Ugh, Oil Spill Truthers
I guess I could have predicted this, but I didn't know until this weekend that a variety of conspiracy theories were circulating about the BP oil platform fire and spill, including the incredibly absurd notion that the platform was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine.
I am not a military analyst, though my sense is that a North Korean submarine would have difficulty even sailing reliably to the Gulf of Mexico. But I do know petroleum operations. And I can say that any petroleum facility is a playground for fire, and only unwavering, intelligent management can prevent disaster (and even then sometimes shit happens).
It seems that, like the 9/11 truthers, the arguments are based on statements that sound plausible to laymen but in fact are meaningless. An example:
Many have concluded that the platform sunk due to sabotage of some nature. No oil spills happened when Hurricane Katrina hit the area in 2005, they note.
While hurricanes are dangerous to oil rigs, they are something rigs are designed for. This kind of blowout likely was due to forces at work down in the borehole, meaning that the problem was thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, where one would not even know a hurricane was present.
This piece of evidence is funny
This conclusion has been spurred by alleged Kremlin reports that the Obama Administration has ordered a news blackout, preventing reporters from gaining access to the area or discovering information that would confirm or disprove the charges
LOL, the Obama Administration ordered a news blackout of gay protesters around the corner from the White House.
L Nettles:
Part of the problem is that Our President speaking without this TelePrompTer said the Feds were sending SWAT teams to oil rigs in the Gulf. What he meant to say was that inspectors were sent to the rigs, not Special Weapons And Tactics teams.
May 3, 2010, 8:15 amL Nettles:
I will confess to being a fan of Patrick Robinson (kilo Class, HMS Unseen) the NORK scenario would make a good new book for him.
May 3, 2010, 8:18 amIgotBupkis:
> This kind of blowout likely was due to forces at work down in the borehole, meaning that the problem was thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, where one would not even know a hurricane was present.
True, but Global Warming is EVERYWHERE.
QED -- that's the real cause, and any rational proponent of AGW knows it for its inherent Truth value.
:P
Thiiiiiiiink about it...
May 3, 2010, 12:02 pm;)
Dan:
You don't need sabotage to have an oil platform problem, as we've seen illustrated all around the world. Oil is a dirty business, and it's sad to see a spill of this magnitude, especially because it looks like it didn't have to be this bad if the company had been taking care of things as it should. Still, even with the best intentions, accidents happen. Those who say this accident means we should suspend off-shore drilling or pull back on it are hypocrites. They're living the American lifestyle, which is dependent on high oil input, but they don't want any of the production to be done here. All that stopping production here would do is deliver more of our money to regimes like Saudi Arabia, as well as mean pollution from spills that occur in other parts of the world instead of here. It's a NIMBY philosophy, when you think about it, and I say if we share in the benefits of oil, we should also produce as much as we can ourselves.
May 3, 2010, 12:43 pm