Drill Baby Drill: Australia Edition
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Yeah, lets do this.
A leaking Australian oil well is likely to pour oil into the Timor Sea for nearly two months before it can be stopped, the operator said on Sunday, as environmentalists expressed grave fears for rare wildlife.
Rig operator PTTEP Australasia said it planned to drill a relief well and pour mud to stop the leak, which began on Friday with a blow-out more than three kilometers (two miles) deep.
It would take 20 days to bring a new offshore drilling rig by barge from Singapore, plus four weeks to drill, the company said in a statement.
Asked if this meant the well would flow for nearly two months, a company spokesman told Reuters: ‘That is pretty much the estimation.’
34 Responses to “Drill Baby Drill: Australia Edition”
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Then why the hell did Obama just help Brazil drill for oil off its coast?
That Soros made a killing once Obama issued the guarantees was, I’m certain, merely a wild coincidence…
J.
Yeah let’s not, because oil could never seep out of the ocean floor naturally.
While unfortuneate, aren’t we preventing much more natural seepage by drilling and putting the crude to use instead of letting it eventually and naturally seep into the oceans?
“Oil Drillers, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.”
Drill baby Drill, damn the facts.
So, Oliver, when can we expect your scathing denunciation of Obama’s $2 billion in loan guarantees to Petrobras so they can drill off their shores?
And as far as those greedy financial manipulators… just before Obama announced the guarantees, George Soros rejiggered his investments in Petrobras and scored a nice, tidy chunk of change.
Come on, Oliver, I know you can do it…
J.
I look forward to Oliver denouncing Wind, Solar, and Hydroelectric power.
Don’t forget the nukes, Farris…
But oil drilling off Brazil? That’s fine with Oliver. They’re just brown people…
J.
British tabloid had a piece about the Palins’ marriage being on the rocks…
Then why the hell did Obama just help Brazil drill for oil off its coast?
“The Bank’s bipartisan Board unanimously approved the preliminary commitment to Petrobras on April 14, 2009, before any Obama appointees joined the Bank. In fact, the Bank’s Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats – all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush.”
I’m starting to understand why Jay Tea never bothers to link to any of the nonsense he throws tantrums about here. How’s Barbara Wagner doing by the way, Jay? You just suddenly stopped talking about her and you seemed to be so deeply concerned about her plight only a few short weeks ago and now it’s like you just don’t talk about her at all. Did she have an unsightly setback after a mandatory end-of-life counseling session you were talking about five weeks ago and then suddenly stopped mentioning for some reason too?
You do understand that accidents in construction of a wind plant while sadly costing lives don’t have the long term, terrible environmental impact that costs us more lives and damages our ecosystem that offshore drilling does? Of course not, you’re conservatives.
There is still oil from the ’89 Valdez spill in Alaskan soil.
Con commenters are always seeing Lowryite starburts
So, Oliver, who’s killing wind power off the coast? In Massachusetts, it’s those right-wing tools John Kerry and Ted Kennedy.
Whenever ANY new form of energy comes up, it ain’t the right that ends up killing it. Hydro? Get the environmentalists to talk about it. Wind? The animal rights people will get hysterical because birds might run into them, and the limousine liberals howl about it messes up their beachfront view. Nuclear? Do I really need to go there? Natural gas? Clean coal?
August, I was not aware of that statement — but I do notice at least one huge loophole.
1) The preliminary approval was issued before any Obama appointees had joined.
2) The approval is still preliminary.
That means that it has not yet been finally approved, AND there are at least two Obama appointees on the board now. One of them — the chair — is Fred Hochberg, who served in Obama’s transition before Obama appointed him. Two other members are ex-officio Obama officials. A fourth — a Bush appointee — is a guy I know well by reputation: Joe Grandmaison. Grandmaison is a lifetime Democratic hack, a major mover and shaker in New Hampshire politics until Clinton took him on to the national stage.
That’s four reliable Obama allies out of a board of seven — and there’s one vacancy. Should this “preliminary” approval go through, Obama owns it — lock, stock, and leaking barrels.
Oh, and August: here’s my source for the board makeup:
http://www.exim.gov/about/leadership/board.cfm
J.
I don’t know about Kerry but the Kennedys have been in the wrong blocking the wind farms.
See, that wasn’t hard.
The thing with energy is we have to balance safety, utility, and environmental impact. The right thinks we should just keep drilling holes in the earth, damn the consequence. Do I think sometimes environmental folks go too far in their right-minded defense? Sure. But that’s a far cry from what folks on the establishment left believe.
No such thing as clean coal (despite the words of President Obama), and nuclear is still far too risky I think, but I’m open to something changing my mind.
Nuclear apperas to be pretty safe compared to coal.
It is more efficient than wind which would require a wind farm the size of Rhode Island to equal a nuke plant just under 2 sq miles.
With the saftey factors listed in the article, it actually appears to be pretty sane.
Suicidal, where are you going to put all the nuclear waste? A question that can’t be answered.
Wind power doesn’t need to come entirely from giant wind farms. There are rooftop wind turbines. You can space them out on a farm and grow crops between them. No need to pave over rhode island.
By the way, I love Kennedy but I’ve ripped into him over his anti-cape wind stance plenty of times.
Tim, there are answers to the nuclear waste question.
40-odd years ago, Robert Heinlein suggested mixing it into cement, shaping it into bricks, and stacking it out in the desert. He pointed out that today’s “waste” is tomorrow’s resource. Who knows what use future generations might find for what we see as nothing more than dangerous refuse.
Yucca Mountain is another solution.
Oliver, that “balance” is a scam. There is NO form of energy that will pass muster with the environmental extremists, and they hold veto power with the Democrats. Please cite an example of alternate energy that has not been stalled — or killed outright — by left-leaning activists.
Kerry on Cape Wind? Right here:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474976945957
But dang it, it appears I didn’t keep current on Kerry’s flip-flopping:
http://www.capewind.org/news915.htm
J.
Yucca Mountain???? It already would be at capacity with the amount of waste already created. And people want to build another couple hundred nuclear plants?
Oh, and 40 years ago a write suggested something along the lines of ‘wait and see’, and we’re still waiting and seeing, and you call THAT a solution? Huh?
Heinlein was far more than “a write,” Tim. And precisely what would be the problem with his brick solution?
For example, depleted uranium is a form of nuclear waste. (It’s a byproduct of fission.) It’s used as a counterweight on aircraft, the military uses it for both armor and armor-piercing ammunition, it’s used as a form of radiation shielding — all benefits of its depleted-radiation state and remarkable density.
I come from a long, long line of Yankee packrats. I am loath to throw anything away when it might be useful in the future. And what we consider a nuisance today could be “gold” tomorrow.
J.
40-odd years ago, Robert Heinlein suggested mixing it into cement, shaping it into bricks, and stacking it out in the desert.
He also suggested there existed a race of wise, artistic beings on Mars.
That was in his fiction, Quaker. I understand you have trouble differentiating that from reality.
Heinlein’s idea came from his collection of essays and whatnot called “Universe,” later re-packaged with more material as “Expanded Universe.” Give it a look.
The early giants of science fiction were scientists first. Arthur C. Clarke, Heinlein, Doc Smith, Asimov… they knew their shit.
J.
Tell you what, find me an actual, reputable nuclear scientist from this century who agrees with this brick theory, and I won’t mock you (for this). Find me two and I’ll say you’ve maybe got something there. Find me a gaggle, a group, a plethora, and I will spread the nuclear waste-brick theory far and wide!
Jay Tea: That Soros made a killing once Obama issued the guarantees was, I’m certain, merely a wild coincidence…
Do you ever have anything more substantive than your typical paranoid speculation, or is all you are ever able to come up with is “Facts? Evidence? Why would I need those. All I need is to claim this looks kinda fishy to me and that makes it a fact, right?”?
I realize that is the standard you wingnuts go by, but you should try to rise above it every once in a while.
Sean, I said it was probably just a wild coincidence… you really do have problems with reading comprehension, don’t you?
J.
tim: Suicidal, where are you going to put all the nuclear waste? A question that can’t be answered.
Can’t be answered? Nobody’s asking for the exact value of pi.
Of course it can be answered. And the link Suicida| provided points ossome m of the way. Buried deep with other rocks.
Perhaps we can find a new use for all those deep-drilling oil rigs….
SDM: And the link Suicida| provided points
ossome msome of the way.Fixed.
Jay Tea: That was in his fiction, Quaker. I understand you have trouble differentiating that from reality.
JT is going to help someone distinguish between the two. That’s rich.
Jay Tea: Sean, I said it was probably just a wild coincidence… you really do have problems with reading comprehension, don’t you?
No, I can read sarcasm very well. See, I can read it in your comment quoted above, just as I could read it in the “I’m certain, merely a wild coincidence…” of your original post.
You’re suggesting it isn’t a coincidence at all but, typical wingnut-style, have absolutely nothing to back it up and switch to “That’s not what I said” when called on it.
Soros’ purchase of Petrobras shares probably isn’t a coincidence and also probably not at all nefarious. It’s probably just a smart investor doing what smart investors do: buy into companies with good prospects.
But oil drilling off Brazil? That’s fine with Oliver. They’re just brown people…
Is that sarcasm or a “projection of you inner ugliness,” Mr. Tea?
Ask Sean, Quaker. He seems to be an expert on my tone.
OK, fine. It was sarcastic. It was in response to all the petty bullshit “racist” charges that get tossed around whenever someone opposes Obama’s plans or policies.
But in respect for the precedent set around here, I think it only fair to presume Oliver is racist for not opposing offshore drilling off Brazil until he either states he opposes it, or presents a compelling reason besides racism for supporting it.
J.
Jay Tea: Ask Sean, Quaker. He seems to be an expert on my tone.
And, apparently, …
OK, fine. It was sarcastic.
… deservedly so.
OK Sean, so bury it deep in the rocks is an answer I guess. As far as I know there isn’t a consensus that this would actually work on the scale we need it to for even the current amount of waste, never mind the amount of waste that would be produced by replacing all existing coal-fired power plants.
But say it’s technically feasible. How expensive is it going to be? The whole point of nuclear over solar or wind is that its supposed cheapness. Factor in waste disposal, and not so much.
tim: How expensive is it going to be?
Dunno off hand. I believe much of the info is available for the different methods proposed, suggested, debated over the years. Obviously no widely acceptable solution has been put forth, due to NIMBY if nothing else.
Personally I’d like to see fusion made practical.
Practical fusion is a long time away. They’ve acheived break even for a very short time, but they haven’t managed to make a long term fusion reaction stable. If it ever happens, it’ll be decades out still. And, if the funding continues the way it is, it won’t be in the US.
Meanwhile, solar panels have become more efficient, or less expensive, depending on what you’re looking for. MIT has made a number of advances in this field. I always favored a small number of small, inexpensive and interdependent generators in the grid rather than the much larger ones that have to transmit power over miles before reaching it’s destination.
As for this radiactive waste in a brick idea? There aren’t a lot of places that you can store the stuff and no one I’ve heard of is developing a use for this stuff now. Since it’s pretty nasty stuff, I doubt anyone would bother, unless they had to.
See, Heinlein wrote a lot of fun stuff, but speculation doesn’t always transfer to utility. DU is not nearly as dangerous as the stuff in Yucca (Though it’s not exactly our friend, either) so people can find a use for that, but toxic compounds sunk into a brick deep below the surface doesn’t have any research students leaping for it, ya know?