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I have been out for a few days and I have enjoyed reading all of the recent comments.
A few people have made the point that there have been no recent oil spills in the Gulf. And since there have been no recent oil spills, there is little chance of an impact to the environment.
Every time I go diving off the coast of Florida I am reminded that there are some things more important than the problems of our generation. There was something greater than any person or nation that created the reefs and the shoreline that decorate our planet. And my belief is that we should protect our shores and our reefs. They were here long before any of us. We will decide how they will remain after we are gone.
It doesn't take a whole lot intellect to figure out that the damage we have created by the offshore drilling, transportation and containment of oil far exceeds anything that mother nature has or will do on her own.
BTW, I'm not sure that is a credible source. When I clicked the link from geology.com to go to the article, I got a 404 Error (page not found).
Here is a link to an article from a Texan describing the tar balls that frequent the Texas coast. Texas Monthly: Read Me. Texas. We don't have tar balls in Florida. Although, ask me again in 10 years and I might not be able to say that.
It is a fact that in recent history, spills from oil platforms have devastated the Gulf of Mexico. I guess it really comes down to the question of which you value more; the Florida coast and the only natural reef in the continental US or offshore rigs in the eastern Gulf and/or Atlantic. We can't have both.
It doesn't take a whole lot intellect to figure out that the damage we have created by the offshore drilling, transportation and containment of oil far exceeds anything that mother nature has or will do on her own.
BTW, I'm not sure that is a credible source. When I clicked the link from geology.com to go to the article, I got a 404 Error (page not found).
Here is a link to an article from a Texan describing the tar balls that frequent the Texas coast. Texas Monthly: Read Me. Texas. We don't have tar balls in Florida. Although, ask me again in 10 years and I might not be able to say that.
It is a fact that in recent history, spills from oil platforms have devastated the Gulf of Mexico. I guess it really comes down to the question of which you value more; the Florida coast and the only natural reef in the continental US or offshore rigs in the eastern Gulf and/or Atlantic. We can't have both.
Don't go off without doing all the research, from your own state http://www.dep.state.fl.us/law/BER/tar_balls.htm
I don't know your age but I can recall 20 years ago walking the east coast of Florida and stepping on tar balls. The thousands of ships that were sunk off the east coast during the war have been releasing oil for 60 years.
The rig referred to happened in 1979 no major events since. As for the devastation you refer to please come here and show it to me, that is just an ill informed statement. I have lived in the middle of the oil patch for 64 years and have no idea of what devastion you are referring to.
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Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
NAVED master diver #105
This member has said "Thank you." to captain for this useful post:
An aide is an assistant, like a nurse's aide. You meant foreign aid.
Depreciating means lessening of value or price. You probably meant deteriorating.
Except means to exclude. You meant accept.
Do you have a high school diploma? A GED? I don't think you're in any position to be giving out homework.
I support increased exploration and drilling for oil domestically, which I stated earlier in this thread:
I missed that thread. As for the above, just want to see it you were awake.
You are missing my point. I am addressing the ludicrous notion that the United States can coerce oil-exporting countries to sell below market prices by withholding food exports, put forth here:
I agree with you to a point. Althougha food embargo will help, but the only one it really hurts is the poor people and there a a lot of them.
Without a doubt many oil-exporting countries are not self-sufficient agriculturally. I'm also sure many import from the United States. But if they didn't get it from us, they would get it from somebody else. Food gets sold to the highest bidder, for the most part, just as oil does. (Although there are many more market distortions due to subsidies and other protectionist measures.)
But you left out the politicians that failed to do their job and got us into this mess. They keep trying to tell us what their voters want, not what the real people need.
History continually repeats itself. Mankind has not learned from its' mistakes.
It doesn't take a whole lot intellect to figure out that the damage we have created by the offshore drilling, transportation and containment of oil far exceeds anything that mother nature has or will do on her own.
BTW, I'm not sure that is a credible source. When I clicked the link from geology.com to go to the article, I got a 404 Error (page not found).
Here is a link to an article from a Texan describing the tar balls that frequent the Texas coast. Texas Monthly: Read Me. Texas. We don't have tar balls in Florida. Although, ask me again in 10 years and I might not be able to say that.
It is a fact that in recent history, spills from oil platforms have devastated the Gulf of Mexico. I guess it really comes down to the question of which you value more; the Florida coast and the only natural reef in the continental US or offshore rigs in the eastern Gulf and/or Atlantic. We can't have both.
since you got an error message and couldn't read the article from geology.com, I copied and pasted below:
"Oil enters the marine environment from human activity and natural seeps. A National Academy of Science study recently estimated that about 47 percent of the oil entering the marine environment is a result of natural seepage from subsurface reservoirs. The Gulf of Mexico is an area where such natural seepage occurs at a very high rate. Of the 200,000 metric tons of oil seepage that is thought to occur each year, about 150,000 metric tons escapes from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico."
just trying to help...
btw, for every article you point out that argues that we are destructing the ocean by drilling, I have 10 that back up drilling. depends on who you wish to believe, scientists or environmental WHACKOS.
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Rad
If speed kills, consider me a dead man!
Diving isn't just a part of my life, it IS my life!
Soooo much ocean, so little time...
This member has said "Thank you." to RadRob for this useful post:
How about a poll? Who believes actaul scientific facts and who believes in lazy no job having whackos who have never seen most of the places they try to save from us evil human beings. I have a suggestion for them. If we are so bad why don't they eat a bullet and lessen the effect of human beings on the planet. They can decompose and give back to mother nature. I been watching alot of Carlin specials lately. I liked especially the one where he notes that 25 species a day disappear from the earth on their own. Let them friggin go gracefully ya nuts.
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YMCA Scuba Instructor,SEI Diving Instructor, NAUI Tech1, Oceanic repair tech, former padi DM. Owner and founder of UDM AQUATIC SERVICES
As a pro I expect to be paid. If that's too much to ask then expect the kind of service you would get for free from anyone else.
This member has said "Thank you." to JimLap for this useful post:
OK, you got me. There are no such thing as destructive man made oil spills; they are in fact good for the environment. Louisiana is the SCUBA diving capitol of the continental US, the Holocaust never happened and Elvis didn't die; he is living on an island with Amelia Airheart. Believe what you like, just please leave my coastline and my reefs alone.
Wow...I left for four days and this thread picked up nine pages of posts! It's taken me a while to catch up (but we really haven't gone that far from the original ideas, have we?).
It's a matter of "acceptable risks" (whatever you define that as being). The most devastating oil spills in recent years (a couple of decades, anyway) have been the products of oil TRANPORTATION, not DRILLING. By far, the most frequent and most damaging spills were after tanker collisions, groundings, fires, and other accidents. Very few large spills have been from offshore drilling. Now where is this oil coming from? I assure you, it is not from domestic sources, but from distant countries, and our demand for the huge quantities we require for our daily needs is what brings it here. If we truly want to address the spill problem, let's direct our attention toward the true culprit. You have far less to fear from offshore drilling than you do from having supertankers cruising by your sparklingly clean, white shores.
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Guba (my granddaughter can't say "Grampa Scuba")
Come visit the Christian Divers of Texas at www.cdot.1hwy.com
These 2 members have said "Thank you." to Guba for this useful post:
OK, you got me. There are no such thing as destructive man made oil spills; they are in fact good for the environment. Louisiana is the SCUBA diving capitol of the continental US, the Holocaust never happened and Elvis didn't die; he is living on an island with Amelia Airheart. Believe what you like, just please leave my coastline and my reefs alone.
First its not yours unless you have a deed and that ends 3 and 12 miles out! Guba is right! So you like the idea of transporting Ethanol on our nations highways? Using diesel to do it? You can't put it in pipelines so how are you going to move it? Oil is the right thing for our time!
Oil spills aren't as Disastrous as you were lead to believe and they have in some circumstances have been beneficial, believe it or not!
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