Gulf oil spill: Interior secretary extends drill freeze to Arctic

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Thursday that his department would not issue new drilling permits until investigators determine the causes of the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. That review is due to President Obama by May 28.

The decision is not a moratorium – drilling will continue on existing platforms offshore – but it effectively freezes new drilling in the gulf and in the Arctic Ocean, where Shell is poised to begin drilling this summer. Salazar could still approve the Arctic permit in time for that drilling to begin as scheduled.

[Updated 4:19 p.m. Salazar’s decision could prolong the waiting game for Shell as it prepares to move ahead with Arctic drilling in July. The drilling cannot proceed without the permit, which Salazar could still grant after the spill investigation ends, or which he could deny, citing environmental risks.]

--Jim Tankersley

Photo: Oil drapes the Chandeleur island chain Wednesday. Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Burch]

Dispelling global warming absurdities

We view global warming as a singular top down … radiant heat occurrence. When in fact it is both the sun generated ambient surface radiant heat in conjunction with the earth generated concentric convection heat, as the furnace below.

Because of earth’s rotation and orbital rotation the sun’s radiant heat, in effect, delivers the earth’s greater short term surface temperature coefficient fluctuation. While the earth’s internally generated convection heating system, thru a volumes diminishing effect produces a subterranean long term oscillating median temperate zone as a constant. This subterranean temperate median corresponds to the surface topologies ambient temperatures and in doing so, creates an oscillating temporal systems cycle.

Given; … The earth is not a solid mass, it is however, punctuated by numerous filtration caverns, collectively acting as a semipermeable cell that is under pressure from it’s built up natural gases and therein force delivering fossil fuel to the earth’s interior furnace. The pressure is determined by the amount of natural gas in the system, then acting itself as the slightest of thermostats. When this thermostat slightly increased interior temperature reaches the earth’s surface, it causes among many occurrences, large body of water turnovers oceans
(El Nino, and cumulative desalination) seas and lakes etc … melts glaciers and increases the production of freshwater, promotes inclement weather adding ground water and therefore flooding. All sequenced to terminate, rejuvenate and encourage new plant and animal life, as a new supply of the earth’s future fossil fuel.

[Paul Taylor Examiner]

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform blowout in the Gulf of Mexico has three impacts. It was a local human tragedy for friends and families of the eleven killed workers. It will also have real regional, but temporary, negative ecological and commercial fisheries impacts. And, the spill will chronically damage the image and political influence of corporate petroleum interests – even though BP was a significant funder of Obama’s election. What the BP blowout was certainly not, is a proper justification for the Obama Administration to suspend their recently-authorized expansion of offshore oil explorations in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Seaboard, Arctic and Pacific Coasts. Oil and gas products supply about 60% of America’s energy needs. And, they represent 7% of our gross domestic product (GDP).

Today’s U.S. Interior Secretary Salazar’s suspension of oil explorations is the daily political posturing of an administration that is in chaos, and desperate to maintain and expand power over all branches of U.S. Government. They fear an expected fall off-year congressional election blowout of Democrats.

Neither government nor environmentalists has ever produced a single drop of oil. Oil and gas will continue to fuel our prosperity through the 21st century. Political progressives exhibit a perverse pattern of dividing and exploiting Americans into voting blocks by race, labor class, gender identity and religion, including environmentalism.

[Burch]

Without delving into curie point particulars, any hydrocarbon fossil fuel, as itself a fluid density, contained within earth’s many filtration caverns will then assimilate the surrounding temperature and therefore the various deposits themselves will be subject to a temperature incongruence established push - pull effect. This fluid movement, in and of itself, proportionally creates the buildup of natural gases, liken by the fuel movement in a three quarter empty tank creates proportionally a much greater build up then the fuel in a full tank. Therefore the inordinate depletion of the earth’s fossil fuel deposits are responsible for the excessive natural gas buildup and it’s consequential abundant pressure increases, causing tectonic plate movement and a systematic seismic activity. Now what does personal wealth in the form of corporate profit cost society as a Whole ?

This duality in the earth’s heating cycling is why the glaciers of today breakup instead of just melt away and why the glaciers of past followed gravities path of least resistance.

This duality can also be exampled by the facts that, living plants and animals share a parasitic relationship with the earth, but dead they become nothing more than fossil fuel feedstock for the furnace below.

As to offshore deepwater drilling … When you have to reach to the bottom of the tank, what does that tell you about the amount of the remaining volume ?

[Paul Taylor Examiner]

Oil products provide 60% of America's energy needs, and represent 7% of our gross domestic product (GDP). This is Obama's Administration gambling, yet again, with our energy security and independence to activate one of his green voting block. Obama and his progressives are desperate to hold on to power in fear of a fall congressional election wipeout for Democrats.

Neither the government, nor any environmentalist, has ever produced one drop of oil that is, and will be, the primary fuel for our prosperity through the 21st Century. Obama exhibits the perverse political pattern of his progressive roots -- divide our country by the voting blocks of race, religion, labor, income and environmentalism.

[Pam Miller]

This is great news that Secretary Salazar has included scrutiny of Arctic Ocean exploratory wells planned to drill within 60 days, and in fact a full revocation of approvals is warranted. Despite different operating environments there is direct relevance since both the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico and Shell's proposed drilling planned in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas were approved by the Minerals Management Service without disclosing the effects of blowout spills on the environment. The agency concluded that a blowout spill was "too remote and speculative an event" to warrant analysis. The stakes are high for America's Arctic Ocean and surrounding coasts that comprize one of the world's largest remaining unspoiled places. A large spill could devastate migrating whales, birds, polar bears, walrus, and the traditional way of life of indiginous people who depend on these resources. The coastal Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is also vulnerable to spills from the exploratory offshore drilling located less than 20 miles away and it could suffer cumulative effects of oil drilling in this area. The Gulf of Mexico spill should be a wakeup call to use our most extraordinary natural resource - American ingenuity- to make cars and planes go farther on a gallon of gas and develop clean, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and others that Alaska and the nation hold in great bounty.