Is the Gulf under siege? You Bet!

In an area twice the size of Texas or 1,500,000 square kilometers the gulf is home to nearly 4,000 active oil wells, 3,500 in temporary non-production status, and 27,000 defunct oil wells. The Department of Interior has research that indicates that the most destructive, on-going hazard from off-shore oil wells results from production discharges. This is predominantly a dense clay like silt complete with trace chemical residues from the drilling and extraction methods that drifts and settles up to a kilometer radius from the well. This debris cloud smothers much of the subsurface seabed life and diffuses sunlight necessary for native plant life. This data would suggest that approximately 2.25% of the Gulf seabed has been directly affected.

Damaging the habitability of 2.25% of the Gulf seabed is statistically significant and that alone would be concern, however this is just the principal threat. Other threats from Oil production arise from management, transportation and disposal of oil and waste chemicals. These are not insignificant either, as the DeepWater horizon event has demonstrated.

Oil and gas mining is not the only threat to the gulf, with freight shipping and fishing generating substantial waste and obstruction hazard. For instance the Gulf is home 400 deepwater wrecks, 1000’s of littoral wrecks leaking contaminates, crushing reefs and creating trap hazards to native sea life.

Inland Agricultural and coastal society has an enormous impact on the Gulf. The continuous discharges of organic materials and nitrogen fertilizers have resulted in enormous hypoxia zones some as large of the size of a New England state. These oxygen depleted areas of the gulf waters further extinguish sea life, and some have decimated critical costal fishing areas.

The rapidly eroding barrier islands that protect the valuable and fragile wetland ecosystems are disappearing and not being replaced naturally due to civilization. These marsh systems are not only critical habitats to wildlife, it is the natural flood absorption mechanism that protects our costal cities. Efforts are underway to re-establish these sand islands, however the industrial efforts needed for such projects require enormous resources which in itself presents unwanted risk and costs.

Collectively the magnitude of all threats may well represent "Shock and Awe" assault on the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem, one it wont survive as we recognize it today without our help. Don’t take our word for it, see the facts for yourself at http://www.gomr.mms.gov and let us know what you think.

An individual can make a difference

The most helpful thing an individual can do beyond maintaining awareness towards the factors affecting the Gulf environment, promote awareness to the less informed, and base future decisions with a concerted effort to fully evaluate and weigh the risks to the environment in the long term over the short term benefit of the action.
Contribute to resources being collected dedicated to cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico. Cash contributions will provide planners and responders with the greatest flexibility and improve odds for success.
Remote and local individuals have many opportunities to volunteer with one of the shore line clean-up efforts, environmental impact study research projects, or wildlife rescue rehabilitation teams.
Invent, re-engineer and improve the way we fuel our economy so that our adverse impact to the environment is measureable, counter able, and minimal.

Will the Gulf oil industry recover from Deepwater Horizon?

The oil industry has been a cornerstone of this countries economy for the last century, and while supply is limited, demand has only risen. The Deep Water horizon blow-out has discharged an estimated 200 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and requiring over 3 month response effort to halt the leak. For oil an company this fiasco is generating an unprecedented amount of bad press and establishing perhaps for the first time, a 4 letter word using only 2. It’s a black eye added to an already ugly image representing big oil. With record profits earned the last several years, and the rest of the economy tanked, consumers were plagued with a soured image of a greedy industry. Also the Administrations appear to recognize oil dependence cripples our ability conduct human rights diplomacy and may a promote further revisions to policy and regulations.

Off Shore Oil Platform

So will the $150 billion Gulf of Mexico oil industry recover, perhaps however it will adjust, as this disaster has given the political opportunity to assert change. Oil companies, and affiliated industry service providers will have to deal with a unsympathetic administration, and the re-structured MMS

(now Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement or BOEMRE).

Exposure of the permitting and regulating processes and perceived conflict of interests that apparently existed MMS, BOEHMR may likely revise its off-shore permitting application process to require additional precautionary steps and increase regulatory oversight reporting requirements.

The loss of Deepwater Horizon was not only a ecological disaster, it was a financial catastrophe. The loss of profits notwithstanding, the loss of the brand is a devastating blow to investor’s confidence since perception is a far more daunting fix the loss on an exploratory venture. Investment capitalists may require more assurances and cost of capitol will increase as a result, slowing a re-emergence of the Gulf Oil industry.

off Shore Rig

Taking it one step further:

A revised national energy plan may also emerge from the administration as well, one that firmly discourages Oil / hydrocarbon use a primary fuel source and would likely include disincentives further scarifying capitol. A rapid shift in production without changing demand would of course backfire, causing further reliance on other nations for oil. There this would be a slow change where new product technology to meet consumers demand using renewable derived energy forms would phase in, as demand for hydrocarbon get reserved for more specialized to situations that require it.

Unless this all has been carefully scripted by the oil barons’, its anyone’s guess to where the industry will trend. Its possible with the cash reserves these Oil companies have we will need to rely on their resources, expertise and fuel to develop the energy source for next generation.