by Matti C.
Member since:
December 3, 2008

The Truth About the BP Oil Spill and Government Regulations

June 10, 2010 09:22 AM UTC
views: 0 | comments: 9

Here's something you won't hear from the MSM:

According to the National Academy of Sciences, offshore facilities and pipelines are responsible for only 2 percent of the oil in U.S. waters and 4 percent worldwide. The vast majority of oil in U.S. waters (63 percent) comes from natural seepage, with 22 percent coming from municipal and industrial runoff. Here's the link to the full article - http://tinyurl.com/2e7dzlp

Comments: 9 ( 3 removed by Matti C. )

The difference is that natural seepage is not continuous or constant and doesn't result in oil drenched beaches or wildlife.

Is it too much to ask oil companies to build a relief well on a rig before a spill happens?
Matti C. Jun 10, 2010, 9:47am UTC
Are you willing to pay the higher gasoline prices (and the resulting higher prices on all goods and services) to cover the cost "mandatory" relief wells? This is akin to rubberizing your kitchen floor because you have dropped an egg or two in the past.
BP will pass on the costs of this oil spill to its customers any way. That is the nature of corporations. I would rather pay higher fuel costs if it meant we didn't have to pay with dead wildlife, destroyed beaches and marshes, and jobs lost in the seafood and tourism industries.

And do you seriously think that this will never happen again? The Gulf of Mexico is Nothing More Than A Grid Carved Up By Oil Companies.

With that many oil rigs and pipelines in one area, the chances aren't exactly slim. BP already had an oil spill in Alaska in 2007. I don't think that we should ban oil drilling but it makes sense to have already have the relief wells in place before something happens.
And your comparison to eggs dropped on the kitchen floor is laughable and ludicrous. It only takes a few seconds to clean up a dropped egg. The residents and economy of the Gulf, especially Louisiana, will be feeling the effects of this spill for years to come.
Matti C. Jun 10, 2010, 10:18am UTC
Just using an absurd comparison to make the point that we cannot regulate against all contingencies. I believe that BP has a financial incentive to do as much as possible to prevent the loss of their main source of revenue. If freed from inane government regulations put in place by politicians who have no working knowledge of the oil business, BP could allocate the energy and resources to preserve its income source and grow its profits. We, and the environment, would reap a far greater benefit from that.
Of course we can't regulate against all contingencies but we can use some common sense. While you are developing the technology to dig the hole you should also be developing the technology to plug it up.
Donald Robinson Jun 10, 2010, 5:10pm UTC
what gets me is that most of the oil we drill does not stay here, it goes to the open market. drilling our way to energy independence is a myth. what it does do is create a few thousand jobs here, which is ok. but we are now losing a few thousand jobs thanks to the spill. there has to be a better way. we really need to tap our natural gas reserves and switch all diesel trucks to natural gas, an easy conversion. that would save us one third on imported oil, and keep that money here.

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