Map of all the oil drill sites in the Gulf

[flamingdem]

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/vjaffee/photo_with_thousands_of_potent.html

Um... not to be a Debby Downer on a side issue but look at all those rigs!

Excerpt:
One offshore oil rig exploded and sank, leaving unbelievable damage in its wake. Experts say that 95,000 barrels of oil could be flowing into the water each day. BP estimates 5,000 barrels a day, but even that questionable number is sickening. That means 210,000 gallons of oil are polluting the waters each day, killing marine life and ruining livelihoods for people in the Gulf who are still struggling to recover from the ravages of Katrina. Even if the oil is “cleaned up” in five year’s time, the destruction to critical habitat and devastation to a way of life is irreversible.

All this from just one oil rig. So how many more potential disasters are out there?

I was horrified when I first saw this image on the news. The Deepwater Horizon was just one of nearly 4,000 oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico:

[Feron]

1. Here's a larger map.....

http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/05/10/the-current-state-of-the-gulf-oil-spill/

[flamingdem]

4. Thanks. The whole idea is insane nt

[Catherina]

2. I had no idea about the extent! Criminal. n/t

[seabeyond]

5. i was saying the same thing to myself. amazing. nt

[charlie]

3. Once in 4000

I expect that'll be used to illustrate the low probability of accidents, especially if the number is expanded to wells worldwide. It'll pop up on FOX soon enough, get ready for it.

[krispos42]

6. That's quite an engineering achievment, actually.

I'm impressed by the extent. It's really amazing that we can do that on that scale.

It's still not a good idea, of course, and I'd rather not do it at all. Where's my nuclear fusion???

But man, they must have a pretty high success rate if this hasn't happened before.



I wonder how many near-disasters they've had but managed to keep quiet.

[nashville_brook]

7. yeah -- would be nice to see the same amount of engineering be put toward clean energy.

[1Hippiechick]

8. This ought to bring out some of those far right nutjobs who proclaim that God is punishing Louisiana

for their sinful ways and lifestyle....