Pictures of the oil slick.

johnson1010 · Tue May 04, 2010 1:32 pm

Check the link below for some tragic beauty.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/0 ... siana.html

bleachededen · Tue May 04, 2010 1:50 pm

It certainly is surreal to see the ocean on fire.

johnson1010 · Tue May 04, 2010 3:13 pm

you know it has gone south when the water is on fire.

bleachededen · Tue May 04, 2010 5:29 pm

Is Hell freezing over, then, do you think?

DWill · Tue May 04, 2010 6:12 pm


	bleachededen wrote: Is Hell freezing over, then, do you think?

I don't know, but this is one disaster in which we are all complicit.

bleachededen · Tue May 04, 2010 10:47 pm

What can we do, then? There isn't much any of us can personally do to fix it or change the mechanisms that led to it...it was Bush who refused to spend money in capping those oil rigs, and I certainly didn't vote for him (nor did half the country, for that matter, either time), so what on earth can we do when even the things we think we can do don't work?

DWill · Wed May 05, 2010 7:59 am


	bleachededen wrote: What can we do, then? There isn't much any of us can personally do to fix it or change the mechanisms that led to it...it was Bush who refused to spend money in capping those oil rigs, and I certainly didn't vote for him (nor did half the country, for that matter, either time), so what on earth can we do when even the things we think we can do don't work?

What I said was out of frustration that these disasters are inevitable given that we must have oil. There will always be somebody who screws up, so it's unrealistic to think that we can have our primary transportation energy source without a catastrophe like this. That's not defeatism, just simple probability. And since we are all dependent on oil and there is no substitute now on the horizon, we just can't point fingers and pretend not to be involved.

The underwater gusher has caused several states, such as CA, VA, and FL, to rethink plans to sell leases for exploration and drilling off their shores. The horrible thing for me is, it would be a bad idea to ditch these plans. It's easy to say we're against such hazardous drilling, but isn't that irresponsible in a way? Are we willing, in great enough numbers, to make the drastic changes in our lives that we'd need to make to back up our anti-drilling beliefs?

johnson1010 · Wed May 05, 2010 10:33 am

Without a doubt, we need to transition away from fossil fuels.

People are quick to argue against new technologies because of their start up costs. Of course a wind farm is going to have costs associated with it. That doesnt mean that it is no good.

I saw a program where tey compared electric vehicles to IC engines. They talked about the many benefits of the electric drive, then brought out a single gallon of gas, and said: "You need all of this" indicating the 800 pound set of batteries and drive mechanisms. "To equal this" Indicating the one gallon of gas.

That is garbage. That gallon of gas isnt going to do anything but burn. It needs an IC engine, transmission and everything else to get you rolling down the highway.

I don't know about others, but my next car is definitely going to be an electric. I use solar powered lights to illuminate my driveway, I plan to purchase a reel mower for the yard (no engine), and i am thinking very hard about acquiring a wind turbine for my house. I am extremely jealous of the one attached to the auto parts business down the road. that thing is always spinning like mad.

anything else i can do, i plan to do.

bleachededen · Wed May 05, 2010 2:34 pm

Being just near the poverty line, what I can do is extremely limited, but I do what I can, if that means anything at all.

Watching Dune so often recently and then the news of this oil slick really has me thinking that Dune is really a metaphor for the world's dependence on oil, and the Muad'Dib character who trains the native people to rebel against the emperor seems all too close to reality to be ignored as just a fantasy story as an allegory for ecological study. I really think Herbert had some more political ideas in mind that drive the story (at least the original, I know nothing of the sequels yet) to be poignant not only when he wrote it or when the David Lynch film came out, but now, as well. It is probably for this very reason that I am so fascinated by it.

If you don't know the story, you can find it here, and I guarantee that you'll be able to see the same connections I've been making since I first watched it a week or so ago.

Dune, the novel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(novel)

Dune, the film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(film)

Frank Herbert, the author
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert

The Official Dune Website
http://www.dunenovels.com/

Just something to think about, that's been on my mind since the oil spill started and I first watched Dune. I have one of those brains that is cursed to find relevance in literature and art, even if it isn't there intentionally. I take what I know and apply it, and I'm usually pretty good at it, if I may say so myself. I wish it could bring up ideas on how to remedy the situation, but sadly, all it does is allow me to watch a bit more intelligently. Maybe someday there will be some way I can help with more action than thought.

"He who controls the spice, controls the universe. The spice must flow."
-Dune

johnson1010 · Wed May 05, 2010 3:16 pm

BREAKING: Large Air Spill At Wind Farm.
No Threats Reported. Some Claim To Enjoy The Breeze.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/0 ... 60762.html

bleachededen · Wed May 05, 2010 3:18 pm

Marvelous.

DWill · Wed May 05, 2010 10:06 pm


	johnson1010 wrote: Without a doubt, we need to transition away from fossil fuels.

Nobody doubts that we'll be forced to sometime, but it seems likely that we'll try to drain every drop we can before that. What I think isn't sufficiently appreciated is that more reliance on alternative sources has to be accompanied by big reductions in the amount of energy we all use. The reason is that, relative to oil or gas, the energy outputs of alternatives aren't impressive. Oil really is something of a miracle energy source. All those decayed plants and animals of the Permian Era or whenever did us a great service. The footprint needed to replace oil with alternatives will be staggeringly large. But many people think that because solar and wind are inexhaustible, they can provide us all we want in the way of energy. This isn't true.

There doesn't seem to be an alternative to starting up nuclear again in this country.

mikhailparaskan · Thu May 06, 2010 5:47 am

yes it is a terible disaster....we have to prevent such things from hapening in the future...I feel sad for nature and wild life

Robert Tulip · Sat May 08, 2010 5:07 am

A way to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is to surround it with floating fabric tubes containing fresh water.

A channel along the top of the tube can collect overflowing oil into holding vessels at both ends of each tube section, separating the oil from the water. A curtain beneath can prevent oil escaping below.

Using fresh water, such a bag becomes part of the ocean swell, with 2% of its content floating above the ocean surface.

Waterbags can be towed into place to contain and remove the slicks and prevent the oil from reaching the coast.

etudiant · Sun May 09, 2010 6:53 pm

I think a sad thing here is that despite all the contortions the world is going through to keep up the supply of oil, we will still have to make a transition, whether it be five years or twenty years off. We may find ourselves, just a few years down the road, with yet more conflict and major spills, still finding that we need a crash program of alternate energy sources, as oil extraction is not enough for demand.

Better to start planning now, and make a gradual shift, and hopefully avoid some to the worst aspects of grasping for the last drop, like war in the middle east, terrorism, and environmental disasters like the current one in the Gulf.

I don’t think this has to be a tragedy; life wasn’t tragic before the age of the automobile, and it doesn’t have to be after. Just shifting the world’s vehicle fleet from gas to hybrid or electrics of some sort would likely make a huge difference, and spin out the transition time. But it will take a shift in attitudes, as DWill says. Cities will have to go retro- back to the days of transit and pedestrians. Who knows, many may find this pleasant.

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