I just heard about this today...

Disaster fears as tanker splits- CNN

It's being said that this could be two times worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster. 75,000 tons of oil went down with the tanker, spilling into the ocean. Damages could reach $100 million. Fishing there will be destroyed, and dead, oil-covered birds are already washing up onshore.

This is nuts. When the hell are humans going to learn that we have to be careful and can't treat the environment like crap? These have to stop.

its not only oil spills that affect the oceans, just check this stuff i got from oeana.com

-A single cruise ship produces smokestack and exhaust emissions equivalent to 12,000 automobiles every day.
-Alarming but TRUE, every day Royal Caribbean ships dump raw sewage in the ocean.
Every day, a single ship produces thousands of gallons of sewage and can LEGALLY DUMP it in the ocean only 3 MILES FROM SHORE. This pollution is preventable. Existing technology could correct the problem for about the cost of a can of cola per passenger per day, yet all but 3 Royal Caribbean ships lack the proper technology.

-

- Cruise ships are exempt from the discharge permitting program of the nation’s preeminent water pollution control law, the Clean Water Act.

- Seven thousand gallons of oily bilge water are generated every day.

- Thirty-three tanker trucks-worth of ballast water per cruise ship, complete with plants and animals, including some that cause diseases, are taken from faraway locations and released into U.S. harbors and bays.

isn't the whole thing a blackhole of irony??????

We should go with that. Stupid Ralph Nader opposing that is part of why I left the Green Party. It's not great but it's better than fossil fuels. Until we can convert to other energy sources, which are more expensive to set up (but in the long run save energy; most solar-power houses actually sell electricity to the local power grid because they make so much electricity). Until then, nuclear power is the way. My grandfather died as a result of nuclear testing in the Bikini Atolls, so if anyone here should oppose all things nuclear it's me. But i say as far as our energy problems are concerned, Nuke 'em all and let God sort 'em out!

You should write a letter to the....wherever you Americans write to when you want to get things done...and ask that every ship that comes to America have two hulls instead of one. Therefore if one hull is broken through you still have another one.

Yes, there IS such thing.

Did you know there was a big oil spill that hit and did serious damage to the Galapagos Islands?

THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS!!!



Humans...

TRAGEDY
TRAGEDY

It's sad, and I'm extremely worried about the marine life. I really don't think shippers are careful enough. Moat tankers are not (AFAIK) double-hulled, and that's why things like this happen.

Unfortunately, the only realistic alternatives to oil are coal and nuclear. That is, unless you want to turn all of California into one big solar cell.

i HATE oil spills!!!!

Err...

Actually, liberal economic issues include higher taxes and more business regulation, not less.

So when someone is "conservative," they favor less taxes, less government, etc.

Not to be confused with Bush's "neoconservatism," which has tripled the size of our government...

but anyway, just had to clarify.

I'm not a big fan of complete business regulation, but man, *something* has got to be done about the rampant pollution going on.

You're right, I tend to take liberal stances on issues like war (opposed to it in certain cases), the economy (low, low taxes) and now I'm showing a concern for the environment.


But conservatives are liberal on economic issues as well; the free market works, so why not let it function that way.

However, the deal with the environment is becoming quite an issue.

If I can, I will try to post the story online this week after our paper comes out.

It's absolutely ridiculous that there are two elementary schools located within a mile of these huge toxic-pumping factories.

In no way does this compromise my moral/ethical viewpoints though; I want to make that clear.

I'm truly glad you care about the environment, Joey. I myself have just now woken up from a world in which I was more prejudiced against conservatives. I assumed that you, since you are anti-homosexual and incredibly religiously intolerant, would also be on the side of big oil companies, and would have anti-environment policies. I have come to realize the number of people who aren't totally one way-or-the-other. You're mostly very conservative, but you have nice liberal tendancies, such as your environmentalism. So I'm starting to wonder why you yell about LIBERALSLIBERALSLIBERALS so much, when in some ways, you are a "liberal." And that's a compliment.

Well, unfortunately the oil is going to kill tons of marine life - ha, marine.

Um, and unfortunately, that oil company might get filthy stinking rich as a result of it.


Oil company set to profit from disaster
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/22/1037697876118.html

Are you aware, Marine, that people need those "pretty fish" to live? Because of this oil spill, people's livelyhoods will be destroyed, and there's a good chance that they'll starve. This isn't another oil spill in a remote area of the world... this is off the coast of Spain and Portugal! What about the health of the people of that area? What about their tourism industry? Oil spills affect everything, not just wild animals and plants. Environmental disasters do not happen in a vaccum!

Good, as long as we have an eco-freindly solution. It's nuts to keep using oil.

The problem with solar is that it is in no way a feasible solution our energy problem. Our fossil fuels may last another 50 years, with coal, another century maybe. By that time, with all the proliferation of technology, our energy demands will have increased exponetially. Solar simply cannot provide this in a cost-effective and space efficient manner. Geothermal power? The same applies. Hydroelectric? There are only so many rivers we can dam, and only so many valleys we can flood. The real solution lies in nuclear and fusion technolgy.

And then there's always Mars...

OK, so maybe we won't run out of oil in our lifetime, but we should prepare for the future! Hello? We're going to be remembered as a generation of people that didn't care about their future grandchildren. What exactly is your plan after we run out of oil?

No, you are right, we are going to run out of oil someday, but if you honestly think that will happen in our lifetime you are a complete moron.

I am willing to pay the price of oil spilling in the ocean every now andf then and harming all those pretty fish if it means paying less than 4 dollars a gallon.

As for your solar power crap, it isn't probable. You have seen the solar pannels for single houses, imagine the size of a pannel for an entire community.

Another tanker spilled.

Ummm… Sorry, wildlife? Whoops? Tee hee?

Solar power does not require a panel on every house, but just one for every community. The power is then distributed.

No matter what the cost, using renewable energy sources will pay in the end. What are we going to do when we run out of oil? When global warming destroys the environment? Go back in time and fix it?

ok marine. tell me truthfully and honestly that we will never run out of oil.

at what price ARE we willing to pay, to get it? everything?

we should use the remaining oil to build solar power factories. then solar power factories to build whatever we want. (ps dum@zz, the current combustion system is ineffecient at best, while the new technologies like fuel cells recycle unused energy back into the source.)

jobs. switching to alternative energy resources would undoubtley create millions of jobs. just tell me that we will never have to worry about oil reserves and i'll drop the whole thing. it's inevitable. you lose. i win. gameover.

This oil spill is a price to pay, which may be harsh, that is well worth it.

As for sinope, your solar arguement has been addressed on the nuclear power topic. Solar power for the enitre world is just not practical. You have seen the solar pannels for houses, imagine the size of the pannels for a sky scrapper or an aircraft carrier. Imagine the costs of mantaining thos pannels. Imagine all the solar pannels for the houses in tokyo. Any moron can also see the majority of ur gas goes to autombiles, and no one will buy a solar powered car. So, your 'nucaer reactor' is just plain stupid.