Great article on the Horizon Disaster........

LINK

Here is the article, excellent read.

It's funny, I work in the industry, but sit in an office, and for the last couple of projects I've worked on I've had to buy things like lifeboats, PA equipment, life preservers......and never really realized the likelihood those things would ever be used.

Sounds like it was a scary scene on deck, I do think the article is a little harsh on how the chain of command broke down during the disaster. In a perfect case, everyone would be calm and doing it just like it's been practiced, but when the place is an inferno, I'm sure the last thing on peoples minds is following procedure to the "T"

My fiancee' works deepwater on a production platform. Before this happened I was more worried about him getting to and from the platform (what the tells me about the helicopters scare me (he has been down in one once) but once he got to the platform I would relax thinking everything was fine. I forgot there is a danger on the platform as well.
When it happened I just freaked out. The last month I just keep walking up and hugging him. He keeps reassuring me that production is safer then drilling (I think he is lying to me) and they do safty drills every week. He has been in the gulf for 25 years and says he is prepared but who knows what you are going to do if anything actually happens?
I think the majority of the workers were in shock and as I said in an earlier post it is amazing more lives were not lost.

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he is not lying. it's safer than drilling.

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Thanks for the reassurance. I did not know if he was just saying that to calm me down or if it was true. It is good to hear it from another source. Now the sandwich part - that is a real possibility

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Yeah, sounds like to me not much could have been done considering it hit so fast. Just a freak even / bad luck

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The whole thing would have been averted with stricter regulatory enforcement in the months and years prior to the event. That's where the failures took place.

Because the oil industry is regulated by industry insiders who are political appointments, this was bound to happen. Too many shortcuts and liberties were taken when it came to safety protocol.

We need to nail BP HARD and make an example of them. The administration needs to clean up the regulation of the oil industry and some people, both from BP and from the government need to stand trial for criminal negligence.

No, more importantly, we need to shift from using oil as one of our primary energy sources.

Why?

I mean, seriously, just answer these two questions:

Which is better for you and everyone around you, burning more or burning less fossil fuels?

Which is better for you personally, spending more money per month on fuel costs or less?

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until they prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that these fuels are harmful, then a will say fossil fuels.

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It's been proven without a shadow of doubt, as you say. Ever look at what's in your vehicle's emissions?

Anyway, it's also been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that we're sending a shitload of money to dictators and terrorists because of our oil obsession...

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you will see just how much money you are about to spend at the pumps now that we are not drilling in deep water.

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I'm talking about fuel efficiency and using or owning vehicles that minimize the use of fossil fuels. For example, if you drive a vehicle that maxes out at 20 mpg, you're filling up twice as much as someone whose vehicle maxes out at 40 mpg. Thus, you're spending twice as much on gas with your low efficiency vehicle.

My fiance and I share a car, and I usually take mass transit to work. I get on a train that uses electric power and then take a 10 minute ride on a bus that is powered by natural gas. My monthly bill for that (if my company didn't cover it for me) is $60. That's about how much it costs to fill up an SUV once, and if you commute in an SUV, you're filling up at least once per week. Do the math.

Even before this spill, we've needed to reduce (note, I said REDUCE, not ELIMINATE) our dependence on oil, which means lifestyle changes and utilization of available and future technology. Stubbornly standing there with your hands in your ears screaming, "I'm not listening to you!!! I believe that fossil fuel emmissions are not harmful!!! I don't care about the economic or geopolical implications of fossil fuel dependency!!!" isn't going to help matters. Denying that we have a problem isn't going to help matters.