By Michael T Klare
On June 15, in their testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the chief executives of America’s leading oil companies argued that BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was an aberration— something that would not have occurred with proper corporate oversight and will not happen again once proper safeguards are put in place. This is fallacious, if not an outright lie. The Deepwater Horizon explosion was the inevitable result of a relentless effort to extract oil from everdeeper and more hazardous locations.
In fact, as long as the industry continues its relentless, reckless pursuit of “extreme energy”—oil, natural gas, coal and uranium obtained from geologically, environmentally and politically unsafe areas—more such calamities are destined to occur.
At the onset of the modern industrial era, basic fuels were easy to obtain from large, near-at-hand energy deposits in relatively safe and friendly locations. The rise of the automobile and the spread of suburbia, for example, were made possible by the availability of cheap and abundant oil from large reservoirs in California, Texas and Oklahoma, and from the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But these and equivalent deposits of coal, gas and uranium have been depleted. This means the survival of our energycentric civilization increasingly relies on supplies obtained from risky locations— deep underground, far at sea, north of the Arctic circle, in complex geological formations or in unsafe political environments. That guarantees the equivalent of two, three, four or more Gulf-oil-spill-style disasters in our energy future.
Back in 2005, the CEO of Chevron, David O’Reilly, put the situation about as bluntly as an oil executive could.
“One thing is clear,” he said, “the era of easy oil is over. Demand is soaring like never before…At the same time, many of the world’s oil and gas fields are maturing. And new energy discoveries are mainly occurring in places where resources are difficult to extract, physically, economically, and even politically.”
O’Reilly promised then that his firm, like the other energy giants, would do whatever it took to secure this “difficult energy” to satisfy rising global demand. And he proved a man of his word. As a result, BP, Chevron, Exxon and the rest of the energy giants launched a drive to obtain traditional fuels from hazardous locations, setting the stage for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and those sure to follow. As long as the industry stays on this course, rather than undertaking the transition to an alternative energy future, more such catastrophes are inevitable, no matter how sophisticated the technology or scrupulous the oversight.
The only question is: What will the next Deepwater Horizon disaster look like (other than another Deepwater Horizon disaster)? The choices are many, but here are four possible scenarios for future Gulfscale energy calamities. None of these is inevitable, but each has a plausible basis in fact.
Thanks, SF Reporter, for Michael T Klare’s chilling exposé of what Planet Earth faces in the coming years from continued oil/gas drilling.
The Washington Post reported that “BP remains the top supplier of military fuel despite questions of illegal conduct in the Gulf.” The US wants to keep its military machine rolling across the Earth, and it needs big oil to do it.
BP has burned oiled Gulf wildlife alive so people won’t see the full extent of the carnage. (The government knew this was happening.) Animals and ecosystems are expendable for big oil and politicians.
Once all marine life in the oceans is dead, oil drilling can continue full speed ahead. It’s the industrialization of nature. The Obama administration (like past administrations) is in bed with big oil.
Where are the protests by Americans against this atrocity in the Gulf? Offshore drilling must stop now if life on this planet is to survive. But is America willing to stop its overconsumption and quest for power to save its life support system, Earth?