soundoff (78 Responses)

1. wes
   

   Grrace...

   We are all well aware of the items you mentioned. Hell, I would rather see electric cars.

   If you want to go down that path... would the country have a better electrical distribution system if Edison hadn't pushed DC electricity instead of AC? Maybe our conductors would be better now. Blame Tesla and Westinghouse for that.

   But it's disengenous to say GM (big business) killed the electric car. You can blame GM for slowing mass transit in LA also. But where were the politicians? They were bought off... all of them. Not one specific party.

   So we are in a mess, trying to catch up. I'm just realistic enough to know... we need the oil company until we catch up. I am at least willing to admit that I use oil based products.

   April 30, 2010 at 7:25 pm | Report abuse |
2. Casey
   

   "Sorry to have to remind some folks but fuel is NOT the only by product of oil. Using a computer, driving a car, have prescriptions, wear makeup or synthetic fabrics? ALL the plastics come from oil. medicines, road ways, grease, etc. There is NO WAY we can live outside of caves without oil."

   Absolutely untrue. All those things can be made with Hemp Seed Oil. In fact, plastics and lubricants made from hemp seed oil is superior to those made with petroleum oil. You can thank DuPont and their invention of Nylon, backhanded propaganda and corrupt politicians for the prohibition of Cannibus sativa which can't get you high unless you want to smoke about 3 pounds in a single sitting. Its time to bring back our greatest cash crop and turn this economy around while at the same time enjoying clean, self sustaining renewable energy.

   April 30, 2010 at 9:07 pm | Report abuse |
3. Billy M. from MI
   

   Disasters always amuse me since all these corporate types don't ever do anything about them. People say its a horrible thing, but nothing ever gets done. If the cost of altering/updating the equipment is more than the fines/cleanup cost, nothing changes. The airlines have been doing it for years. More lives could be saved in crashes but its not cost effective, so people keep dying needlessly. Its the basis of capitalism. We arent human beings in America anymore, we're a number.

   April 30, 2010 at 9:16 pm | Report abuse |
4. rae
   

   Please people this is not about oil. Or its uses. This is about negligence, criminal negligence that will affect the planet as a whole. And the profit increase when you skimp on preparing for the inevitable. measures to clean up disasters like this should be prerequisite to the actions that risk causing them

   April 30, 2010 at 10:14 pm | Report abuse |
5. B
   

   wow, this is really bringing out the loons! terrorism really?! stupid oil companies yes, but not terrorism. Oh and Avery, there are rigs so close to Fourchon Beach they are easy to swim to, and a rainbow oily sheen is always in the water there.

   April 30, 2010 at 11:20 pm | Report abuse |
6. JPM1122
   

   DRILL BABY DRILL; ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO BE SLAVES TO OPEC? DRILL, DRILL, DRILL.

   May 1, 2010 at 4:34 am | Report abuse |
7. JPM1122
   

   IT'S BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMAS FAULT... IT'S ALL OBAMAS FAULT. IMPEACH AND REMOVE THIS LEACH, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, UNFORTUNATLY FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN IT MAY ALREADY BE TOO LATE, I AM ASTOUNDED AS TO HOW MUCH DAMAGE THIS WORTHLESS IDIOT HAS DONE IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. IT WLL TAKE SEVERAL DECADES TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE HE'S DONE IN ONE YEAR, IF IT CAN BE FIXED AT ALL, WHAT A TRAVESTY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, OUR ALLIES AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN, OBAMA WILL GO DOWN AS THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER, WORSE EVEN THEN HOOVER AND I PRAY THE HE IS IMPEACHED AND REMOVED BEFORE THE DAMAGE THIS RADICAL CONTINUES TO PROPORT GETS TO A LEVEL WHERE IT CAN NEVER BE REPAIRED; OBAMA IS A TAX AND SPEND ERRAND BOY FOR THE MINNIONS THAT FOOLISHLY ELECTED HIM, HE IS ON PAR WITH THE TERRORISTS AND I CAN SPEAK ON THAT MATTER, I JOINED THE ACTIVE DUTY COMPNENT OF THE U.S. ARMY, CHOSE A COMBAT ARMS MOS AND DID A 15 MONTH EXTENED TOUR IN IRAQ, I GLADLY SPENT MORE TIME IN IRAQ THEN I DID AT FORT HOOD WHERE I WAS STATIONED, I WAS A HUMVEE GUNNER (.50CALLIBER), WENT OUTSIDE THE GATE ON OVER 200 COMBAT MISSIONS, HAVE 8 COMBAT RELATED MEDALS, BADGES, RIBBONS... SO I CAN TALK.

   May 1, 2010 at 5:00 am | Report abuse |
8. Stephen Outten
   

   Lets not get our panties in a bunch. If you have half a brain then read the actual story. This was a decomissioned platform going to the scrap yard. Its no different than a bicycle falling overboard in a coastal waterway. They say there is diesel fuel on board. They dont know how much? BS. Then they never established the MSDS necessary to travel with dangerous goods in a shipping channel.

   And as far as the other incident. I am in the industry an I can assure you that NOBODY takes worker and environmental safety more seriously than this industry. Anyone who has had to sign a safety sheet and go through a meeting to use the bathroom and eat a bowl of cereal knows what I am talking about it.

   So yes, things happen. I don't here anyone screaming to ride bikes after a coal mine collapses yearly in West Virginia. So thats a small price to pay to be an oil dependent society, if you dont wanna support the oil and gas industry sell everything you've ever obtained through trucking and shipping, sell your car, get rid of all plastics (oil based), and turn off your computer. You have some work to do.

   May 1, 2010 at 9:36 am | Report abuse |
9. Jeff
   

   To chime in on most the anti-drilling rhetoric here, you all don't know jack about this incident. This was a small, inland rig. It was not a massive deep water type you normally associate with oil drilling. The small inland drilling rig is simply a barge with a key-way, a derrick, drilling floor, pumps, motors, and maybe crude quarters. It is designed to work in 8 feet of water. It uses water as ballast when on location to keep it sitting on the bottom. They pump out the water to float it and bring it to it's destination. The entire system rests on a barge that it is only about 12' feet from bottom to barge deck. The supporting systems are housed above deck and represents a massive amount of weight, thus the complete rig tends to be a little top heavy. This particular rig was headed for the scrap yards. So, it would have been completely empty of all oil product and fuel. Any salvageable equipment would have been removed. Prior to sending to the scrapper the owner would have been required to clean and remove the potential contaminants. When these types of rigs are empty, they are greatly affected by winds. South Louisiana has been under 20 mph winds now for a few days. Perhaps the towing company thought it would have been ok to move in the inland waters around Morgan City. This isn't a drilling accident. This is a transportation accident.

   May 1, 2010 at 10:16 am | Report abuse |
10. grrace
    

    Looking forward to putting BIG OIL out of business. See ya!

    May 1, 2010 at 10:39 am | Report abuse |
11. jack
    

    Lets not think about doing anything to increase our domestic oil supply. That would be foolhardy. Remember four dollars a gallon gas here??? Well you aint seen nothing yet. Thank you to all of the Demipublcans in Washington !!!!

    May 1, 2010 at 4:03 pm | Report abuse |
12. oilpatch2
    

    "Absolutely untrue. All those things can be made with Hemp Seed Oil. In fact, plastics and lubricants made from hemp seed oil is superior to those made with petroleum oil. You can thank DuPont and their invention of Nylon, backhanded propaganda and corrupt politicians for the prohibition of Cannibus sativa which can't get you high unless you want to smoke about 3 pounds in a single sitting. Its time to bring back our greatest cash crop and turn this economy around while at the same time enjoying clean, self sustaining renewable energy."

    How much do you want to bet, Monsanto has the patent of the seed?

    May 1, 2010 at 4:57 pm | Report abuse |
13. Eric S
    

    Obama is about power and not the environment. His actions and lack thereof dictate this.
    BP had no contingency plan. Plus proceeded recklessly with out proper weld inspections and engineering documentation. Reference: http://www.truthout.org/whistlelower-bps-other-offshore-drilling-project-gulf-vulnerable-catastrophe59027
    Massive federal investigations should be launched in all oil rigs within 500 miles of our coastlines and foreign companies ousted unless the have bordering interests. Use of Naval power may be necessary. Man destroy thyself seems to be the adages of these oil companies approach as they seek to greedily proffer while reeking havoc to the environment. Shameful is all the life they are killing and that will eventually will return upon man.

    May 2, 2010 at 12:03 pm | Report abuse |
14. Terry D.
    

    Remember that all forms of energy have some environmental drawbacks. Nuclear energy was stopped because of the Three Mile Island incident. Protestors stopped the building of nuclear energy plants. We have not had any of them built since that time. Coal is considered dirty and dangerous. Strip mining of coal is considered damaging to the landscape. Even windpower which was praised by environmentalists as a clean renewable energy source has its drawbacks as it has to be backed up by other forms of energy. Even a very vocal environmentalist like Ted Kennedy did not want windmills when they were to be built out in the ocean facing his ocean front home -NIMBY. Some Massachusetts environmentalist complain that the windmills will be dangerous for birds and will harm fisheries. Ethanol which was supposed to be a clean subsitute for gasoline is said to require more energy to produce than gasoline. It also takes a great deal of corn out of the food supply.

    Let's stop the fueding and fighting and look at the energy problem in a realistic way. And don't forget even nature pollutes; volcanos, wildfires, tornados, floods and earthquakes also cause much destruction and pollution.

    May 2, 2010 at 7:21 pm | Report abuse |