Quotefish: Spill, baby, spill

If they don't stop the leak, the wind's just going to shove it around, and it's going to paint the whole coastline from Florida to . . . Yucatan,

Richard Bosarge, Louisiana fisherman, quoted in the Washington Post

The oil spill in the gulf will likely lead to a major disaster in the region. Why?

1. Loss of fishing, Commercial fishing enterprises may be affected permanently.

2. Loss of tourism

3. Cleanup costs

4. Loss of off shore oil drilling ?

A loss of $3 billion to $12.5 billion is expected.

Wind and solar look pretty good right now, and both industries will be presented in a better light especially as oil exploration is halted.

What’s the reality though? Wind (cuisinarts of the air) and solar have their own disadvantages. The amount of water required for solar concentrators is staggering. Especially in light of the location of the facilities in the Southwest – where water is scarce. Solar panels require regular washing to maintain efficiency. What about the toxic materials used in manufacturing?

The Washington Post reported in March 2008, that a plant in China’s Henan province regularly dumps toxic silicon tetrachloride on nearby farmland.

Silicon tetrachloride makes the soil too acidic for plants, causes severe irritation to living tissues, and is highly toxic when ingested of inhaled.

Replace gas with ethanol? Ethanol uses about 1,700 gallons of water per 1 gallon of ethanol.

In comparison, with the spill, natural oil seepage is about 47 million gallons annually, 1% is from oil and gas exploration. Oil drilling relieves the natural seepage by reducing the oil pressure.

pie chart of sources of oil in the sea