Gulf Coast Oil Spill

[captain]

How Everything Works - Water Distribution Home Page captain I was refering to this, your gonna have to have pumps and hose that can withstand the extreme environment. A mile of pipe or hose in 2-3 knot current will act like the string of a bass guitar but at a lower frequency. Also how are they going to anchor the dome over the leaks?

They are able to guide a drill pipe accurately enough to go back into the same well in 5000 feet of water.
This has been done before just never in that depth. What is the extreme enviroment, water and oil and the pump is on the ship or rig. They may not anchor them they could use trusters to dynamicly position them. The Bluewater Horizon wasn't anchored when it was drilling, it was held in place within a few feet by a computer controlled dynamic positioning system.
An acoustic beacon placed on the bottom sends a signal up to the rig to mark the position and the computer uses that and GPS to control the position.

 

[dmoore19]

Yes, please, lets keep looking for the easy way out. Certainly we should just drill, drill, drill, drill......

I wonder how much the world would change if no one had to worry about where energy was going to come from? While THIS IS an environmental disaster, finding renewable sources of energy is great for more than just environmental protection.

Get a clue, without the hysteria of oil spills and outcry about environmental protection, suits would cut corners worrying only about the bottom line, and we wouldn't have eco tourism, places to dive, and amazing animal species to experience. We would instead only know the fully selfish, parasitic potential of our great great species.

I can appreciate your view. However, let me bring another thought to the equation. I have worked in the oil industry for close to 40 years in different capacities. I can assure you that no operator (oil company) has EVER started a project with the intent of destroying the environment. If you are looking to place blame for the disaster that is occuring I understand. Just consider what I have tried to say before throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[Scott L]

Yes, please, lets keep looking for the easy way out. Certainly we should just drill, drill, drill, drill......

I wonder how much the world would change if no one had to worry about where energy was going to come from? While THIS IS an environmental disaster, finding renewable sources of energy is great for more than just environmental protection.

Get a clue, without the hysteria of oil spills and outcry about environmental protection, suits would cut corners worrying only about the bottom line, and we wouldn't have eco tourism, places to dive, and amazing animal species to experience. We would instead only know the fully selfish, parasitic potential of our great great species.

So, do you really advocate shutting down Gulf oil production until new energy sources are obtained? By the way, please send us pics of your electric cars...Lol

 

[ScubaFeenD]

I can appreciate your view. However, let me bring another thought to the equation. I have worked in the oil industry for close to 40 years in different capacities. I can assure you that no operator (oil company) has EVER started a project with the intent of destroying the environment. If you are looking to place blame for the disaster that is occuring I understand. Just consider what I have tried to say before throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I would be very wrong if I thought that it is the intention of employees of the oil industry to actively want to harm the environment. Please do not get me wrong. I am not blaming you or the workers; in fact, I am sure the workers on that oil rig and their families are suffering from this in a completely different way. My blame is on the executives who are doing well to gouge prices, make record profits, cut corners where no shortcuts should be acceptable, and lobby hard against advancing our civilization to cheap, renewable energy. It is not an active desire to destroy the environment, it is a refusal to actively pursue a better way that it horrible, and complacency is almost as bad.

Please dont misunderstand me. I am not blaming you, your intentions, and I do understand your position.

So, do you really advocate shutting down Gulf oil production until new energy sources are obtained? By the way, please send us pics of your electric cars...Lol

No. Clearly that is not a reasonable position to take here. But really can you justify not having any alternative to oil right now? I read all the time about technologies that can be utilized, but so little monies are invested into developing infrastructure to support clean renewable energy sue to the oil lobby, the large profits, and the lack of information of the populace. I personally know engineers that tell me about the great possibilities we have before us but then tell me about the lack of funding. Perhaps, the 20 billion dollar profits oil companies make should be invested in finding clean, safe alternatives instead of looking for more reserves to drill.

Maybe if we did more investment i could show you my new electric car...but alas I walk where I need to go :-/

 

[Scott L]

I would be very wrong if I thought that it is the intention of employees of the oil industry to actively want to harm the environment. Please do not get me wrong. I am not blaming you or the workers; in fact, I am sure the workers on that oil rig and their families are suffering from this in a completely different way. My blame is on the executives who are doing well to gouge prices, make record profits, cut corners where no shortcuts should be acceptable, and lobby hard against advancing our civilization to cheap, renewable energy. It is not an active desire to destroy the environment, it is a refusal to actively pursue a better way that it horrible, and complacency is almost as bad.

Please dont misunderstand me. I am not blaming you, your intentions, and I do understand your position.



No. Clearly that is not a reasonable position to take here. But really can you justify not having any alternative to oil right now? I read all the time about technologies that can be utilized, but so little monies are invested into developing infrastructure to support clean renewable energy sue to the oil lobby, the large profits, and the lack of information of the populace. I personally know engineers that tell me about the great possibilities we have before us but then tell me about the lack of funding. Perhaps, the 20 billion dollar profits oil companies make should be invested in finding clean, safe alternatives instead of looking for more reserves to drill.

Maybe if we did more investment i could show you my new electric car...but alas I walk where I need to go :-/

Fair enough. Friends of the enviroment theoretically have not had a better occupant in the WH in decades. What is known of the current goverment's expanded role in alternative enegy investments and private corporation incintives? If lackluster, I would be much more comfortable with a Texas Oilman and a former Haliburton CEO back in office at this junture in time.

 

[dmoore19]

I would be very wrong if I thought that it is the intention of employees of the oil industry to actively want to harm the environment. Please do not get me wrong. I am not blaming you or the workers; in fact, I am sure the workers on that oil rig and their families are suffering from this in a completely different way. My blame is on the executives who are doing well to gouge prices, make record profits, cut corners where no shortcuts should be acceptable, and lobby hard against advancing our civilization to cheap, renewable energy. It is not an active desire to destroy the environment, it is a refusal to actively pursue a better way that it horrible, and complacency is almost as bad.

Please dont misunderstand me. I am not blaming you, your intentions, and I do understand your position.



No. Clearly that is not a reasonable position to take here. But really can you justify not having any alternative to oil right now? I read all the time about technologies that can be utilized, but so little monies are invested into developing infrastructure to support clean renewable energy sue to the oil lobby, the large profits, and the lack of information of the populace. I personally know engineers that tell me about the great possibilities we have before us but then tell me about the lack of funding. Perhaps, the 20 billion dollar profits oil companies make should be invested in finding clean, safe alternatives instead of looking for more reserves to drill.

Maybe if we did more investment i could show you my new electric car...but alas I walk where I need to go :-/

Not to say that 20 billion is profit is a small amount of money but, if you consider the return on investment you might see things differently. I read in an article a couple of years ago that the return on investment for an oil company is < 8% while return on investment for the electronics industry exceeds 15%. Should we also attack the electronics industry and expect them to pay to find ways to reduce the use of electricity to run the Televisions, radios, computers etc that they produce? Not saying 20 billion in profits isn't an obscene amount of money, considering the investment risk that was taken it can easily go the other direction. Please also consider the revenue received in taxes, permitting fees, the tax revenue that is generated from the personal income tax paid by the people who make their living from these operations. Again I don't have access to the article I read but 5% of tax payers in this nation do so with income generated by, you guessed it the oil and gas industry. Again, I am not saying that the current disaster is anything short of a diasaster and certainly isn't acceptable but there are many things associated with the industry that most folks don't think about when they start bashing the industry as a whole. I know it doesn't make what is occurring right but maybe understanding some of the things involved may lessen the hate towards the industry a little less intense. Thanks for trying to understand the rest of the story.

 

[elmer fudd]

Not saying 20 billion in profits isn't an obscene amount of money, considering the investment risk that was taken it can easily go the other direction.

I've got a feeling that BP is about to learn how badly investments can turn out.

 

[dmoore19]

I've got a feeling that BP is about to learn how badly investments can turn out.

Unfortunately for everybody Yep.

 

[irishsquid]

Why? They are doing something that is absolutely CRITICAL to our survival as a nation. They follow all mandated legal safety rules and put in place training and testing to attempt to prevent what has happened.

I am just tired of the ego and arrogance of American's today that believe that NOTHING bad ever happens, even if one follows all the rules.

If BP did all that was required and something failed, then why should they be sued?

Agree. If someone wants to sue, thinking BP is at fault due to greed, they should follow their logic and actually sue the gov't regulatory agencies that set up the slack rules that allowed this to happen for profit (huge tax revenue).

 

[k374]

I just hope that this insane emotional hysteria does NOT derail more drilling off the coast.

So are you FOR the environment or against it? Offshore drilling does have the POTENTIAL for severe environmental consequences in case of an accident. Just because this spill was small doesn't mean next time it will be the same size. Given that the environment is under so much pressure already do we need to get into endeavors that risk it further just because you want cheap oil in your V8 truck? That is not the solution, it's time we used alternative energy sources but nobody wants to make that switch due to costs which is understandable. It is the government's responsibility to take that first major step by subsidizing alternative energy so people will adopt it. Instead of that they are going down the same foolish unsustainable path by wanting to drill more.