Offshore drilling bill passes house - CONTACT YOUR SENATORS!

[scubafool]

Why not?

Because occasionally, not often, but once every six months or so, we actually manage to control ourselves to the point that we get to have a discussion about topics that are not in the normal vein, ie politics, religion, philosiphy, etc. The only time that these threads are allowed to stay is when everyone involved exercises restraint and respect in their posts. Your post was pushing the boundaries of that, in my opinion.

 

[Cacia]

LAUGHING. no drugs. trust me, I have been on most sides.(debates not drugs!) I have to learn everything the hard way. Hey, I already said, I do not know what side I am on! Silly man. I am torn...

I like to hear what everybody says about how they feel about oil, drilling, the effects on marine environments. It IS political to a point, I do not see how you can have a smart talk about it without skirting politics. Every time we engage "the other side" and actually listen, we seem to come out the other end more enlightened. If we are going to be allowed to do that, we just cannot appear too heated, that was my only point. I could be wrong, but I don't see any body in here that I am thinking is upset right now. I think it was you, maybe, that brought up the last big thing I learned right before the thread was pulled. Somebody referred to a number related to the GNP in terms of hydrocarbon consumption...I was trying to wrap my little mind around it...and poof it disappeared. It was a ratio of production over fuel cost or something... a standardized way to compare apples to apples, when conversing about nation's performance.

 

[Rick Inman]

Moderators Post

Ok, this thread is being returned after extensive editing for political content.

Here are three facts:

• Environmental issues are related and important to scuba diving, and worth discussing.
  
• Environmental issues are connected to political issues.
  
• Political issues are against the TOS.

Still, even with this conundrum, I believe that the good members of Scubaboard can bring relevant and intelligent content to this issue without trampling over the TOS. Yes, there will be gray areas and disagreements on exactly what is political and what is not. But heed this warning: Any blatant political posts will be moderated.

I agree that this thread was started with a political bent. However, some very good discussion followed, which is why the thread was allowed to remain.

Please do your best to keep the tone of this thread non-political, or it will be closed and/or removed.

I have not PM’d everyone whose posts were deleted/edited because there are just too many. If you feel your post was unfairly edited, or that a post that should have been edited was missed, I thank you for showing some tolerance and understanding. Feel free to PM me for comments or questions.

And now, back to our show….

 

[Rickg]

Here is an article that some of you in this thread might find of interest.

Underwatertimes.com News Service

Santa Barbara, California (Jun 29, 2006 20:35 EST) While some observers consider offshore oil and gas platforms to be an eyesore on the horizon, new data shows they are performing a critical function for marine life.

And here is the link to the entire article.

http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=95076102483

Rickg

 

[Guba]

May I interject a bit of science into this thread and skirt the politics? I say this in as uncondescending a way as possible, for it is not meant to be. However, as a diver who spends a large percentage of his ocean dives in the Gulf of Mexico, I have a bit of experience and have a little to say about the ORIGINAL post. As was noted on the first page of the thread, the "dirty water" syndrome around the Galveston/Houston/Corpus Christi area is not due to the oil industry. Rather it's because that area is dotted with the mouths of the Trinity, Brazos, Sabine, San Jacinto, Quadalupe, and Colorado Rivers. The outputs of these silt-laden systems is equal to the output of the Mississippi River. Have you ever dived in the deltas of the Mississippi? I wouldn't either. However, once out of these alluvial systems, the water is as pristine as anything in the Caribbean. I am a volunteer for the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (which is 110 miles off the coast) and dive there as much as I can. The visibility is often over 100 feet and the diversity of life rivals that of areas such as Cozumel.
The Gulf of Mexico has over 4000 drilling rigs, and there is even drilling in the FGBNMS. Yet the region remains so pristine that it's often used as a benchmark for coral reef heath to which other reefs worldwide are compared. In addition, the drilling rigs themselves are "islands of life" that become artificial reefs themselves, even while the platforms are in full operation!. There is even evidence that the rigs and platforms serve as stepping stones to spread species throughout the Gulf. I have plenty of pics and video for anyone interested.
The issues concerning oil drilling are heated and promote tremendous passions. However, there is a lot of mis-information and misleading statements that can and should be addressed before one commits to one "side" or another.

 

[Cacia]

Thanks King Solomon for a thoughtful call.

Guba, I have been following with interest the debate over whether to remove the retired rigs as is required in the oil companies original agreements. I read some opinions from devout environmental scientists that are supporting leaving them as they are such important habitats for marine life. The fear is that they don't want to set precedents for companies abandoning things in the ocean, etc.

 

[Guba]

Yes, Catherine, again it's a call that promotes great concern and reason to be very cautious. Merely abandoning huge structures in the ocean would be reckless and cause for concern. There has been some success, however, with a program known as
"rigs to reefs", in which the superstructures of the rigs were removed, leaving only the bases and legs. In most areas, they had to be removed to a depth of 85 feet so they would not pose a navigation hazard. Some, however, were allowed to remain to a shallower depth but had to be marked with radar buoys. Of course, this program is very closely monitored by federal and international agencies. The success of the program has generally been good by most scientific studies. Those studies, of course, are under intense scrutiny, and that's good. There needs to be good clear thought on this issue before further precedents are set.

 

[RICoder]

I think the debate, and the two very polarized sides, serve their own purpose; which is to come to a reasonable and proper result. If you just left the oil industry to itself, it would undoubtedly drill dirty and cheap...economics and business being what it is (that's reality not a judgement). If you left the environmentalists to itself, we'd all be walking around with hairy armpits and no cars .

Fortunately 2 things have resulted to date, at least in the US, that give me hope. First, the oil and gas industries have managed to shrink the footprint of drilling platforms, ans second they have managed to make them "clean", as much as such a thing is possible.

The drilling in Alaska that was supposed to DESTROY the environment and kill us all, ended up boosting the Caribu population, as they started breeding next to the warm pipelines. The platforms in the Gulf became marine environments unto themselves. Seems to me that this is a good precident.

I'm still all in favor of any renewable resource, but at least we can do the interim solution cleanly.

 

[LeFlaneur]

As was noted on the first page of the thread, the "dirty water" syndrome around the Galveston/Houston/Corpus Christi area is not due to the oil industry. Rather it's because that area is dotted with the mouths of the Trinity, Brazos, Sabine, San Jacinto, Quadalupe, and Colorado Rivers. The outputs of these silt-laden systems is equal to the output of the Mississippi River. Have you ever dived in the deltas of the Mississippi? I wouldn't either. However, once out of these alluvial systems, the water is as pristine as anything in the Caribbean.

I hear what you're saying, but have you considered why these systems are so silt-laden?

 

[deeper thoughts]

here in the keys the upper keys bayside is cloudy and silty and the politicians swear its not from cutting the mangroves on the 18 mile stretch, anybody want to buy a bridge