
14-year-long oil spill in Gulf of Mexico may be worst in U.S. history - mitchelldeacon9
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-14-year-long-oil-spill-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-verges-on-becoming-one-of-the-worst-in-us-history/2018/10/20/f9a66fd0-9045-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html
======
kbutler
Yes, oil in water is bad. But there's no scale - how does this 100, 300, or
700 barrels per day compare to natural seeps?

"In the Gulf of Mexico, there are more than 600 natural oil seeps that leak
between one and five million barrels of oil per year, equivalent to roughly
80,000 to 200,000 tonnes."
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_seep](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_seep)
with reference)

I think we really need to figure out where all this oil goes.

For another yardstick, deepwater horizon was estimated at 210 million barrels
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill).

Even if it is 1000 barrels per day, Taylor has a while to go (575 years...)

~~~
azinman2
But why add to it?

~~~
Rjevski
Not saying we should add to it on purpose, but if an artificial leak is only
the equivalent of 1% of the natural leaks, then it's probably not going to
have any serious impact on the environment.

~~~
rbanffy
Still, if a company drills a hole, they should allocate the funds to cap it
properly. Making that mandatory would sure help with situations like this.

~~~
Ntrails
Right, but claiming a thing is a planet/ecosystem defining disaster when in
context it's just _a bad thing_ from which the world will inevitably recover
is just scaremongering

~~~
BioMeditate
I think it's more like I'm trying to teach my 5yr old. When you make a mess,
you get to clean it up. Simple as that

------
state_less
We should charge oil companies an extra environmental tax and use it to pay
for the cleanup. It should increase the price of oil, something more inline
with the actual cost. The earth is our only home we cannot afford to f—k it
up.

~~~
nightski
What's the evidence that would change the behavior of the oil companies? Like
you said, it would just be passed on to the consumer as an increase in price.
Which may result in a decrease in consumption, true, but in reality I feel
like it would just hurt the poor.

~~~
mbostleman
Yea, just another consumption tax, all of which is always paid by the
consumer. And since the price doesn't discriminate by an individual consumer's
income, it becomes in practice regressive. It would be great here if the
individual companies could be better held liable as opposed to an across the
board tax.

~~~
munk-a
Consumption taxes are paid by declining demand (due to a price point movement)
but in the case of an inelastic good that ends up being forced on the
consumer. So in this specific case I think a tax would be a mistake and end up
being regressive in practice, but adding a large tax on automobiles might be a
good alternative, with the aim of slowly decreasing the demand side and
encouraging alternate transportation...

Honestly though, the US could just start funding public transit properly so
that the alternative isn't so dismal.

------
ansible
I'm as disappointed in the Coast Guard as anyone in the story. I also don't
understand why they were monitoring the spill instead of the EPA.

~~~
romed
The USCG is charged with coordinating oil spill response under a law passed as
a result of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

------
TheSpiceIsLife
I had no idea there are over 3000 active oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico!

~~~
liftbigweights
It's one of the reasons why US and mexico are major oil producers.

------
trumped
The BP oil spill released more total oil in just a few months, it was a real
disaster (estimated @ 4.9 million barrels:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill#Vo...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill#Volume_and_extent_of_oil_spill)).
And the dispersants that they used to hide/sink some of the spill were even
more toxic then the oil itself.

------
forkLding
Any fish that come from that area? Slightly sketched out about the fish I'm
eating now.

------
nickthemagicman
Man, I live here and feel bad for the people of Louisiana. The gulf is turning
into a giant wasteland/superfund site. Such a corrupt state.

~~~
pastor_elm
Why feel bad for people that choose their own fate?

~~~
omegaworks
Every time the people have tried to choose a fate other than deference to the
extractive industry, they are overruled.

[http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oakland-port-
coal-2018...](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oakland-port-
coal-20180515-story.html)

~~~
8bitsrule
And beaten and arrested and ...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Access_Pipeline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Access_Pipeline)

------
king_phil
Paywall. What does the article say?

~~~
nielsole
Between 300 and 700 barrels of oil per day have been spewing from a site [...]
since 2004, when an oil-production platform owned by Taylor Energy sank in a
mudslide triggered by Hurricane Ivan. Many of the wells have not been capped,
and federal officials estimate that the spill could continue through this
century. [...] The company has argued that there’s no evidence to prove any of
the wells are leaking.

~~~
cix_pkez
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfhZB7rQ7iA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfhZB7rQ7iA)

