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-   -   Drill baby, Drill - or is it Leak baby, Leak? (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=467815)

  • Apr 29, 2010, 07:21 AM
    excon
    Drill baby, Drill - or is it Leak baby, Leak?
    Hello:

    What has the oil spill in the gulf done to your thinking about MORE drilling offshore?

    excon
  • Apr 29, 2010, 07:45 AM
    tomder55

    A lot .

    I think if oil spills from holes a mile in the sea can't be controlled /capped in short order ,they shouldn't be drilled at all .

    I don't understand why that would be a challenge ;but until it can be demonstrated as a manageble risk then no more drilling should occure in deep water. Sites in the Atlantic would be worse.

    That being said ;do you think this will prevent other nations in the Gulf region from drilling ? Nope ;in fact, this is a drill site from BP ;arguably the most experienced company in deep water drilling... I can't imagine what will happen when LukOil starts drilling off Cuba.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 08:12 AM
    excon
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tomder55 View Post
    I can't imagine what will happen when LukOil starts drilling off of Cuba.

    Hello tom:

    Well, we COULD stop them from drilling. If you, like me, believes that an oil slick headed our way is an assault upon our nation just like airliners into buildings were. That, in my view, would be a proper use of our military.

    excon

    PS> I'm happy to see you adopt an environmentally correct solution. Is that the position of the right wing? Or, is collateral damage acceptable to them?
  • Apr 29, 2010, 08:38 AM
    tomder55

    I do not know what other's think on this . I am still not opposed to off shore drilling . But there is more at stake than the energy source.
    This incident has demonstrated a major flaw in the process that needs correcting before further drilling activity proceeds. That doesn't mean I will forever be opposed to drilling . Fix the flaw and drill baby drill!
    One thing I learned from other major spills is that nature makes rapid corrections.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 09:03 AM
    spitvenom

    This has just reinforced my position that we should not be drilling. But Bush I mean Obama wants to keep on keepin' on.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 09:37 AM
    Catsmine
    This does expose a serious flaw in allowing more drilling, since it seems that the cutoff valves that have prevented this sort of thing in shallow waters are pressure activated and don't work in the deeps.

    NPR Media Player
  • Apr 29, 2010, 09:43 AM
    excon

    Hello righty's:

    My gawd, you guys sound positively LIBERAL.

    excon
  • Apr 29, 2010, 09:48 AM
    tomder55

    That would presume that you can't be a righty and an environmentalist... that is a fundamental flaw in your assumptions.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 09:50 AM
    Catsmine
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by excon View Post
    Hello righty's:

    My gawd, you guys sound positively LIBERAL.

    excon

    Kind of blows the "righty" label, huh?
  • Apr 29, 2010, 09:53 AM
    speechlesstx

    No, we don't sound any more liberal than usual. We've been entirely consistent in agreeing with you that throwing trash into the air (or sea) is not a good thing. And by the way, we are using our military to stop the assault.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 10:21 AM
    excon

    Hello again, correcties:

    Let's sing Coom By Ya.

    excon
  • Apr 29, 2010, 10:24 AM
    Catsmine
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by excon View Post
    Hello again, correcties:

    Let's sing Coom By Ya.

    excon

    Better yet, let's tell BP that fixing their blowoff preventer devices is the way to get us to buy their gas.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 10:26 AM
    excon

    Hello again, Cats:

    So, it's boycott BP. I LOVE it. (Still sounds kind of liberal, if you ask me)

    excon
  • Apr 29, 2010, 10:56 AM
    asking

    I am happy we all agree.
    Are you serious about Boycotting BP? What else can be done?

    I think Obama's decision to open up offshore drilling is a huge step backward. We should be encouraging conservation of our remaining fossil fuel reserves as well the development and growth of renewable energy technologies.

    At current rates of consumption (including an annual 2.5% increase in energy consumption), we'll be out of coal in about 50 years. According to a researcher at Caltech, "we will have consumed half of the ultimate world oil, gas, and coal production by 2019. This means that the current intense development of alternative sources of energy can be justified independently of climate considerations."

    PS. By "ultimate" he means ALL of it, discovered yet or not. He's found a way to estimate total coal reserves. Projections tend to be super optimistic. (And the researcher is a Bush Republican, not a flaming liberal. :))
  • Apr 29, 2010, 11:04 AM
    tomder55

    I won't boycott them. It's not like they intended to have this accident .
    I do however boycott Citgo and Lucoil willingly and gladly .
  • Apr 29, 2010, 11:30 AM
    spitvenom

    Tom why do you boycott Citgo and Lucoil?
  • Apr 29, 2010, 11:44 AM
    tomder55

    Citgo because it is solely owned by the Venezuela government .

    Lukoil ;because it's a KGB conglomerate and a major benefactor of the Iraqi Oil for Food vouchers ;a program we now know was completely corrupt. Until recently ,under pressure from the US ,they were aiding Iran .

    I buy Valero whenever possible .They use a majority domestic source and refine all their oil in the US. And in Canada
  • Apr 29, 2010, 11:47 AM
    spitvenom

    Good to know thanks Tom. I actually boycott the lucoil down the street from me but it is purely a nonsense personal boycott!
  • Apr 29, 2010, 12:01 PM
    Emland

    Do you think it was pure coincedence that the rig blew up on Earth Day?
  • Apr 29, 2010, 12:09 PM
    spitvenom

    You know Emland I was wondering if someone sabotaged the rig. I didn't realize it was Earth day but I was thinking more on the lines of an environmental group doing it because Obama expanding the offshore drilling. So they can say look how unsafe it is.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 01:37 PM
    asking

    I was thinking of sabotage by another oil company. What a bunch of conspiracy theorists we are!
  • Apr 29, 2010, 01:57 PM
    thisisit

    No, I've always been against drilling off shore in the ocean. Now I am more convinced it is wrong! I knew it was just a matter of time before something like this happened.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 02:02 PM
    tomder55

    Except the blow out theory is plausible . It does happen; but it is in the containing them by a valve system installed at the head of a well that's working properly where disasters are prevented.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 02:08 PM
    tomder55

    thisisit Ok lets say we don't drill for oil, natural gas is a risk too so that's out. Coal ?miners just died from that ;not an option . Dams for hydro; gone .Nuclear ? Forgettabout it.


    But we are still left with the reality that the people of the world have ever increasing energy demands. How do you satisfy that immediately ?( I know about all the sciene fiction future possibilities. )
  • Apr 29, 2010, 03:52 PM
    paraclete
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tomder55 View Post
    thisisit Ok lets say we don't drill for oil, natural gas is a risk too so that's out. Coal ?miners just died from that ;not an option . Dams for hydro; gone .Nuclear ? forgettabout it.


    but we are still left with the reality that the people of the world have ever increasing energy demands. How do you satisfy that immediately ?( I know about all the sciene fiction future possibilities. )

    Don't worry Tom some dills are using a laser to create fusion, they didn't call it cold fusion because the result is very hot, if they don't destroy the Earth all your problems will be solved. Out in space the sun burns without the benefit of a very volitile substanced called oxygen and yet these researchers will create the experiment in an oxygen rich environment, sort of like drilling oil wells in a pristine environment
  • Apr 29, 2010, 04:50 PM
    thisisit
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tomder55 View Post
    thisisit Ok lets say we don't drill for oil, natural gas is a risk too so that's out. Coal ?miners just died from that ;not an option . Dams for hydro; gone .Nuclear ? forgettabout it.


    but we are still left with the reality that the people of the world have ever increasing energy demands. How do you satisfy that immediately ?( I know about all the sciene fiction future possibilities. )

    Geez, I don't know... you know, when gas prices went so high, I changed my driving habits by A LOT. I'd say I use less than a tank a month now compared to a tank a week. I also turned down my thermostat, and don't use air conditioning anymore. I recycle just about everything. What is wrong with nuclear power? I thought that was cleaner energy? I don't really like the windmills, but that might be the best. We can't keep using up things we are going to run out of anyway because we will eventually run out, if we don't ruin the planet first.
  • Apr 29, 2010, 05:05 PM
    tomder55

    Glad you are open to nuclear. I happen to think it will be the bridge between now and the day when recycled trash fuels the planet.

    But most people think it is much riskier than even the worse oil spill. They are wrong of course but can't be convinced otherwise. Long Island NY went so far as to build and contaminate a plant before they scrapped it... and in that case the protesters had a point .Long Island is the worlds longest parking lot and evacuation planning impossible.

    I happen to think that the breeder reactors the French use make so much sense that I can't believe they aren't widely used.

    But they aren't so drill drill drill .
  • Apr 29, 2010, 06:41 PM
    paraclete
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tomder55 View Post

    I happen to think that the breeder reactors the French use make so much sense that I can't believe they aren't widely used.

    .

    The reason is they are french, it's the not made here syndrome
  • Apr 30, 2010, 03:25 AM
    tomder55

    Now we learn ,according to the WSJ, there was no off site remote control acoustic switch shut off valve that is required by some other major producer nations .

    Safe guards exist .But they weren't being used on this rig.
    Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device - WSJ.com
  • Apr 30, 2010, 05:45 AM
    excon

    Hello again, tom:

    So, THAT doesn't convince you to boycott?

    excon
  • Apr 30, 2010, 05:49 AM
    tomder55

    Boycott whom ?
  • Apr 30, 2010, 05:54 AM
    excon

    Hello again, tom:

    7/Eleven. They sell gas, don't they?

    excon
  • Apr 30, 2010, 05:55 AM
    smoothy

    Proof will come out a Democrat ordered that platform sunk...
  • Apr 30, 2010, 06:23 AM
    speechlesstx

    I'll boycott. Of course we don't have any BP, Citgo, Lucoil or 7-11's in our city so we're all in solidarity on that here. :D
  • Apr 30, 2010, 06:46 AM
    tomder55

    I'll defer on boycotting any other entity until I find further information. If a remote valve is standard practice elsewhere then who is responsible for it not being standard here ? Was it oversight or was there a decision made by Congress and/or the regulators to ignore the safety provision.

    Since I don't know yet the reason why it was not used in this case I can't affix blame.
  • Apr 30, 2010, 07:06 AM
    excon
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tomder55 View Post
    Since I don't know yet the reason why it was not used in this case I can't affix blame.

    Hello again, tom:

    I don't know. Ever hear the expression, "the buck stops here"? I don't know the REASON either, but I DO know that someone who was SUPPOSED to know the reason, didn't - and he worked for BP. That's enough to affix responsibility for me.

    excon
  • Apr 30, 2010, 07:31 AM
    tomder55

    You are probably right. It would be easy for me to say yeah I'll boycott them ;but I can't really recall the last time I pulled into a BP station.

    I wonder if they are going to revamp their adds about being the green("beyond petroleum."
    ) energy company ?
  • Apr 30, 2010, 08:32 AM
    asking

    Doesn't BP supply more than just BP stations? I was assuming it would be a trick to know where a lot of gas stations get their gas. For example, where does Costco gas come from? What about fuel oil used in oil-powered power plants or domestic heating oil?
  • Apr 30, 2010, 09:20 AM
    smoothy

    Crude is a commodity... once it hits the refineries... who knows who's oil is mixed with whoes. THere is no effective way to keep any one companies oil completely segregated from the well to the pump.

    Not in this country anyway.
  • Apr 30, 2010, 09:44 AM
    tomder55

    Correct ,but my criteria is not where the oil comes per se. It is who owns the company in the case of Citgo and Lukoil.

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