As the oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spread out rapidly, the US senate committee is questioning Janet Napolitano of the Homeland Security and Admiral Peter Neffenger of the Coast Guard about the government's response to the spill. The oil spill, located approximately 40 miles from the coast of Louisiana, is the worst in US history.
Progress is being made towards clearing the oil from the ocean and the company whose oil rig blew up has been able to use a pipe to bring the leaking oil out from the water. The oil, which is leaking out of the broken well, is flowing out at 200,000 gallons per day. If nothing is done about this environmental disaster, the oil will continue to leak and spread towards our southern coastline.
In response to the Senate's questions, Janet Napolitano said, "The federal government will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that BP stops the leaks, contains the spill, and mitigates the spill's impact on the environment, the economy, and public health,"
After acknowledging that the government's efforts were limited, Admiral Peter Neffenger went on to saying that even after training, the Coast Guard is still unable to control an oil spill of this size. Also, BP has given money to states whose coasts will be affected by the oil spill and to the small businesses hurt by the spill. Hopefully, the government's methods of removing the oil will prove to be effective and the oil will be removed from the water.
Monday, May 17, 2010
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10 comments:
I'm a slightly informed on this event, but wonder if this could have consequences for the future of offshore drilling. This oil spill gives offshore drilling a more negative image and makes us more wary of the safety of our offshore drilling. Although I believe we will need to implement more offshore drilling to keep up with our demand for oil, this shows the impact it can have on our environment. Even more reasons to find cheaper and renewable energy sources.
I was watching the news and there was a bit about this oil spill. The man being interviewed said that this was "the Three Mile Island of offshore drilling". Three Mile Island was a nuclear power plant that had a meltdown and released a lot of dangerous radiation into the surrounding area. After that disaster, nuclear power lost almost all chance of becoming the major source of electrical power in the US. Like, the man on the news said, this spill seems to be the straw that broke the camels back. This seems to especially be the case with the spills just in California in the past couple years.
This is why people/politicians should really think twice before saying "Drill, Drill, Drill" because we do see the negative effects it tends to show for the environment itself. I too was somewhat informed about this whole event occurring, with off-land drilling taking place within the Gulf of Mexico, but never realized how huge it really was, being the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
The problem with this issue isn't about whether or not the U.S. is going to clean the coast, but rather WHEN it is going to happen. The longer this takes, the greater the negative impact will be. Tieing back to what we have been talking about the past few days in class, I do believe moral hazard applies to this situation. I feel like BP should be held partially responsible for this disaster and that they should be reprimanded in some sort of manner so that such irresponsible actions will not occur again. Obviously, oil drilling has many positive benefits for our country, and stopping it altogether out of this incident seems unrealistic. The government should punish BP so that the public will know that such an incident of this magnitude will not occur again.
I also completely agree that BP should definitely be punished for creating the greatest oil catastrophe U.S has ever seen. I was watching CNN this past weekend, and BP had the audaticy to say that the exact amount of oil being spilled was not important. I do realize that it is more important to stop the oil then try to figure out how much is spilling. But BP isn't even able to stop the oil?? It is fishermen and those who rely on the shrimp and fish that are requesting the exact numbers in order to better understand how much their crop will be wasted. BP obviously knows the details but is too much of coward to directly face the american people.
Something else I find hard to comprhend is that in this day and age with the huge amount of technology we have, the 4th largest company in the world cannot figure how to stop a well from leaking. Wow....that is scary.
I also agree with the idea of punishing BP. I dont believe that giving money to states and businesses is enough. So much wildlife in the sea is being affected with in turn will affect other habitats that depend on the sea. And to add to rebecca's comment, it's also very scary how big oil companies haven't thought about something like this happening. It seems like they think that there is no chance of an oil rig from exploding.
The likening of the oil spill to the "straw that broke the camel's back" doesn't seem entirely true just yet...the President hasn't really shown much leadership with regard to using the oil spill as a way to take serious action on our addiction to oil. See more here: (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/opinion/19friedman.html?scp=2&sq=&st=nyt),
I really hope that this oil spill has proven to be a reality check to the government. But like Esther said, the United States really has an addiction to oil and there hasn't been anything done to lessen the addiction. I think the country needs to enforce stronger action when it comes to finding more renewable energy sources before it's too late.
Several people have mentioned the importance of forcing BP to face consequences for the oil spill. This all ties into MORAL HAZARD! The government can't really afford to take a side seat in all of this, because, in this case, the situation is "too big" to leave alone. But how much responsibility should the government be expected to take on? Where is the line between rewarding bad behavior and governmental negligence?
I think that the methods BP have resorted to are really interesting and somewhat ridiculous. Their first attempt, placing a dome over the leaking pipe (?) in hopes that they can contain the gushing oil. They've also considered shooting trash into the pipe to clog and stop the leak (probably one of the most...interesting ideas, considering if this fails, their throwing huge amounts of trash straight into the ocean) or placing a smaller pipe within the leaking one in order to direct towards the surface where they can better handle the situation. BP also claims that a pipe 1 mile below the surface is capturing some of the oil, but realistically, what kind of pipe can successfully suck up 200,000 gallons of oil a day? I understand that BP is trying their best (maybe) to handle this disaster as quickly and efficiently as possible, but the bottom line is they are FAILING, epically.
In addition, this ties into moral hazard. However I feel it is backfiring miserably. Obama chose not to get involved because he believed that since it was BP's fault, they should be responsible, however, the way that BP is handling the situation I must say that maybe a governmental intervention is best at this point. So many different habitats and aquatic life have suffered due to this spill. Also it is hurting the economy in that there is approx. 200,000 gallons of oil being wasted every day and that fishermen can't really fish in that area anymore. But again, I feel Obama and Congress should start to take initiative and help resolve the problem because BP obviously is incapable of doing so.
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