Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico, and Wind Farm Off of Cape Cod, a Contrast!
What a contrast. Gulf of Mexico oil spill that has killed 11 people, will kill thousands of birds, animals and fish and will dirty beaches and ocean for years, while a large clean energy Wind Project is approved off of Nantucket Sound. This marks a turning point in energy in America.
The Gulf oil spill appears to be worse than originally thought and is so big it can be seen from space photos. This problem continues to grow as oil flows and emergency valve turn off efforts fail.
The oil spill from the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico just gets worse and worse. It is bad enough that this disaster happened on "Earth Day", but now the original estimates of the 1,000 barrels per day that is spilling out of the rig on the ocean floor, have been revised to 5,000 barrels per day. This is a huge amount of oil, considering that in 30 days, 150,000 barrels (6,300,000 gallons) of oil will be floating on the Gulf, heading for beaches of America. The spill, at the present rate of growth, will soon cover an area bigger than some states.
BP denies that the spill is that bad, but then it was disclosed that underwater robots were unable to turn off the valves and that the unit was not equipped with a remote emergency turn off valve, therefore the oil keeps flowing.
Industry critics cite the lack of the remote control emergency turn off valve as a sign U.S. drilling policy has been too lax. "What we see, going back two decades, is an oil industry that has had way too much sway with federal regulations," said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. "We are seeing our worst nightmare coming true."
Efforts to burn part of the surface oil are in progress, but this is not a perfect solution either, because the "hardened" tar will still have to be gathered and cleaned up, and much of it will escape.
THE COSTS: The accident is one of the largest ever oil spills in U.S. waters and has cost the loss of 11 lives. The rig cost was about $500,000,000. The cost of fighting the current spill is about $180,000,000 per month and the cost of the clean up over the next 20 years is impossible to measure. The cost to the environment, the land, beaches, ocean, and fishery is immeasurable.
The impact upon the beaches, the ocean fishery, the birds, the general gulf area, are extensive. Expect years of lawsuits, investigations, and political posturing on this enviromental catastrophe . It begs the question, if we can get energy in a different way, in a cleaner, less expensive way, why don't we? What could be a better and more timely question, and contrast between the "old" energy thinking, verses "new"?
WIND TURBINES OFF OF CAPE COD
Surely the world sees the irony and contrast. The search for "traditional" old world oil, going bad, (as happens far too often) while a huge "Clean Energy" wind turbine project is approved. Federal approval of 130 giant wind turbines in the shallow waters off of Nantucket Sound paves the way for this and future approval of similar big wind projects.
Unlike oil, wind is clean. It doesn't kill. No person has ever lost their life working in the Wind Turbine industry. It doesn't produce poison gases, or toxins. Wind power produces no Benzene, Toulene, or other "enes". It doesn't dirty the water, soil or air. It doesn't deplete. The average wind turbine produces about as much energy as the average oil well in Texas.