By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
It's hard to tell exactly how much oil is still gushing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico after last month's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion killed 11 workers and left a wellhead wide open.
Two things are sure, however – it's a lot and it's getting worse.
Official figures from the Coast Guard rose steadily over the past few weeks – beginning with none, then 1,000 barrels a day, and topping off at 5,000 barrels a day before bureaucrats admitted they had no real idea. Independent scientists believe the pipe could be hemorrhaging up to 25,000 barrels daily. So-called “chokeholds” that have till now been stemming the flow are breaking down fast and, once they're gone, up to 50,000 barrels a day will be free to enlarge an oil slick that now measures at least 130 miles by 70 miles, about the size of the state of Delaware.
Experts across the board have lent credibility to the commonly understood notion that this is really, really bad – nearly certain to surpass the worst oil spill in history, the Exxon Valdez disaster that disgorged 250,000 barrels onto Alaska's coastline in 1989.
Irony doesn't begin to describe the timing of this latest catastrophe, which arrived less than a month after the Obama administration proposed to open vast expanses of the Atlantic coastline, Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's north coast to new offshore drilling, supposedly as a way to garner support for a bill intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Since the Deepwater Horizon went down in flames the administration has put the planned expansion on hold, announcing that no new areas for offshore drilling will be allowed until a 30-day review of the rig's explosion and resulting spill.
But it's hard to fathom what a 30-day review might find that hasn't already been blatantly obvious for years. Regardless of how you get it, oil is a dirty and dangerous energy source and our dependence on it should be phased out, not prolonged by trying to find new deposits miles below the ocean waves. Yes, an investigation will see if BP's safety and contingency measures onboard the oil rig were lacking, but what amount of inquiry will finally convince our leaders that an enduring reliance on oil is our root problem?
Instead of funding further production that will only serve to displace a tiny fraction of the oil and gas the U.S. now imports and consumes, why not more fully subsidize development of energy that could get us off the crude for good? Better, cleaner energies such as solar and wind exist now but need more support if they're ever going to become viable, accessible sources of power.
Meanwhile, there are thought to be tens of millions of gallons waiting to bubble up through the fissure in the ocean's floor caused by the Deepwater Horizon. Efforts to stop the flow are going to be very expensive and will take a very long time.
The only quick fix for stopping the leak, triggering a malfunctioning “blowout preventer” to plug the pipe, has proven highly unsuccessful. Crews have just now finished building the first of three massive containment domes that will be lowered into place over the leaks – a highly experimental solution – and drilling has started on a relief well that could take pressure off the geyser, which will take three months or better.
The upside to all the devastation we'll soon get tired of hearing about? It provides our leaders a great chance to see what damage offshore drilling can do to shipping, wildlife and one of the country's most fertile fishing grounds, ample time to consider the idiocy of our continued reliance on such a risky, archaic fuel source.
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