100 Miles Long, 45 Miles Wide
The size of the oil spilled from last week’s disaster of oil rig Deepwater Horizon is enormous. That’s just the spillage in one week.
The oil continues to pour from the 5,000 foot deep well. As of today, the slick is twenty miles from the Louisiana shore. Soon it will reach the panhandle of Florida and then the rest of the entire Gulf Coast.
The Exxon-Valdez spill in 1989 is called one of the most devastating man-made disasters in history. That spill was approximately ten million gallons. BP’s Deepwater Horizon is projected to total five million, although no end to the leakage is yet in sight.
“Florida is one of the most beautiful places on the planet,” said governor Charlie Crist after surveying the disaster with the Coast Guard. “”What I have said all along,” he continued, “if [oil discovery and drilling] can be far enough, safe enough, and clean enough, it’s something we ought to look into. But after what I have just seen, apparently that’s not far enough, that’s certainly not safe enough and it’s obviously not clean enough.”
The damage Exxon caused to Alaska is still not resolved two decades later. Scientists think another ten years is needed.
Exxon claims to have paid two billion dollars in cleanup efforts. BP is currently only spending six million per day. Why doesn’t BP put 100 million per day into figuring out how to shut off or reroute the well? Instead, they’re unsuccessfully playing with remote-controlled robots to look for a switch.
President Obama and Senator Bill Nelson recently decided that it’s time oil discovery and drilling inched even closer to Florida. 105 miles closer, which will be within 125 miles. They’re going to attempt to push it through in the Summer under the guise of a pro-environment energy bill. (Currently the law keeps rigs 230 miles from Florida coastline.)
I wrote and called Nelson’s office and he responded defensively to me by email the day before the disaster struck. 125 miles is far enough, he thinks, and it won’t cause the oil companies to more aggressively fight for what they really want— to come as close as three miles offshore.
In light of the new wreckage, it appears Nelson is backing off. He’s even now paraphrasing the same risk vs reward assessment and oil surveys I cited in my correspondence.
Obama, on the other hand is not deterred. Robert Gibbs, his spokesman, says, “I don’t think it opens up a new series of questions,” and, “it won’t be the last time” there’s a spill.
There is not enough oil in the Gulf to account for the danger to populated land. There are an estimated 7 billion gallons in the Eastern Gulf waters. Only 1/10 of that in Florida state waters. Yet, there are 30 billion gallons in the barely inhabited Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. If Obama wants to risk animals, plants and general aesthetics all for some fossil fuels, why not do it far away from his voters? Can’t get any farther than that.
If we’re lucky, the Florida Gulf currents won’t catch too much of this. Then if we’re even luckier, there won’t be another spill until at least this one is cleaned up thirty years from now.
Be right back, I’m going to enjoy the beach while I still can.
