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here's my stupid question of the day: do we have the ability to send live divers that deep yet?
it seems a lot of the failures have an element of robotic control to them.
suit a crew up and set them on it.
here's my stupid question of the day: do we have the ability to send live divers that deep yet?
it seems a lot of the failures have an element of robotic control to them.
suit a crew up and set them on it.
something? what something?
this is why so many of us were opposed to drilling in the first place.
you don't do things that you can't fix.
What do you mean "What Something".
SOMETHING!
It's part of that conservative "common sense" they are always going on about. Who needs "science"? They have "common sense" and they have figured out the solution - "Something".
Now if we could just get this valuable information to the government.
Didn't the right wingers say they were secretly "monitoring" the board? Well there you go. Now they have the answer, "Something".
Hey dumb ass, are you some kind of drilling expert? I know I'm not. Don't know jack shit about it. So yes I am fully qualified to say that someone needs to do something. I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about like so many people do.
I learned from my Grandfather. " I know enough about everything to know that I know everything about nothing."
here's my stupid question of the day: do we have the ability to send live divers that deep yet?
it seems a lot of the failures have an element of robotic control to them.
suit a crew up and set them on it.
Set them on it? You think that sitting on the leak will plug it up?
That sounds like an Obama Plan to Plug the Hole.
Top Kill is now a Failure - Should the government take charge?
The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort.
Barack Obama May 27, 2010
If the government hadn't forced oil companies into deep water drilling by forbidding permits for on land or shallow water exploration and drilling, we wouldn't be facing this mess right now.
here's my stupid question of the day: do we have the ability to send live divers that deep yet?
it seems a lot of the failures have an element of robotic control to them.
suit a crew up and set them on it.
Set them on it? You think that sitting on the leak will plug it up?
That sounds like an Obama Plan to Plug the Hole.
that's not quite what i had in mind.
my point is that human hands are going to do a better job than robots and my question is whether hard hat diving technology has advanced to where we can even send people that deep.
'nother question. I'm not an engineer so maybe this isn't feasible. But why are we trying to plug the leak? Why not just make it so that the leak is leaking back to the oil platform and thus allowing us to actually use the oil and not have it end up in the ocean?
If the government hadn't forced oil companies into deep water drilling by forbidding permits for on land or shallow water exploration and drilling, we wouldn't be facing this mess right now.
Efforts will now focus on severing the damaged riser pipes that lay crumpled on the ocean floor, then installing a containment device that could capture the leaking oil and syphon it to the surface.
BP and the Coast Guard said it would take four to seven days before the contraption -- dubbed the "Lower Marine Riser Package," or LMRP -- can be put in place.
Until the leaks are contained, he believes it is impossible to determine what the environmental or economic impact will be. "When the media talks about a lot of dead fish, you have to ask what size fish. Little fish the size of your finger don't have the mobility, and they'll die. Bigger fish will recognize the problem and get out of there." He said there will be much bigger problems if oil reaches the wetlands. "A lot of animals and birds will die, and sediments will last a long time."
Dr. Walter Starck, of Townsville, Australia, paints a different picture. Starck holds a Ph.D. in biological oceanography and is a marine biologist who specializes in coral reefs and fisheries. He maintains that the media overplays oil spills' effect on wildlife. "The popular image of dead and dying birds and mammals covered in sticky oil is a relatively brief event, and as sad as it may be at the time, their populations soon recover."
He points out crude oil is an organic substance, and natural leaks are normal. Though spills caused by humans are much more concentrated and cause a temporary mess, they are also more short-lived and do not wreak the amount of environmental damage mainstream media reports claim. "The volatile components largely evaporate within a few days, and much of the heavier residue is broken down by microbial action over a few months. The heaviest residue accumulates sediment particles and sinks to the bottom where it mixes with further sediment and ends up no more harmful than pieces of the bitumen used for roads."
Starck contends that clean-up efforts from past oil spills have "only increased environmental damage and delayed natural recovery." The dispersants injected into leaking oil to prevent it from surfacing are "far more damaging to marine life" than crude alone, mixing with it to form a toxic sludge. "Their only real purpose is cosmetic and PR at the expense of the environment."
While O'Brien calls this a "singular" and "catastrophic" event, Starck remains reserved. "Right now it's a big thing. In a year or two it will become a past irritant no longer of concern." He uses a vivid analogy to support this claim, describing the largest oil spill in history during the first Persian Gulf War. In 1991, between 6 and 8 million tons of oil spilled into a shallow reef area, but nothing was done about it since workers had to deal with area oil well fires. "Follow-up studies found that within 4 months, most of the oil had been degraded naturally, and within 4 years even the most heavily affected areas had largely or completely recovered." He predicts a 95 percent recovery for the Gulf states within about four years.
Starck is also less critical of the three companies involved, calling it a major loss for them. "You can be sure they are doing everything possible, and no one else in the world is better equipped and qualified to do this job. Criticizing them is beyond moronic." He says it is "beyond stupid" to impose fines and increase liability "for a useless cleanup charade," fines which only serve to punish the end consumer who ultimately has to pay for increased production costs.
Instead, his criticism is directed at federal involvement. "The best thing the government can do is to stay out of the way, let the companies take the lead and render assistance if requested. Having a bunch of bureaucrats meddling in this is a recipe for another Katrina."
Set them on it? You think that sitting on the leak will plug it up?
That sounds like an Obama Plan to Plug the Hole.
that's not quite what i had in mind.
my point is that human hands are going to do a better job than robots and my question is whether hard hat diving technology has advanced to where we can even send people that deep.
It's over a mile deep. The pressure from the water combined with the force of the escaping oil has got to be incredibly dangerous.
I know, let's send in Bill Clinton. He's the Obama Admin's Fixer Guy these days.
