Written by Robert Greenwald and Tanene Allison
As you read this, BP is already working to create their next disaster. What they are presently creating is even more dangerous and devastating than what they did in the Gulf, and even less regulated.
Since BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster, nearly five million barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf. Industries have been destroyed, lives have been lost and wildlife and the environment have been irrevocably harmed. We know that BP cuts safety corners, takes risks, and is unconcerned about anything other than their own profit.
We can't let them get away with another disaster!
Not happy with the bare offshore drilling regulations we have, BP created a legal loophole for themselves....in the form of an island. This legal loophole means that the present moratorium on offshore drilling does not apply to BP's Arctic project.
BP's man-made "Liberty Island" sits three miles off the shore of Alaska. From this island, BP plans to drill two miles under the sea and then six to eight miles horizontally. A New York Times article recently stated that scientists believe this form of drilling to be "more prone to the types of gas kicks that triggered the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon."
Sound like something that you can't believe would pass inspection? Not if you consider a fact recently reported by Rolling Stone Magazine - It turns out that BP was allowed to write its own environmental review for the project as well as its own consultation documents relating to the Endangered Species Act.
Can you imagine an oil spill worse than the one in the Gulf? Imagine an equally large, or even larger, spill in the Arctic, where there is a lack of technology proven to work in cleaning up oil in icy water. Or, for that matter, a gusher trapped underneath the Arctic ice.
Imagine an oil spill where emergency and relief supports are thousands of miles away. Imagine a blow-out in the fall, and those emergency and relief supports having to wait through the winter, and through the spring, until the Arctic ice melts enough for crews to get to the spill the following summer. Estimates are that, during that time, oil could spread to Russian and Canada, and potential even to Norway and Greenland.
This isn't some science fiction horror movie. This is a reality that BP is creating right now, even while we still grapple with the harm they caused in the Gulf.
If you can't believe that such dangerous, irresponsible and risky action has gotten a green light from our government, you can still act before the drilling begins. Share our film with your friends and family and sign our petition to tell Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to stop BP's dangerous and unregulated drilling in the Arctic!
BP is working hard to create their next disaster. Remember how helpless we all felt watching footage of the tragedy in the Gulf? This time you have the chance to stop BP before they cause even more devastation.
Tell Ken Salazar to stop this disaster before it begins!
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Jennifer Grayson: Eco Etiquette: Should I Turn Off The TiVo?
1. DIRTY ENERGY MONEY:
http://dirtyenergymoney.com/
“Dirty Energy Money is an interactive website that tracks the flow of oil, gas, and coal money in U.S. Congress. Find out which energy companies are pumping their dirty money into politics and which politicians are receiving it.”
a) Use the Dirty Energy Money website to find out about how much money your Senators and Representatives have received. Share what you have found out with the media, on blogs, on facebook, on Twitter, etc.
b) Be sure to call and write to your Senators and Representatives and express your OUTRAGE. Confront those who are corrupt. HOLD YOUR SENATORS ACCOUNTABLE. You can find your legislators’ contact information here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
2. OIL CHANGE INTERNATIONAL
http://priceofoil.org/
Clean energy advocates and activists have noted for decades that the barriers to a clean energy transition are political, not technical. Today, this is more apparent than ever. Oil Change International is dedicated to identifying, overcoming, and dismantling these political barriers to clean energy.
The second thing was the point you're making, Mr. Greenwald, that the next disaster is just a matter of time--a question of when, not if. It's frightening. About two years ago, scientists discovered that large areas of the Arctic seafloor are seismic regions with a string of highly active volcanoes.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625140649.htm
And you mention the gas methane gas deposits there. Well, that methane is already seeping up through the melting permafrost under Arctic lakes. Check out this video of plumes being ignited on the surface of frozen lakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa3M4ou3kvw
There are huge deposits of methane under the Arctic seafloor. If they are breached, we could easily have another disaster like the one in the Gulf. And even if there isn't a release of oil, a release of the methane itself would be bad enough. Right now, I've only heard of one and it's fictional, but it's scary because it could happen--and seems to have foreshadowed what we're seeing in the gulf.
http://www.ninc.com/blog/index.php/archives/research-becomes-reality
What actuary on their payroll tells them that these "low probability/high risk" scenarios are a good idea? And how do they define "low probability" anyway, when others on the same payroll are cutting corners when it comes to safety...thereby increasing both the probability AND the risk?
The "it hasn't happened" arctic dramatization is, at it's core, dishonest.