Gulf Oil Spill
 

There's a few things I'd like to talk discuss. Feel free to answer one on none of these.

First- are you, or someone you know affected by the oil spill? Directly or indirectly?

Do you still support drilling in the gulf? Did you used to? Did you even pay attention to the matter?

Have you done anything to help (donations of money, time, towels)?

Would you go on a beach that had oil on it? What about one that had had oil on it recently, but not anymore?

What do you think about alternative sources of energy?

Anything else to say on the subject?

Remember to use spoons if you answer these in their original question form! If you come up with your own questions, feel free to posit them.

I would appreciate it if you gave a thumbs up to this thread. Thank you!

I live near the Gulf, but I haven't been effected by it very much. I never supported drilling, and I have no money. I also have no solid means of transportation, otherwise I'd be helping to de-oil birds. I've heard that they still have a high chance of dying even after the oil is removed, unfortunately. None of the beaches near me got oil on them but I'd choose another beach if that was the case. They still don't fully know the effects of oil on people.

I have never supported offshore ddrilling, as it was hazardous to the environment and the gulf oil spill just drives home that point so much more. I really believe we need to get off of fossil fuels and start weening ourselves off of them totally. I think we are messing up the planet way too much and we need to stop before we opend pandoras box on all kinds of unnatural changes that could end the human race period.

I agree. There are so many better ways to get energy, like wind energy. About a year ago (?) they were planning on putting wind turbines off the Massachusetts coast. It was shot down because it would "obstruct the scenery". Personally, I would love to look at something like that and know where my energy is coming from. I doubt it would have hurt tourism any. It's ridoculous.

I agree with all of what the other posters had to say, we really really need to get off of fossil fuels, we have already wreaked enough havoc on the planet, we don't need to continue to create more needless pollution and waste. There are just way too many options to pass up and solutions. I think now the only obstacles are the lobbyist for special interest groups like the oil companies, the fact that our infrastructure is set up to run on oil and petrolium based fuels, and of course just finding people who have the convictions to stick to their beliefs about saving the planet and choose to recycle and save. Wind, solar, and methane gas from compost waste are good alternatives. Not too sure about the hydrogen fueled cars as that is an unstable gas. I think if everyone had some sort of wind mill propeller in their yard or on their roof, I think it would generate enough energy to cut down consumption of commercial electrical use by probably from one to five percent or perhaps even more. We have all kinds of landfills, so I think it would be great to generate as much energy as we could from all the methane gases that arise from them. We also have solar lights that I see a lot of people use to light their driveways, so why not as night lights or other light sources in our homes we could use? There are so many other ways we could find alternatives, the question is, how can we get congress to go against special interest groups and stop good ideas that would hurt the oil industry? We are on a slightly better path already for more fuel efficient cars though...

They don't use pure hydrogen in those cars though. And it's not as flammable as helium (which is what the Hindenburg was made of). I agree that progress is being made with more fuel efficient cars, but we do need to speed things up.

Nuclear power is also a good thing, I think. France gets about 75-80% of their energy from nuclear power, and they haven't had any melt downs yet. It's not dangerous, as long as the workers are alert and the system is up to date. It's far safer to have such a system than it was when Three Mile Island occurred. If people could be convinced of it's practicality I'm sure we could get usable, sustainable energy from it.

Quick reminder, if anyone coming into the thread could please remember to click "like". Thanks!

Well as long as they could make a hydrogen car that if it were to ever explode that it wouldn't take half of a neighborhood block out with it then I think it would be fine. The Hindenburg was a horrible tragedy, I haven't read much about it so I really can't comment on it other than the information you have provided for me and the fact that I know it was a blimp that exploded and crashed some time in the teens or the twenties?? Not sure of that fact. I agree nuclear power is cleaner and safer than a lot of power combined but you still have the nuclear waste that is involved which with waste you have to worry about disposal and who gets a hold of it, especially the high level radioactive waste. We definitely don't want the toxic avenger coming out or any more toxic crusaders created lol... (just joking -- neat cartoon- twisted movie) Don't forget Cherynobl Russia back in nineteen eighty-six, that was a nuclear nightmare. I agree with you that we definitely need to speed up the process for sure! Hybrids are cool and all but we need to find cars that have no use for fossil fuels period, I remember one time someone telling me that a guy came up with a car that ran on ocean water but the oil companies bought the schematics and plans to it and destroyed them, and that's what I mean about by the oil companies having way too much power.

Chernobyl was a ticking time bomb though. They designed the facilities so poorly it's amazing they didn't fail earlier. And I agree, we allow the oil comp[anies far too much power. Politicians often say they'll do something about oil, but it's just talk because they're funded by the oil companies. Your story of the ocean water car plans being destroyed doesn't surprise me one bit.

Disposal is a problem, and definitely the biggest issue. As long as it's disposed of properly it would be okay, but often times companies will cheat to cut costs and that's where we get in trouble. I'm not sure how they dispose of it currently though. I think they may bury it deep underground, but I'm not sure of that.

Well I did not know anything about Chernobyl prior to their accident about how their facilities were designed or how well they were about keeping the company safe. Oil companies are one of the biggest evils of this country and those who invest in the stocks of oil companies. They still want to drill off shore even after the biggest oil spill disaster in history, and I will never eat any sea food that comes from the Gulf. Yes, I do believe that this car design that man came up happened sometime in the seventies. A lot of alternative energies were being designed but Ronald Regan curtailed all of that once he got in power.

Disposal of nuclear waste I believe is buried deep under ground I think somewhere in Nevada eventually but is stored at a few temporary dump facilities which many people do not want near where they live. It's a problem they really should come up with some solutions such as recycling it for other power uses or something of the sory.

They really should. I think if, in general, we used more alternative energy resources we would save the environment and have power sources assured for the future.

i wish i wus able to help out even donate and stuff like that but i have no money
and i know in alaska during summer solre energy wud be really good as theres only like 3 4 hours of night
and its almost alway have some wind

Same here, I have no funds whatsoever. I am starting a garden, which saves on gas because the food doesn't have to be distributed to stores. I only have banana peppers and tomatoes currently.

We need to really get it cracking because if things keep heading in the way of fossil fuels sea levels will rise and valuable land will be lost along with a lot of other ramifications that will take place with the consequences of pollution in mind. That is why it is important to recycle and conserve as well as constantly to be thinking of ways that we can save energy or generate it through alternative means.

What really scares me is that where I live it's really close to the coast. If the water rises there's no way where I'm living will be spared. Which would suck, majorly.

I've watched videos on youtube about what the land masses would look like after sea level rises. The land available will decrease by almost a forth of what it is now. I'm willing to bet a thousand years ago the land mass was actually bigger. The only place I know of where land is amassing more is in Hawaii where the volcano is constantly spitting magma/lava and increasing the sizes of the islands. On the bright side, Greenland will be liveable lol. All the lands at the north and perhaps the south pole may be habitable by that time. Loss of another land but gain of another.

I'm not really sure if we have went past the point of no return yet, but I still think we should try to reverse some of the damage no matter what. Hopefully over time things will return to an equilibrium.