As of today there has been declared a minimum ten day halt on fishing off the shores or Louisiana coastal waters all the way to Florida. This halt has been declared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The reasoning for this halt is due to the fact of the BP oil spill that has been affecting the fisheries between Louisiana. This ban is to protect the consumer from eating contaminated seafood.
This oil spill not only affects the ecosystem but also the economy of most coastal areas that make a living off of the Gulf of Mexico. Fishing could be halted indefinitely until the majority of the spill is cleaned up and if this were to happen the fisherman would need to be compensated for their lost product. Louisiana oyster production was around 30,000,000 million dollars and this accounts for 60% of the total annual amount of oysters shipped all over the world.
However The NOAA is trying to get federal aid from the government for the lose of work as well as the fisheries disaster but should it be the governments job to bail out these local fisherman as well as the rest of the economy that thrives on the recreational sports fisherman as well? Or perhaps should it be the oil companies job to not only clean up the entire Gulf Coast as well as compensated the whole fisheries businesses. According to the NOAA news article any fisherman wishing to contact BP about a claim can call a specific number. There are many types of claims that are included but the most important ones are boat damage as well as lose of earnings/ profits. you also do not have to currently own the current property or resources under this claim.
Because this is a cross boundary issue because so many land and fishing areas are effected how long will off shore drilling be allowed? This specific oil spill has currently froze many political leaders such as President Obama and California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to go ahead with plans to expand offshore drilling. This could have a sever impact on the stocks and economy that is focuses around oil. This may also cause an increase pressure and consumption of foreign oil which we have been striving so hard to get away from.
I know that these huge business tycoons may only think that this is only a blip on the radar screen and have actually worked to improve the methods of how to clean up the oil spills but is this really what everyone wants? This is a huge inconvenience not only to local fisherman who make money off the sea but to the recreational fisherman. Perhaps this was the last time a father and son could go on a fishing trip because the father was dying of terminal cancer. What now? How is anyone compensated for that? I know that these types of spills do not occur very often and they likely hood of any other catastrophic event could also occur. However natural disasters and human disasters are different. Human disasters are more likely to be prevented and is my personal belief is the heart of the problem because when they do happen they hurt so much more. And the fact that they haven't even closed the leak is more disturbing.
I personally believe that there is no harm in off shore drilling nor do I believe that drilling in Alaska would have a huge impact on the environment. Now I say this when I believe there is also a right and a wrong way to go about such delicate tasks as to find a balance between the two. Obviously BP had a Major mishap and it was catastrophic and is still being catastrophic because the seal has not been closed yet and is still gushing tones of crude oil into the Gulf. But any other power sources such as nuclear power could be just as catastrophic if not kept in check. I believe policies must be made to move forward with Offshore Drilling however better clean up procedures must be put in place along with better technologies and when something like this happens it must be stopped at once and the oil company should not be allowed to take 4 weeks or two months or any alloted time to cover the spill. These must be made near perfect and I believe the Oil companies need to make it so. The fact that this oil spill is a major inconvenience is a small portion and hopefully the environment will bounce back like it always does. The more important aspect of this whole argument is to put policies in place to make this practice a much more sustainable and safe for the environment if this does happen Also another aspect to consider is the dependency on foriegn oil is huge and we need to get away from that.. And as of right now offshore drilling is one of many ways to help us along with that.
I know by saying this it sounds like I personally do not care about the environment and that offshore drilling or drilling anywhere has no effect on the environment but if done right it could be a huge benefit to everyone. The economy, other sources of energy such as wind and solar, the consumer, and much much more. Alternative energy sources are important to keep investigating but as of right now Offshore drilling is something that still must be considered as a viable source of income and energy. Yes this is an inconvenience to a great number of people but the oil companies are willing to pay and clean up and move forward like anyone who has made a mistake. this company did not intentionally create this spill and they along with all other offshore drilling companies will try there best to not let it happen again. I believe that everyone will be just fine, some policies must be put in place to help everyone out including the Oil companies to make sure this does not happen again, and move forward learn from mistake made and find ways to work with the environment.
-Donny Hayes
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/41284
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/
First of all, the oil industry is simply not sustainable in any way, nor can it be made sustainable by any practices because it is based on a finite resource that we are rapidly depleting. Second, imposing policies and regulations on oil companies is tricky business, since the billionaire CEOs wield considerable political influence to powerfully resist anything that would threaten their profits. I do agree, however, that imposing policies to reduce the risk of spills would benefit companies' profits since they wouldn't have to finance cleanup operations. The best solution to conquer these giant corporations is to reduce our dependency on oil through renewable energy sources.
ReplyDeleteI disagreed with you when you said that the environment will bounce back like it always does. Like you said, this is a catastrophic event but there are lots of areas that have had much less catastrophic environmental problems befall them and they have not recovered. There are several streams that have been ruined because of acid mine drainage. Maybe you mean that eventually the area will have an ecological purpose again, but I doubt it will ever be as productive and it is going to take a very long time for that to happen. This area will probably not be fishable in our lifetime. A lifestyle is also being destroyed here along with the wildlife habitat. This was a highly used recreation area and provided a livelihood for thousands of people. I agree that BP should compensate the fishermen for their losses, but how can you compensate for a memory or experience? I thought you brought up an interesting problem with that statement. I do agree with you that some of the most appalling impacts of this tragedy are losses to people.
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