If the BP oil spill were in Oregon
Carla Axtman
It can be difficult to really grasp the scope and scale of the BP oil disaster currently fouling the Gulf region. Based on information gleaned from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a website called IfItWasMyHome.com has been created using Google maps. It allows users to virtually place an oil spill template on a map of their local region.
Give it a whirl. Pretty eye-opening stuff.
(H/T: Jeremiah Baumann on Facebook)
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5:13 p.m.
Jun 4, '10
Fortunately for us we elect leaders on the West Coast who have kept the ban on drilling on the continental shelf offshore. Fortunately for us we have six Democratic U.S. Senators on the West Coast who are not mindlessly shouting "drill, baby, drill!" Otherwise we might be in the same condition as the people in all those red states along the gulf coast whose lives and livelihoods, the very systems of life that support them and keep them alive, are now being destroyed.
2:42 a.m.
Jun 5, '10
Bill's comment, revised: Fortunately for us we elect leaders on the West Coast who have kept us sheltered from the consequences of our oil dependency. Fortunately for us we have six Democratic U.S. Senators on the West Coast who are outsourcing the ill effects of our mindless consumption. Otherwise we might be in the same condition as the people in all those red states and nations like Nigeria whose lives we are destroying as we sanctimoniously congratulate ourselves for ruining their ecosystem and preserving ours, for the time being.
11:23 a.m.
Jun 5, '10
Accidnts happen, if criminal culpability is found those responsible should rightfully be fully prosecuted.
The elected leaders on the West coast, and those before them helped force this current state of affairs through their irresponsible kowtoeing to the environmental extremists. Two examples: 1. ANWR has been effectively locked up for any discussion regarding drilling for over 25 years. 2. Coal Oil Point, off the Santa Barbara Channel with proven reserves has sat un produced for almost 31 years. This despite longitudinal drilling techinues that would allow for land based drilling and production.
1:55 p.m.
Jun 5, '10
Accidents happen?? Ya gotta love that. British Petroleum lied about its ability to prevent and contain oil spills. They are clearly incompetent to drill at those depths, and clearly criminally and ethically responsible for horrible damage to our country, and our planet. And the right wings response is "accidents happen" and we should let them drill anywhere they want to on public land or ocean, and let's not hold them liable for the destruction they do. As we speak the GOP is bottling up legislation to expand liability to BP and its criminal cabal of oil companies. Heckuva Job, wingnuts!
6:55 a.m.
Jun 6, '10
Only in the sick moronic world of right-wingers like you, Rush, and American idiot Sarah Palin can massive ecological destruction carried out by oil corporations be the fault of environmentalists and progressive politicians. Nothing to do w/ the conservative philosophy of greed is good. Nothing to do w/ government/corporate corruption and cronyism. Just an accident.
9:39 a.m.
Jun 6, '10
I know that the truth hurts, but the facts remain that far easier oil reserves are available and blocked by environmentalists. Drilling at 5,000 feet is an added hazard that neither BP nor the EPA, Coast Guard or Dept. of Minerals are prepared for. I stated that if criminal culpability is found that the guilty should be fully prosecuted. Please tell me what, if anything the federal response agencies have done to prepare the coasts for spill containment and control.
I'm certain your suggestion is more overlapping layers of effective government intervention hiring people to sleep and surf the internet for porn.
11:05 a.m.
Jun 6, '10
The fact remains Kurt, that we can pull all the oil out of the ocean and it will barely affect energy prices/availability in the global energy market for decades to come. This means that we risk catastrophic disasters like the Gulf spill for almost nothing…at the expense of our most important ecosystems in the world in relation to food, jobs, and sustainability. Not to mention the inherent value to all the non-human forms of life we continue to obliterate. And all the time we have anti-government wing-nuts like yourself screaming, “Drill baby drill.” This is one of endless textbook examples of the self-centered, shortsighted, greed is good lifestyle/philosophy of conservative America.
Conservatives get control of government, fill regulatory agencies with their conservative Neanderthal cronies and in doing so hand our future over to blood-sucking corporations who don’t give a flying f%#@ about the common good. And when they do this, “accidents happen.” And then FOX News minions like yourself and conservative messiah Glenn Beck attack the concept of government itself. Then you go on to blame the very people who fight to protect the environment for the destruction carried out by the same selfish greedy conservative people/orgs/institutions/corporations which you support.
Here are some simple common-sense suggestions Kurt.
Conservatives and corporations are raping and pillaging the planet……..meanwhile you and your ilk cheerlead them the whole way.
11:48 a.m.
Jun 6, '10
Joshua, I'm not a conservative. I don't listen to Lars, Beck or Rush. I find them laughable. Neither am I a "drill baby, drill" adherant. But then I disagree with your "all big companies are bad and all oil is bad" mantra so by supposition I must be conservative.
That, Joshua is the problem our nation faces. The two party system has created this you're for "us" or against "us" mendacity. It doesn't work. We shouldnot be dependent on oil, foreign or domestic. We should have weaned ourselves over to more efficient energy (H2 for example) years ago. However, environmentalists and leftist decry anything but purity and will not even discuss LNG or other hydrocarbons as transitionary fuels.
I'll not counter your anti-conservative rant with an equally tired and well known anti liberal rant. I will however state that neither "side" has workable answers. Neither "side" has a plurality and therefor the pendulum forever swings back and forth. to your points:
Have a nice day. Vent your frustrations elswhere and understand that many who might disagree with your view of the world are not defacto conservatives.
12:26 p.m.
Jun 6, '10
First of all, I'll vent my frustration where I choose.
What's laughable is that you spew the same platitudes that Rush and Palin do: "Accidents happen, it's the environmentalists fault") but then you try to separate yourself from them. Sorry, doesn't work that way.
If you want to discuss what societal models we should learn from it's not Peru or Chile, it would be progressive strongholds like Denmark, Sweden etc. that have created the happiest and healthiest societies on Earth.
"Environmental purity" s another empty right-wing talking point. I advocate for responsible living.
People like you always like to paint both parties w/ the same brush when it has been Republicans and conservative democrats which have fought conservation, regulation, civil rights and have championed great policies like deregulation and Iraq. For decades, it has been the progressives which have consistently been on the right side of history over and over again on the major issues.
The GOP is wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America and has been for sometime. It is again the progressives who fight to get the corporate money out of the system and conservatives who fight to keep it in. That includes conservative Democrats.
2:06 p.m.
Jun 7, '10
You do realize that the worst oil spill prior to the current one was from Alaskan North Slope oil, i.e. the Exxon Valdez accident?
8:05 a.m.
Jun 5, '10
@ Michael Moore
The six Dem. Senators on the West Coast are not the decision makers for our dependency on oil. No amount of breast beating and guilt mongering is going to change policy. Perhaps the graphic destruction of an entire region of our own country, its ecosystem, its way of life will change American consciousness away from "drill baby drill" policies and towards sustainability. Until that time we can elect leaders who will at least protect our coastline.
9:30 a.m.
Jun 5, '10
If it were positioned on our shore, it would already cover the entire coastline, including all the coastal rivers and estuaries as well as the Columbia all the way to the Gorge! I'm doing what I can to reduce my oil consumption (including plastics & polyesters) while generating solar power, and working to elect leaders who will support alternative energy technologies and smarter policies everywhere. I hope vast majorities of other consumers and voters will do the same.
10:15 a.m.
Jun 5, '10
Right-on, Faun. A combination of personal responsibility along with better legislation is the only thing that will save us as regards the environmental crises.
Sell your car. Take the Greyhound bus for travel, rather than fly. Get a book by Ed Begley, Jr. and do everything you can that is spelled out in the book, as regards green lifestyle.
2:59 p.m.
Jun 5, '10
Right on, and good for keeping us in an action- and solution-based mindset.
11:17 p.m.
Jun 5, '10
Can Senator Merkley be so incredibly tone-deaf about this as he appeared in tonight's Starlight Parade? Interviewed by the only TV reporter feeding live coverage, he asked the driver of the new Ford Mustang to rev the hot engine not once, but TWICE!
The Gulf is dying because of our infatuation with petroleum and he's pimping new muscle cars???
7:58 a.m.
Jun 6, '10
This spill in the Gulf could end up coating much of the east coast because of the currents. Point being, that when red states decide to put profit over planet and drill offshore, it's not just their local environment and economy that they put at risk. I wonder if there is drilling currently under way in places which, if the same type of tragedy unfolds, could bring oil to Oregon's beaches?
10:44 p.m.
Jun 6, '10
Thank goodness it doesn't come near my house.
8:51 a.m.
Jun 7, '10
Actually, Joshua, what's funny is your uncanny ability to broad brush and pigeon-hole folks into ideological and political black holes that only aims to disenfranchise and judge people for any opinion or idea that's not yours. Your attitude only causes friction and tension among good people who happen to disagree. And based on your comments I've come to the conclusion that you'd rather badger and hurl insults than partake in an open-minded, fair, and cordial conversation - even at the point of disagreement.
I don't agree with off-shore drilling, but your assertion that it's the "conservatives" fault is insidious at best.
9:43 a.m.
Jun 7, '10
Oh my, another conservative who doesn't approve of my attitude. The me first and screw everyone else right-wingers, libertarians, drill-baby-drillers, and those who say the gulf was just an accident, understandably would like to be respected but they aren't going to get it here. Sorry, they have been getting way more respect than they deserve for far too long and that' s part of the reason we are where we are.
Conservatives continue to champion the self-centered greed-based policies that are destroying the planet. You may not like the facts, but they are what they are.
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