There is an article posted on AlterNet in which Van Jones points out the potential for further ecological damage and has some suggestions regarding oil well safety in the gulf. On the surface, it sounds so practical!
The problem is that the government inspectors too often are in bed with the corporations they are tasked with overseeing and/or regulating. BP had met most of its federal regulatory requirements, yet their rig still was unsafe.
Mines pass all their environmental and safety inspections, then they collapse.
Vehicles meet stringent requirements only to fall apart or, in a few cases, catch on fire or explode when hit.
Food is inspected by the USDA and then people get sick.
The FDA approves some wonder drug and then, years later, it is discovered that it makes people sicker than they already were -- In some cases it kills them!
So, what sounds like the perfect prescription for the problem is, in actuality, nothing more than a placebo. The government goes through the motions of holding various industry's feet to the fire, but it's more show than anything else. It's meant to reassure the public that their government is on the job. It's meant to calm fears so that we keep on buying the products.
And, as long as we keep on buying the products, their is no impetus for "bold moves" to change the status quo.
You gotta give these folks some credit: They've created a great racket!
Failing oil rigs are like roaches — if you see one, it probably means that you have 1,000 more somewhere in your house. So it is not surprise that another offshore oil rig exploded last week in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast.In the old days, I would have said a big hurrah, but while the first suggestion seems viable, I actually don't think it would do that much good.
Thankfully, no lives were lost, but at least one was injured, according to early reports. We were told that the rig was not ‘producing’ oil and gas at the time – but then again, the BP well that dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into the gulf was not technically ‘producing’ either.
All of us can feel some relief that this incident was not as catastrophic as the BP disaster. But it shouldn’t take an oil apocalypse to get our attention. We are facing a continuing threat in the gulf from multiple points of potential peril.
There are currently more than 4,000 active oil and gas rigs in the gulf, along with 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurking in the hard rock. There are 1,000 decaying oil rigs and drilling structures. We have been told time and time again by the oil industry, lobbyist, and pro-drilling lawmakers that offshore drilling is safe. They have told us that serious accidents cannot happen here in the United Sates because the technology is too advanced.
No one should be fooled anymore – accidents do, in fact, happen. Sometimes these ‘accidents’ look more like acts of criminal negligence, like the $500,000 safety valve on the Deepwater Horizon that BP failed to install.
Needless to say we have a systemic problem. But powerful forces in Washington keep convincing themselves that these tragedies are isolated incidents. But the American people should not accept this political game. Each one of those oil rigs is a potential disaster waiting to happen.
We need two things right now:
1. We need to get inspectors on those rigs NOW.
2 . We need to make bolder moves to get off oil in the long-term...
The problem is that the government inspectors too often are in bed with the corporations they are tasked with overseeing and/or regulating. BP had met most of its federal regulatory requirements, yet their rig still was unsafe.
Mines pass all their environmental and safety inspections, then they collapse.
Vehicles meet stringent requirements only to fall apart or, in a few cases, catch on fire or explode when hit.
Food is inspected by the USDA and then people get sick.
The FDA approves some wonder drug and then, years later, it is discovered that it makes people sicker than they already were -- In some cases it kills them!
So, what sounds like the perfect prescription for the problem is, in actuality, nothing more than a placebo. The government goes through the motions of holding various industry's feet to the fire, but it's more show than anything else. It's meant to reassure the public that their government is on the job. It's meant to calm fears so that we keep on buying the products.
And, as long as we keep on buying the products, their is no impetus for "bold moves" to change the status quo.
You gotta give these folks some credit: They've created a great racket!
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