http://truth-out.org/news/item/27234-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-2-million-barrels-of-oil-still-trapped-on-the-ocean-floor-after-bp-spill-and-more
[Taking a couple of excerpts from the longer on-line article. Somehow,
2 million barrels of oil sounds like more to me than a bathtub ring -
the headline frames the story.]
On the News With Thom Hartmann: 2 Million Barrels of Oil Still Trapped
on the Ocean Floor After BP Spill, and More
Tuesday, 04 November 2014 10:33 By Thom Hartmann, The Thom Hartmann Program
You need to know this. The 2010 BP oil disaster released about 5 million
barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and according to a new study,
about 2 million barrels are still trapped on the ocean floor. The study,
called Fallout Plume of Submerged Oil from Deepwater Horizon, was
conducted by researchers from the University of California, and led by
grochemistry professor Dave Valentine. The scientists analyzed sea
sediment from the Gulf and discovered what they called a "bathtub ring"
of oil the size of the state of Rhode Island. Despite the obvious link
to the 2010 explosion and subsequent leak, BP denied a connection to
Deepwater Horizon, and issued a statement saying "The authors failed to
identify the source of the oil." However, the authors of this recent
study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, say that the 2010 spill's impact could
be even worse than they have indicated. The study reads, "We also
suggest that a significant quantity of oil was deposited outside this
area, but so far has evaded detection because of its heterogeneous
spatial distribution." In other words, oil that spread in different
directions still may not be accounted for. It's been over four years
since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and began spewing oil into our
Gulf, and we still don't know the full extent of the damage, or whether
it will ever really be cleaned up. Yet, BP is still raking in profits
and more wells are being drilled off our shores. What will it take to
make us wake up to the dangers of oil drilling? And, how much must a
corporation destroy before they lose the privilege of doing business in
our great nation? For the sake of our planet, and our species, we must
answer those questions before we find ourselves dealing with an even
bigger disaster.
========================================================================
Three Australian airlines just proved that carbon taxes work. Back in
2012, when Australia's carbon tax was enacted, airlines claimed that
they would have to pass on millions of dollars in costs to their
customers to cover the added expense. However, when the tax was repealed
earlier this year, Qantas, Virgin Australia, and Regional Express
airlines had to admit that those original claims were nothing but bunk.
Part of legislation repealing the carbon tax required airlines to pass
on the savings to their customers, which forced them to admit that they
had absorbed the cost of the original tax. In other words, Australia's
carbon tax wasn't making prices higher for consumers. However, it was
making corporations pay for their desruction of our environment.
Allowing them to go right back to tax-free pollution didn't save
customers a dime, and it put the social cost of caring for our planet
back on the taxpayers. Hopefully Australian lawmakers will put the
carbon tax back in place, and other nations will use this example to
help enact their own.
_______________________________________________
Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list
Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
