The Gulf Coast Oil Disaster- Day 65

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past 65 days, you know about the massive Deepwater Horizion oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the spill first started, the entire fiasco seems to be following with Murphy's Law, where anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. First we had the Containment Dome, a Frankenstien-like idea, to try and contain the spill. It failed due to hydrate crystals, because someone didn't remember that it happens to be cold on the ocean floor. I think anyone who has gone swimming in a lake can tell you, that the deeper the water goes, the colder it gets. Then came the "top kill," forcing drilling mud through the blowout preventer, and then the "junk shot," trying to force golf balls and shredded tires through the blowout preventer. Then, the containment cap idea was hatched, and has been a partial success, though they had to remove it for a short period of time.

As more and more information comes out, it strikes me how this whole issue could have been prevented. There are indications that BP knew of problems with an offshore well hours before it exploded. The well had failed a key pressure test that showed pressure building up in the well, likely indicating that oil or natural gas were seeping in and could lead to an explosion. However, for the sake of getting the rig online, BP and Transocean did not stop operations. Furthermore, BP listed Peter Lutz, a south Florida biologist, as a consultant in its 2009 disaster response program. There's just one little problem with that though. Peter Lutz has been dead since 2005. Their plan also mentioned walruses, sea otters, sea lions, and seals, all of which don't live anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico.

The bottom line is this: This disaster was preventable, and it shouldn't have happened in the first place. BP and Transocean cut corners in order to get the rig operational and make money. Eleven people paid for this with their lives, and thousands more are paying with their livelihoods. Safety must come first. And for the people of the Gulf Coast, all they can do is watch and hope that the relief wells are able to fix the oil spill.

So what do we do now, with so much oil washing up not just in the Gulf area, but in Florida as well? By collecting seeds now, we can hopefully save and be able to replant and regrow the wetlands that are being affected. The best way to get rid of the oil in the wetlands is to burn it off, and then when the nightmare is over with, and no more oil is washing up, to replant with the seeds we have collected and nurture them back to health. If you can get the producers (the plants) to grow again, you can also get the consumers (animals) to return. As for the oil well, if the relief wells fail, we must consider the nuclear option. The Russians have used it 5 times with success, all on underground oil leaks. It, in essence, would squeeze the well's channel shut, blocking any more oil from escaping. Those who have crunched the numbers say that it has about a 20% chance of working.

Sounds better than what BP has come up with.

-Mer

The Saga Continues...

I apologize in advance if this blog is rambling, it's been a long day.
Good news is that I've made it to the main doctor again... bad news is the doc I need to see is booked up for a couple of weeks.

Now I'll get to the point- Senator Chuck Hagel today said that a US draft may be unavoidable if the war in Iraq continues.

I feel that if the war had not been mismanaged in the first place, this wouldn't even have to be considered. If you remember, we went to war on the promise of finding WMD's in Iraq, and NONE were ever found. Later, the reasons became the "War on Terrorism" and "Fighting the Global Axis of Evil." Now don't get me wrong, Saddam Hussein was a nasty guy... but look at the lives (civilian and military) that have been lost for a war that the basis for was fictitious. Wouldn't it have made more sense to send in a Special Forces team to take him out, or even try and negotiate with him? Pres. Bush says that the US doesn't negotiate with terrorists. If you don't negotiate with the people that you fear, you become overwhelmed by the fear itself. The old saying, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," carries real weight. In my experience, it will more often be your friend that stabs you in the back, and not your enemy.

If we continue this pattern of invading and avoiding people that we don't agree with, nothing will be gained and so much will be lost. Last spring, I spent an amazing and eye opening day with kids from military families and several service members that have been in Iraq. The kids don't understand why their family members are sent to a war that they see is pointless. The service members called Iraq, "A disastrous bloodbath."

I ask you, what have we gained with this war other than destroying lives and international relations? Access to one of the world's top oil suppliers so that the oil companies won't have to pay as much?

At what price of lives, American, Iraqi and Afghan, does it become too much? Ten Thousand? A Hundred Thousand? Would we accept the civilian deaths that we are now accepting in these wars if they were happening in the United States?

What world are we leaving our next generation?