ndustries searching for offshore oil should not drill in sensitive waters before fully ensuring all safety measures are in place, says IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
According to the world’s largest environmental network, protection of the environment should be a top priority for both industry and national regulators and environmental scientists should be part of any plans for offshore oil drilling.
“We need a plan B before going into these sensitive areas,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. “What happened a year ago in the Gulf of Mexico should never happen again and it is on the industry to prove ahead of time that they could do their job, without risking the health of the planet.”
A conference on how to manage oil spill risks, co-sponsored by IUCN, was held in Sweden last month. Oil industry specialists, including the chairman of BP, government officials and researchers, all recognised the increased risk of oil spills in difficult environments. In the Arctic, for example, the remoteness, the extreme weather, the lack of infrastructure and the environmental stress due to climate change, pose serious challenges for the offshore industry.
“One year after the largest oil spill disaster in the United States, there’s still no clear indication from BP’s chairman what new technologies and improvements in procedures are needed to avoid losing more lives and destroying the environment,” adds Lundin. “Deep sea drilling should go hand-in-hand with sound scientific research, in order to make sure that economic opportunities do not impact the environment in a negative way.”
Whenever drilling is happening in sensitive areas, using two drilling platforms at the same time would greatly reduce the risk of a large oil spill, according to IUCN. If an explosion similar to the one last year happens, and two rigs are drilling the same well, it could be sealed much faster and the impacts could be greatly reduced.
The increased interest of the oil and gas industry to look for opportunities in the remote waters of the Arctic Ocean is bringing the scientific community together to protect the richest and most vulnerable places in the Arctic. According to IUCN, internationally agreed “no-go” areas should be created there to avoid the greatest risks to nature. IUCN is currently involved in mapping the Arctic and identifying the areas that should be protected.

 

Get of TMS you Prius driving hippie!

 

Wow! I was so depressed after reading this I had to get in my Mustang and drive as fast as I could constantly revving the engine and spinning the tires to make myself feel better.

 

Banned the spammer but didnt delete this thread because of Bone's comment making me LOL literally.

 

LOL. that is some funny chit

 

Honored

 

Google that name and looks like he or she has been banned from several motor-related forums. While environmental responsibility is generally an important issue, I generally don't see it in the top 1000 subjects here at TMS.

That being said, I would like to mention I do work for an oil company that sells ungodly amounts of fuel to massive ships in search of more oil to further power the ships to find even more oil and what's left over, we get to burn on the streets.

I recycle my oil, so I've done my part and sleep like a log.

 

I perform reserve estimates for said companies so they can get financing to keep filling those ships that let us keep spinning our wheels.

 

"Drilling for opportunities without hurting the planet "

gross

 

I once got into a discussion with a woman who told me my Mustang was "harming the planet"... you guessed it, she drove a Prius.

I then asked her if she knew where the metals in her car's battery pack came from.

I told her that a lot of the rare earth metals used are found in Asia. They have to mined using heavy equipment that use diesel fuel. The ores are then shipped to the battery manufacturer via rail and by ship, using fuel oil. It is then made in the factory, then shipped by a truck that uses diesel fuel to the port of embarkation, loaded onto a RORO Car carrier ship, which uses fuel. It then comes across the ocean to the ports of entry on the east or west coast, where it either gets transported by rail to a vehicle unloading area and then by truck to the dealership or directly to the dealership via truck, both of which use diesel fuel. I then said to her "how green is your Prius now?"

The dumbstruck look on her face was priceless!

 

 

Not to mention how the mine the rocks and minerals is hazardous to the environment as well lol ... I too had a Prius owner tell me the same thing lol

 

Freedom of speech. Let them talk and I will continue to drive my stangs.