We don't have to ask again, of deep water off-shore oil drilling, "what if something goes wrong". Oh, the nervous Nellies. The nay-sayers. To the environmentalists: what could you do with "drill, baby, drill" but wait? So here is the contrary view to off-shore drilling in the Gulf that Eyeonmiami published just a week before the off shore oil rig blowout that killed 11 in the Gulf of Mexico. One is tempted to say-- as politicians do-- that timing is everything. There is, however, no joy in being prescient about man-made catastrophes to our air, water, and natural habitats. Just grim determination.
In "Vast oil spill may alter debate on Gulf drilling" (Miami Herald, April 26, 2010), Dr. Harold Wanless, chair of the Department of Geology at the University of Miami, addresses a point we made on this blog in response to challenges of our post by right-sounding critics: that pollution dumped in the Gulf of Mexico eventually finds its way to both the Gulf AND Atlantic coasts. I have also written that the Florida peninsula is ringed by pollution. Federal courts agree. That is exactly why nutrient pollution standards being proposed (finally!) by the US EPA-- and violently opposed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries, and Big Ag. Hell, it's only water. Not oil.
"But if 42,000 gallons a day continue to gush out of the Gulf floor for weeks, or months, currents will inevitably flush the mess toward southern Florida. Harold Wanless, chairman of the Department of Geological Science at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, noted that the looping Gulf currents can carry the outflow from the Mississippi River around the Gulf and through the Straits of Florida, past the Keys, past Miami. What oil doesn't wash ashore in the Gulf will come our way. Everything floating in the Gulf eventually comes our way." ... Wanless said Floridians may have done considerable damage to their sources of fresh water but they've always valued their beaches and coastal environment. Deposits of black gooey dross from Deepwater Horizon on their beloved beaches could turn offshore drilling into a very unpopular cause."
4 comments:
Yea, Gimlet, timing is everything if you don't have any common sense.
Anyway, it's unfortunate, maybe catastrophic, but this is what it was going to take to derail the near shore drilling proposals.
Timing: too bad President Obama didn't hold off on his drilling anouncement for just 2 more weeks. Pedal backwards fast.
What is truly stunning is the lack of coverage on the MSM regarding this spill. Even the Miami Herald has buried the story. Why?
miaexile got it right - total lack of media coverage. Obama needs offshore drilling. Drill baby drill creates JOBS BABY JOBS. Very unfortunate short-term policy decision that Obama and his administration have made with long-term negative consequences for the environment.
Post a Comment