Oil Spill

[Nu_mama]

Watching Nightline coverage about the oil leak and the impact on the Gulf Coast and fishing industry. I am so sad for all of these people, and really, just sad for all of us. When will we learn that our priorities need to be in line with the world around us?

[katydid1971]

Another very sad thought, they still haven't cleaned up all the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez which happened 21 years ago. :(

[citymama]

So sad, and so ironic that BP wasn't able to pick up some kind of green award because it was too busy dealing with the bad PR from the spill (and one would hope, trying to clean up the spill itself). So much for "beyond petroleum."

I haven't heard of any wind farms or solar installations leaking, fortunately.

[kristac]

Very worried about the enviormental impact of this all. They are saying it could spread around Fl and up the east coast :(

[BabyMine]

We started smelling the oil a couple days ago. I can't believe they fought to put on another saftey feature. When will companies/people learn. I feel so bad for the families that lost love ones from the blast. Nothing like leaving a huge carbon imprint BP.

[infomama]

Just saw the interview with the head BP guy...what a robot. He said they had a disaster action plan in place a long time ago. Right. Was begging local fisherman to help lay boom line in that plan? I doubt it.

Makes me sick..I feel so badly for everyone..the people who died on the rig, the fish, the fisherman, the wildlife, everyone....

[mommylamb]

It really is terrible. We're going to be dealing with the repercussions of this for years and years to come. I guess (and I include myself in this) we've all been lulled into a false sense of security about drilling. It's ironic how this is coming just at the same time as a push for expanded drilling off the east coast.

As for the wind and solar installations, the problem is that those produce electricity, not fuel. (yes, a very small amount of oil is used to make electricity, but that's only a little little bit) So, until we have a large majority of entirely electric cars, wind and solar (with all their problems, and they have their share) don't help us with transportation. And, the technology is not there for electric cars yet in regards to long life batteries that would make them practical and doable on a commercial scale.

On the same side, drilling on the outer continental shelf doesn't do much to really lower the price of gas, or doesn't have a huge impact on overall supply because oil is a global commodity. This is a drop in the bucket of what is produced world wide. It's not like the oil that is drilled off the coast of the U.S. goes to U.S. consumers necessarily. These are multinational companies that pay the U.S. government $$ to lease the area where they drill, but the oil they get is their's to keep and sell on the world market.

[brittone2]

I read that they didn't have a catastrophic event insurance policy on that particular well. We have to have insurance to operate our motor vehicles but apparently they don't have any obligation to insure their setup :irked:

In the media the coast guard commandant (or whatever his proper title is) keeps saying BP will be on the hook for the cost of the cleanup. However, somehow I'm quite sure that we as taxpayers will foot a substantial part of the cleanup regardless.

My dad inherited quite a bit of BP stock from my grandfather who was an engineer for ARCO back in the day. It would be a messy transaction to sell it off so he's kept it for a number of years. In that respect, I feel badly for my parents. The dividend they get from their BP is a chunk of income for them as retirees.

[ewpmsw]

I'm very sad for the loss of life and the long-term impact it's going to have on the environment, jobs, etc. I'm praying that good things come from the incident - Higher safety and equipment standards, stricter rules about where drilling happens and more limitations in regard to drilling, voters taking more of a "not in my backyard" stance. Probably unrealistic, but it would be nice to see good things come out of something so big and bad.

[Nu_mama]

And now the 6-8 days to get the dome in place that will "hopefully" stop the leak. :(

[MissyAg94]

I'm still thinking of the human lives that were lost in the initial blast. Their families are suffering immensely right now.

[Nooknookmom]

I haven't heard of any wind farms or solar installations leaking, fortunately.

:yeahthat:

I like to think of them as BP-BioPoison.