Today is May Day which of course was a major event in the former Soviet Union. It is kind of ironic that it is also a day that leftists in this nation use for highlighting the "plight" of the American worker. It is also a bit funny that now "immigration advocates" (read illegal immigration advocates) have hijacked this day to rally in support of criminality. It would be funny if it were not so sad.
It appears that the incident in the Gulf of Mexico may well turn out to be an environmental disaster of unprecedented magnitude. Of course the whole thing is now being politicized by those on the left (and right). This is disgusting but certainly no surprise. Oil giant BP is under attack from many quarters and probably deservedly so, but in reality the rig was operated by a company called Transocean. Now Halliburton is being targeted also. That is predictable of course. The evil Halliburton which according to leftists is responsible for all the evils of the world apparently did some work on the rig. That being said however it must also be noted that BP does appear to be a menace. Their refinery in Texas City, TX. is known to be unsafe. A fact proven a few years ago with an explosion that killed and maimed people working there. Any casual observer can see that it is not the safest environment. I used to drive chemical tankers in and out of that particular facility and had the gut feeling that it was a death trap. Of course oil refining and the chemical production is a dangerous business anyway and accidents will happen.
As far as the disaster in the Gulf goes - There are already a bunch of people hatching and believing conspiracy theories, most of which are (hopefully) crazy. I have read that this may be an "attack" by environmental terrorists. I have also read that the administration itself is responsible for the disaster to further political ends. Combine this with the mine disaster in WV the other day and it is obvious that these events will help the "green energy" (anti energy) movement. To accuse the administration of orchestrating these tragic events is however almost as crazy as those "911 truthers." At least one hopes so.
Another interesting theory has surfaced that North Korean special forces were responsible for damaging the oil platform. This is pretty far fetched also, but it is worth noting that there was apparently a North Korean ship in the general vicinity. The U.S., France, UK, and Israel are not the only nations that sport special forces. This really seems out there, but a state of war does still exist between the two Koreas and the rig was apparently built by Hyundai Heavy Industries. It is something to at least think about. Perhaps a good idea for a novel. If you remember in "Red Storm Rising" Tom Clancy opened the story with Mohammedans launching a terrorist attack on a Soviet oil facility.
Probably what happened was a massive failure that cost lives and will have huge adverse environmental impact.
Does this mean that we stop drilling for energy? Of course not. That would be stupid although it may be what the current administration ultimately has in mind. I pose these questions to you. Would you like to pay 7.00 per gallon? How would we fuel our war machines? These are legitimate and necessary questions. Whether one likes it or not our military readiness is of paramount importance. I suppose we could power our warships with sails and use horses to pull our land artillery. Is there a need to explore alternatives to petroleum? Of course there is, but until such time as they are found we depend on petroleum. Let us not throw the baby out with the bath water as they say. We need to become energy independent, which at this time means we need to continue drilling for oil while recognizing the fact that there will be occasional disasters that will have to be cleaned up. To think otherwise is Utopian, childish and (dare I say) stupid.
No comments:
Post a Comment