Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Random Thought on the Gulf Oil Spill

  • One of the causes is that BP executives and engineers believed the propaganda that off-shore oil drilling was totally safe. That was always a lie but it was that firm belief in a lie that led to a slow early response.
  • Pity the Louisiana bayou folk. First Katrina and now this. They can't get a break.
  • Speaking of the bayou folk, BP has lawyers are canvasing the stricken area. I won't say they are lying only because I don't want to be sued, but I am certain these shysters are neglecting to fully disclose that by accepting a $5000 one-time payout these citizens are signing away their rights to sue for the years of lost livelihood caused by BP.
  • The phrase "Drill Baby Drill" is, mercifully, dead.
  • If, as predicted, the oil slick fouls Florida's Suncoast beaches then the economic impact will be far greater than the largest predictions. Multiply that still further if the Florida Keys and South Beach are hit.
  • One impact has been on Marco Rubio, the Radical Republican candidate for Florida Senate. He has been backpedaling faster than a clown on a unicycle from his previous "Drill Baby Drill" mantra.
  • It is quite disconcerting how frequently engineers are using the word "hopefully" to describe their attempts to cap the spill.
  • Betcha that BP, formally British Petroleum, will change its name again.
Three-Mile Island of Off-Shore Drilling
The biggest impact is that this spill is poised to do to deep water off-shore oil drilling what Three-Mile Island did to nuclear power in the United States. That is curtail it for a generation. This is not some isolated Alaskan coastline, 50 million Americans live along the Gulf coast. This population will have a massive political impact multiplier effect. Given my opinion on the issue, this is a good thing.

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