So... how about that oil spill?

[Valkysas]

drill baby drill, right?

[Chrono]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Between this and the deadzones created by the Mississippi runoff, I'd be surprised if the gulf will ever be able to support life again.

[Duel]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I guess "Under The Sea" will be changed to "Get us the **** out of here, there's a ****ing oil spill"

[IamPinhead]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

How will Spongebob run his boat-car without all that oil, guys?
Don't be so insensitive to Spongebob, Pav.

[Magus]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

MGS2 is coming true~~

[Armored]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

*Shrug* Just another in a long line of atrocities against nature that won't end till we kill everything.

[Asch the Bloody]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

MGS2 is coming true~~

My thoughts exactly. Funny enough... this actually happened about a year after the stuff in MGS2 happened.

[Denmo]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

this ****** me off so much. If oil reaches the shores it's their own damn fault for letting offshore drilling occur in the first place.

[Magus]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

My thoughts exactly. Funny enough... this actually happened about a year after the stuff in MGS2 happened.

Precisely! I was thinking of commemorating the date with another MGS2 playthru but...

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

If a casino were taking bets on this, I'd wager that the oil company in question will not be held responsible for all of the expenses incurred and that the taxpayer will thus pay the majority of it. This has been the trend over the last few decades: privatize the profits and socialize the losses, which is exactly why America has such a large government and is now broke. This is yet another blow to our fragile, collapsing economy, but I doubt it will be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

[Nixon]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

4/20: It's a minor spill

5/2: It's a catastrophe, yay!!!


There was a coastline here, it's gone now.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I wonder what Corpus Christi will look like without its beautiful beaches and wetlands. It was already fairly run down when I lived there, but imagine it without all of those seafood restaraunts to provide employment to thousands of people...

If this continues for a month or more, count on the Gulf being one giant, permanent dead zone.

To add insult to inury, this offshore drilling was entirely unnecessary. We could have been electrifying America's transport almost 20 years ago when the technology became viable, yet here we are, chanting "Drill Baby Drill!" because oil fuels economic growth and too few people want too much wealth.

[Wavelength]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

To add insult to inury, this offshore drilling was entirely unnecessary. We could have been electrifying America's transport almost 20 years ago when the technology became viable, yet here we are, chanting "Drill Baby Drill!" because oil fuels economic growth and too few people want too much wealth.

There are a couple hundred million Americans that want offshore drilling, by my estimation (even most of the more liberal people I know like the idea of it). But I agree with you. It's not "economic growth" so much as "GDP inflation" that it provides.

But even more egregiously, yes, a more electric infrastructure could have been in place years ago (sans airplanes; we'd still need oil for those). Cars certainly have certain advantages, but taking trains and subways through Japan (which were a far, far cry from the ones in the States) made me realize that if I had to switch to that kind of system, I wouldn't miss our car-based infratructure very often.

My sincerest hope is that once our economy "recovers", our government offers 100% subsidies to anyone willing to install a solar panel on their roof (or in a separate installation on their property). You pay it back over time based on the cost of the energy that you're saving, and once you've paid back the cost of it, free energy is yours forever. Same kind of system could be used for electric cars, if only the rare earth elements that the batteries require weren't so limited.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

There are a couple hundred million Americans that want offshore drilling, by my estimation (even most of the more liberal people I know like the idea of it).

True, but those same Americans also think it will make a noticable impact on our oil supply, when it won't. The people who run the oil companies know this, but push such a platform anyway because there is potential money to be made.

Hopefully action is taken to liquidate BP of everything necessary to clean this mess up; the American taxpayer shouldn't have to.

Cars certainly have certain advantages, but taking trains and subways through Japan (which were a far, far cry from the ones in the States) made me realize that if I had to switch to that kind of system, I wouldn't miss our car-based infratructure very often.

Interestingly enough, every time such a system was proposed, even on a small scale(such as around Florida in the early 1990s), the airline industry and automobile industry were first in line to lobby against it, and each time, they got what they wanted.

It would be a very good system.

Same kind of system could be used for electric cars, if only the rare earth elements that the batteries require weren't so limited.

While rare Earth elements are finite, if we used just 1/3 of the readily recoverable nickel that the USGS claims is present, there would be enough for more than 200 million 30 kWh NiMH EV battery packs. The amount of battery packs that could be provided with lithium or lead is orders of magnitude more. Then there is also advanced lead acid using graphite foam technology. The trick is to use a variety of chemistries for diferent applications. NiMH would be perfect for midsized sedans and small SUVs, lithium ion for exotics, luxury cars, and high performance sports cars, and lead acid for the cheap daily drivers with some range sacrifice(say, 150 miles range in a lightweight aerodynamic chassis instead of the 250 miles range NiMH would provide). In the future, the cost to build lithium ion batteries may drop to a point where it is the cheapest chemistry to use on a per mile basis, but currently that still belongs to the large format NiMH batteries of 15 years ago.

Worrying about the supply of lithium is like worrying about the supply of crude oil in 1890. Assuming all the lithium ends up in landfills, we will have about a century before it runs out if there is a large increase in electric vehicles on the road to displace the majority of gasoline ones. Best of all, unlike crude oil, it doesn't get consumed propelling the vehicle, and can be recycled into new batteries when the material is spent, granting the possibility that once a certain amount is in use, no new material will need extraction.

[Leish]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I pee oil.