ****ing liberals". If they had thought for one minute they would have realized that the oil spill could be a secondary disaster effecting thousands of families. But the impulse react politically was so strong and so instantaneous that the obvious fact that this was a disaster too faded into insignificance.

It would be good if the people who react that way could stop for a second and reflect on how stupidly they reacted to this situation because they saw nothing but politics. Could this be a lesson? As in, hysterical political extremism is making us STUPID? No. Probably not.

Edited by Siara
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where as this spill is bad, perhaps as bad as exon valdios(spch). however it turned out that that oil spill which was bad for life, was only bad for life on a short period. in the medium time period it was a huge boon for life. you see all of those oil eating bacs. that we used to eat the oil entered the food chain. ie every body ended up with more food including the fishermen. but in the long term of course there was no affect.

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where as this spill is bad, perhaps as bad as exon valdios(spch). however it turned out that that oil spill which was bad for life, was only bad for life on a short period. in the medium time period it was a huge boon for life. you see all of those oil eating bacs. that we used to eat the oil entered the food chain. ie every body ended up with more food including the fishermen. but in the long term of course there was no affect.

Rubbish.

The Exxon Valdez spill is still causing issue today and has certainly not helped the life in the Prince William sound at all and many populations certainly never recovered and studies are still showing negative effects from the spill.

Where do you get this rubbish?

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Rubbish.

The Exxon Valdez spill is still causing issue today and has certainly not helped the life in the Prince William sound at all and many populations certainly never recovered and studies are still showing negative effects from the spill.

Where do you get this rubbish?

sorry mat i will take the word of a fisherman living in the area over a scientist who goes up there for a month or two, if at all.

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sorry mat i will take the word of a fisherman living in the area over a scientist who goes up there for a month or two, if at all.

Good thinking danielost. That random fisherman living on the beach in Alaska undoubtedly was a world expert on oil eating bacteria.

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sorry mat i will take the word of a fisherman living in the area over a scientist who goes up there for a month or two, if at all.

Maybe while you were up there you should have stopped at a local gas station and gotten the low down on how to manage the global energy crisis. Come on, danielost.

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While it was devastating for the local wildlife, it was an economic boom for all the 'clean up' crews.....

Of course, that's not advocating anything!

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Wow, talk about some Orwellian comments being made here. Imagine that: Massive oil spills into the enviroment actually improve wildlife and the enviroment!

I didn't know that!

In all seriousness, Siara, this is a great post. I thought it was agonizingly ironic that on Earth Day we were treated to images of a flaming oil platform spewing black smoke into the air and belching crude oil into the beautiful blue sea. What a tragedy.

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I'm in favor of weaning America off of oil for alternate fuels period. Unfortunately, oil is used for many things other that fuel so it won't completely go away.

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As much as I hate to hear of an ecological disaster such as this one, it's not typical.

Didn't Obama just okay the drilling for offshore oil and in Alaska?

I keep hoping that the left is going to take the high road, but I am constantly disappointed.

Anybody notice that when Obama™ announced this last week he was at an airforce base and there was a fighter jet behind him while he was speaking?

-there was a definite reason for delivering the announcement in that propagated fashion.

Look:

picture1lw.png

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So a fighter plane was at an airforce base. That's where they tend to be. Don't see the big issue.

On topic I don't think anyone would just shrug off a massive oil spill no matter what their political views. And if they do then there's something seriously wrong with them.

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Unfortunate accident that's for sure. But for now, the world runs on oil. And it's not going away anytime soon.

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So a fighter plane was at an airforce base. That's where they tend to be. Don't see the big issue.

On topic I don't think anyone would just shrug off a massive oil spill no matter what their political views. And if they do then there's something seriously wrong with them.

On the first point: It's the specifics of the event. Air Force bases have conference rooms, and planes are in hangars. He was doing this speech in a hangar. He was deliberately standing in front of a fighter jet. Don't know if it really means anything, but it was certainly staged so he was there. Believe it or not, there are places on an air force base where there aren't planes.

Not sure why he was at the base to do this speech in the first place.

on the second point: I agree. This is a disaster. Oil rigs will never be the safest places on the world. I'm not sure, did they attribute the explosion to malfunction, or what? I get the feeling if it were a right winger in office and they didn't quickly confirm accident, there'd be cries of a Terror Strike. Let's see how our Leftist president handles this one.

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Let's see how our Leftist president handles this one.

It happened more than 24 hrs ago and to my knowledge he hasn't said anything. It didn't take him this long to respond to the mine disaster....

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It happened more than 24 hrs ago and to my knowledge he hasn't said anything. It didn't take him this long to respond to the mine disaster....

To draw a parallel, this could be Obama's Katrina, in fact. I'm going to say it. This is Obama's Hurricane Katrina. Let's see how much he beats Bush's time on this by.

Beyond the politics, I sincerely hope that the clean-up on this is effective enough to keep at least part of the local industry and wildlife intact. I ain't so heartless as the hardcore politicos. I do hope we find a good way to take care of the people harmed without breaking our country.

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To draw a parallel, this could be Obama's Katrina, in fact. I'm going to say it. This is Obama's Hurricane Katrina. Let's see how much he beats Bush's time on this by.

Beyond the politics, I sincerely hope that the clean-up on this is effective enough to keep at least part of the local industry and wildlife intact. I ain't so heartless as the hardcore politicos. I do hope we find a good way to take care of the people harmed without breaking our country.

Well... it COULD be his Katrina if the worst case scenario comes to pass & the spill gets immense.

It's going to affect the same people as Katrina too. Ugh, those poor people.

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Anybody notice that when Obama™ announced this last week he was at an airforce base and there was a fighter jet behind him while he was speaking?

-there was a definite reason for delivering the announcement in that propagated fashion.

This just in...Presidents have been using these types of 'tactics' for ages. It's nothing new. You think the 'fireside chat' was just because FDR was chilly?

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This just in...Presidents have been using these types of 'tactics' for ages. It's nothing new. You think the 'fireside chat' was just because FDR was chilly?

/Raises his hand and answers in the same motion./

He was projecting a fatherly, calm air with that idea! He wanted America to think of him as their father, or grandfather. Their protector at any rate.

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If it goes unchecked this oil spill could be a horrible mess. What's it going to be like in those Gulf states without the fishing industry? What's it going to be like in those states without the tourist industry? Five years ago quite a few of those families lost everything they owned in Katrina. And now this.

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Sunken gulf oil rig not leaking: coast guard

Last Updated: Friday, April 23, 2010

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/04/23/louisiana-oil-rig-search.html

No oil appears to be leaking from a drilling rig that sank in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, the U.S. Coast Guard says.

An explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig Tuesday, sparking a major fire that burned until Thursday, when the rig collapsed and sank.

Oil giant BP, which contracted the rig, said it has mobilized four aircraft that can spread chemicals to break up oil and 32 vessels — including a big storage barge — that can suck more than 171,000 barrels of oil a day from the surface.

Mike O'Berry, a senior chief petty officer with the coast guard, said efforts are underway to contain oil that spilled into the water after the explosion. He said BP is the "responsible party" and will lead cleanup of oil that spilled during the fire, but he said the coast guard will oversee the effort.

"It's a very collaborative effort," O'Berry said. "It takes everybody to make this happen."

A large oil slick has developed on the water's surface, but O'Berry said underwater robots have shown there are no underwater leaks.

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As much as I hate to hear of an ecological disaster such as this one, it's not typical.

Didn't Obama just okay the drilling for offshore oil and in Alaska?

I keep hoping that the left is going to take the high road, but I am constantly disappointed.

Seriously , the end product from the left and the right are the exact same - the environment, war, economy, abortion you name it its all the same. Only the lip service they give is different.

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Seriously , the end product from the left and the right are the exact same - the environment, war, economy, abortion you name it its all the same. Only the lip service they give is different.

My level of cynicism regarding the political parties is on a par with everyone else's here. But I don't think Obama is part of the racket (yet at least). I think there were lots of disadvantages to having an "outside the beltway" president. Like, he wasted a tremendous amount of time trying to negotiate the health care bill. He's pie in the sky idealistic. But I don't think he is in that Washington "one-political-party-with-two-names-bribed-to-the-hilt" club.

I think that's why so many other politicians hope for his downfall. Some of his policies may be stupid, but he isn't in the club. If the public is ever going to solve the one-corrupt-party problem we have to stop the brainless sniping and trashing the government and look realistically at where everyone stands. Maybe every politician sucks, but they suck for different reasons.

To be honest, I don't think we CAN stop the sniping. People get off on it to the extent that they'd rather have their country fall apart than to stop playing the hostility game. When you read the messages people post on the net it's obvious that they are delirious with self-importance and hostility. They're nuts who don't realize they have a problem. The extremists who post here who NEVER deviate AT ALL from a perfect extreme right position on everything are like that.

.

Edited by Siara
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