Monday, May 17, 2010

Sick of Oil Slicks

I’d like to take some time now to vent some rage at the oil industry. Hopefully by now, everyone knows what’s going on in the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve started to wonder if they have heard of Murphy’s Law. The explosion was just one of the ramifications of the lack of precautionary measures. What makes matters worse is they seemed to have thought nothing could ever go wrong. They never even considered what might happen if a rig sank and broke the pipe? Oh right, they only thought as far as the preventer clamping down. There was no question about what happens if the preventer doesn’t work. No researchers working on backup plans. That’s right, that would cost money, and those CEOs need more boats. Well I hope those boats are made to drive through oil slicks.

Another interesting thing is the fact that BP, British Petroleum for those of you who are wondering, has this many truckloads of cash to throw at the problem. They are sinking millions upon millions of dollars into dispersants, technology, boats, fines, etc. In my mind, this is one of the few positives that came out of this whole thing. The oil industry opened its eyes to the fact that they’re not indestructible, and they have to invest in preventative measures. Fortunately for everyone else, BP is a catastrophe guinea pig and is forcefully on the forefront of testing solutions. Unfortunately for everyone though, BP doesn’t actually have any scientists to run these tests, or so it seems.

Look, their crazy dome idea didn’t work because the temperature and pressure at that depth caused icing and other problems with caused a clog. I feel like if there was anyone who knew anything about physics or the ocean would be able to call this out. What are the meetings for these solutions like? Have you heard what they’re trying now? As of this writing, Monday, May 17, 2010, the latest idea I heard they’re trying is to shove tire pieces and, wait for it, golf balls. Yes, you read right. Tire parts and golf balls to plug the pipes while they work on their cementing solution. Again, science seems to be a missing element here. Last night I read they were able to stick a tube into the pipe to start siphoning oil, so that’ll slow down the spill a bit, but something tells me that’s not going to work out that fantastically.

To piss me off even more, the CEO of BP was discussing the spill and ramifications. He noted that his job was on the line in this. I’d certainly hope he is forced to leave after this catastrophic blunder. Honestly, I’d like to see him sent to prison. That’s a bit extreme, I know, but this could have been prevented. It’s ridiculous that so many things could fail in order to cause an unstoppable spill. So I say put the man in the stockade at the beach. Cover him in bread or something so the seagulls attack him. Post it on YouTube, show the world what wildlife revenge is like.