It was bad when it first happened. Awful after a week. Nightmarish after a month. But reality is finally setting in that there is no fix. They have no answer to the oil flowing out of a pipe in the Gulf. They can’t fix it.
Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and, more importantly, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, suggested on ABC’s This Week that it’s time to take this out of the hands of British Petroleum and put it into the hands of the military. They bring command and control.
The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mike Mullen, however, noted one problem. The military may have the organization, but they have no clue what to do. The oil industry has the technology, he said, not the military. In other words, there is no answer.
Who cares if this ruins BP. At the moment, it’s unlikely that any but a few major shareholders could care less whether BP survives this disaster. Indeed, many would pray for its demise given the harm it’s done. This is far, far bigger than corporate liability, or politics.
This is no longer merely a big oil spill. Not even a huge oil spill. No one is really talking about the long term impact of what is happening, and continuing to happen, in the Gulf of Mexico. Current talk is about oil spewing out for months.
An uncontrollable fountain of oil could gush into the Gulf of Mexico until August, the Obama administration warned today, as BP conceded it was moving to a containment strategy after failing to plug the well at the centre of the most environmentally disastrous spill in US history.
As anger and despair grew in the coastal communities of Louisiana, BP began preparations to cut a leaking drill pipe on the ocean floor and attach a containment cap intended to capture at least some of the 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of crude spewing from its Macondo well every day.
People are angry, and looking to find someone to blame, as if blaming will stop the oil from flowing. Once it’s over, there will be plenty of time to decide who you hate more. Right now, there is no fix in sight.
Consider the ramifications. It’s insufficient to talk of an environmental disaster of unimaginable magnitude. Have we finally screwed things up enough to fundamentally alter, maybe even doom, our continued existence on this planet?
Overwrought? Probably, but I often fear that our faith in a magic solution popping up out of nowhere will one day prove unfounded. We’ve been awfully lucky up to now that mankind has come up with solutions for the problems we cause. What happens when our luck runs out?
Assuming the oil continues to spew for a couple more months, how much damage will be done and how can it be repaired? What if August brings no solution, and the oil continues to spew until it runs dry? No one wants to consider such a possibility, because the idea is unfathomable.
And in the event that someone comes up with a solution to stop the flow this time, anybody want to bet that we will learn nothing from it? Forget blaming BP or Obama, or anyone else for that matter. No one has an answer, and no one can vouchsafe our future. We live in a fantasy world, on a wing and a prayer, that our actions won’t cause irreparable disaster. One day, we will be wrong.
It’s unclear whether we really blew it this time, but it’s become undeniable that one day, some day, we will finally blow it once and for all. Who will you blame then?
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The question is: shouldn’t the guys responsible for this be behind bars? In the end, BP will pay a fine that is ridiculous compared to its profits and its CEOs will continue business-as-usual, while Obama promises “safe offshore drilling”.
The damage cannot be repaired. That’s why dangerous investments in infrastructure like nuclear plants or offshore platforms should stop, because the impossible happens.
And how does putting someone “behind bars” stop the oil from spewing? No, that’s not the question, nor does it matter at all at the moment. Why is it that every non-lawyer think imprisonment is the answer to everything.
An incredible disaster and a massive crime without doubt. The first thing that must be done is to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
The first thing to do is stop the oil. If that can’t be accomplished, then what comes later doesn’t really matter.
The relief well has a is the real solution but it’ll take another couple of months. I read where Canada requires a relief well to be drilled simultaneously with the primary. I expect that will be a future requirement. I appears the failure here was procedural in that there were weaknesses in the blow out preventer and even manual release failed on the real last resort possibly due to being on a joint in the pipe. Obviously that valve will need to be upgraded to handle pipe joints in the future.
We do seem to test the limits. One, although considered very unlikely, was that the Trinity (first atmo nuke) test would ignite and burn up the atmosphere. The next to the worst outcome was the destruction of New Mexico.
What worries me is all those calling for the use of a nuke on the well. Might work to stop the well but if not it rules out any other options. Not to mention radioactive debris covering the GOMEX and traveling the Gulf Stream. Then again we have lots of people wanting to geo-engineer global warming and kill hurricanes without considering the possible collateral effects.
Canada doesn’t require a concurrent relief well to be drilled, just the capability to drill one in the same drilling season if necessary.
the nuke idea, while very unlikely, would be done with a device 5000 feet below the surface. That’s deeper than the tests in Nevada. I don’t think there would be a big risk to the Gulf, but the idea is not really worth considering.
The folks working on stopping the well are among the best in the world at what they do. The flow will be stopped, it’s a question of when.
I can’t tell you how much better I feel having the assurance of success from an unknown person in a comment to a blog. This changes everything.
So, let me get this straight. You say that what matters is to stop the spill and nothing else. Forget making BP pay for the crime. Forget making sure that this won’t happen again. No crying over spilled milk, right? I guess you would also agree that murderers shouldn’t be incarcerated, because the damage is already done and the imprisionment won’t change a thing.
BTW, do you have the habit of being a troll everytime someone leaves a comment on your blog? Probably so, but I won’t be here to find out.
Not at all. I realize that your comprehension is limited, so I’ll try to type slowly. There will be plenty of time to “make BP pay.” The imminent, and far more difficult, problem is stopping the flow of oil. Those who, like you, care only about punishment when the problem has yet to be resolved misdirect focus and are counterproductive. When and if the oil is stopped, then cast blame all you want, Until then, don’t divert attention from the issue at hand.
I don’t think it’s possible to be a troll on one’s own blog, but, in any event, it doesn’t happen every time. Only when someone leaves a comment like yours. Sorry that your brilliance wasn’t appreciated and that your feelings were hurt. I’m sure there are other blogs where your thoughts will not appear so misguided and you will be given a warmer reception. Go now, they’re waiting.