I'm guessing it's some sort of algae farm, but I could be wrong.

6/19/2008 5:05:08 PM

yeah it does look green enough to be that...couldnt tell and the picture url didnt help

6/19/2008 5:07:55 PM

Quote :

"As for offshore drilling, it's safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston. Yet for reasons that become less convincing with every rise in the price of foreign oil, the federal government discourages offshore production."

Spoken by John McCain on June 17th.

That picture, by the way, is a photograph of the oil spills created by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, spills which, as if it weren't obvious, were visible from outer space.

Some related articles:
"44 oil spills found in southeast Louisiana: Largest is nearly 4 million gallons"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9365607/

"Katrina oil spills may be among worst on record"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/sep/16/usnews.hurricanekatrina

"$330 Million Settlement Reached in Katrina Oil Spill"
http://www.estormwater.com/-330-Million-Settlement-Reached-in-Katrina-Oil-Spill-NewsPiece12259

6/21/2008 2:35:55 PM

Bobby Jindal repeating McCain's lie with regards to oil spills:

6/28/2008 2:19:59 PM

^^
I'm neither 100% for nor against offshore drilling, but for the record, the three links you posted are in regards to onshore, not offshore spills.



[Edited on June 28, 2008 at 3:00 PM. Reason : .]

6/28/2008 2:57:01 PM

^ Yes, pretty much. Looks like someone didn't RTFA. Which is a little lazy, considering they're the one that posted it as an argument.

Quote :

"The Coast Guard estimates more than 7 million gallons of oil were spilled from industrial plants, storage depots and other facilities around southeast Louisiana. That is about two-thirds as much oil as spilled from the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989. But unlike the oil from the Valdez, which poured from a single source, these oil spills are scattered at sites throughout southeast Louisiana."

Look, if you're going to try and make the claim that offshore drilling is responsible for massive oil spills in the wake of natural disasters, you might want to, I don't know, check your own news sources to make sure that the spills were actually from offshore rigs.

6/28/2008 3:16:12 PM

Quote :

"As for oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Paskewich said the Coast Guard has fielded no reports of offshore spills there, though leaks could spring when the thousands of oil platforms and hundreds of miles of pipeline are restarted. Last year, Hurricane Ivan was responsible for oil spills in the Gulf, he said. Paskewich dismissed suggestions by an environmental advocacy group that satellite photos showed some 7,000 square miles of oil floating in the Gulf, saying numerous flyovers revealed only minor sheening. Skytruth, a group that uses satellite imagery to track environmental damage, says extensive oil slicks are visible in areas of the Gulf raked by hurricane-force winds. “Daily overflights are being conducted to find the real truth of what’s going on,” Paskewich told Reuters. “As for now, I am confident that we have not received any reports of significant oil spills offshore.”"

i don't know what the truth is, but that seems a little fishy to me

6/28/2008 3:23:20 PM

You have to store the oil once it is drilled. The spill in NOLA was a direct result of drilling. No oil, no depots. No depots, no spill.

6/28/2008 3:23:49 PM

Quote :

"You have to store the oil once it is drilled. The spill in NOLA was a direct result of drilling. No oil, no depots. No depots, no spill."

Which is equally likely if we simply imported heavy crude from straight from the Gulf of Arabia. Where the oil was acquired is irrelevant - the refineries are all there, ergo, the oil is there no matter what.

[Edited on June 28, 2008 at 3:50 PM. Reason : .]

6/28/2008 3:50:21 PM

Opening up the coast line creates a new need for depots, hence more areas are prone to spillage.

6/28/2008 3:51:26 PM

How exactly do you reason that? This assumes the net volume of oil going into the ports spikes dramatically - and part of the point of opening up domestic drilling is to offset import demand. Which means oil coming in from offshore rigs is going to be displacing oil coming in from trans-Atlantic tankers.

Look, the original point has pretty much been established as moot. Offshore platforms are not where you have to worry about spills. Storage facilities, yes. But as long as we're a petroleum-based economy and our petroleum comes from somewhere outside the continental U.S., you're going to need that industrial infrastructure, no matter what. And that infrastructure is what spilled.

6/28/2008 3:55:46 PM

Take North Carolina for instance. It would be much easier to build an oil dept in say Wilmington instead of shipping it all the way to NOLA. Hence new oil depots will be needed.

6/28/2008 3:58:13 PM

Wilmington? Great. Only problem there is a lack of any major inland rivers (at least as major as say, the Mississippi) and a lack of pre-existing pipeline infrastructure. Simply picking up and relocating major industrial infrastructure like refineries isn't exactly a trivial task.

Meanwhile, where our industrial infrastructure ended up isn't just a happy accident - it's a consequence of several geographic factors, like a major river (the Mississippi), deepwater ports, etc. Nor is it like we never see major storms around Wilmington, either.

[Edited on June 28, 2008 at 4:25 PM. Reason : .]

6/28/2008 4:09:55 PM

for the people whining about oil rigs


some of you need to go see the ecosystem that thrives at almost EVERY oil rig in the ocean, I've been to hundreds and I promise you there is a bigger marine ecosystem at any given oil rig than I've seen at any reef, wreck, or piece of hard bottom off the coast of NC or anywhere on the southeast coast

oil is expensive, the BIG BAD oil companies aren't gonna go around spilling it nowadays, that's their beloved profit that they love so much

6/28/2008 6:15:55 PM

Quote :

"oil is expensive, the BIG BAD oil companies aren't gonna go around spilling it nowadays, that's their beloved profit that they love so much"

except y'know, when they do spill it.

6/28/2008 6:41:47 PM

Quote :

"some of you need to go see the ecosystem that thrives at almost EVERY oil rig in the ocean, I've been to hundreds and I promise you there is a bigger marine ecosystem at any given oil rig than I've seen at any reef, wreck, or piece of hard bottom off the coast of NC or anywhere on the southeast coast"

It's all about the diversity of the marine life.

6/29/2008 8:54:58 AM

These carribou in alaska sure hate that oil rig... It's dirupting their habitat. Oh no...

6/29/2008 9:17:37 AM

^^^ which is rare, it's not economically viable for them to lose it, remember, they are all about their money. In the northern gulf of mexico there is something like ~3200 rigs off the coast of Louisiana alone, many of these have been there since the 50's and still doing well. They have hundreds of helicopters and 150'-300' ships that keep these things operating

there is way too much money and they have ways of preventing disasters. I didn't see a single oil slick or any bit of sludge or anything oil contamination related in the hundreds of miles of oil rig filled water I travelled on

and anyway, I'd rather take the risk so we can be independent of other countries for something as vital as oil, until we can come up with a viable alternative



^^ I wouldn't say diversity so much as good habitat for marine life, but it can be a diverse mix of species throughout the water column. you really should see what abundance of life is at an oil rig, it's pretty amazing

Quote :

"You have to store the oil once it is drilled. The spill in NOLA was a direct result of drilling. No oil, no depots. No depots, no spill."

14 miles from Port Fourchon La there is the LOOP, where tankers from the middle east and various other places anchor up and offload their oil into undersea pipelines that lead into Port Fourchon and the refineries outside of New Orleans on the Miss River. They offload offshore because they draw way too much water to come into port. My point being, not all of the oil in the northern gulf of mexico comes from underneath it.

check it out, it's neat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Offshore_Oil_Port

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Fourchon%2C_Louisiana




^ animals adapt, they seem to adapt better than a lot of humans of late




[Edited on June 29, 2008 at 9:34 AM. Reason : !]

6/29/2008 9:23:43 AM

yeah, i don't know the details, but I know it's complicated.



Like, the tankers are basically some of the largest moving things mankind has ever built. The oil rigs hold a plethora of records themselves. But it's not just a matter of oil going

ocean -> platform -> boat -> my car

6/29/2008 12:52:19 PM

and the rigs aren't just oil, there are gas rigs and mineral rigs out there, they do however create an awesome habitat for the marine ecosystem


we're gonna have to have oil one way or another, need it for too many things besides just being able to drive your car to school or to the bar

6/29/2008 8:35:29 PM