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Dec 6, 2023
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1. Which company owned the Deepwater Horizon oil platform? Transocean
2. Which company operated it? BP
3. John Hoffmeister was the former boss of which oil company? Shell America
4. BP estimated that
4.7 million barrels of oil leaked into the gulf as a result of the spill
5. People who violate the safety zone around the booms are liable for a fine of
$40,000
6. Describe the chemicals used to treat the oil spill, and some of the limitations of using
them.
The chemical they used to treat the oil spill is called Corexit which is used to split
oil into smaller droplets in water. Some of the limitations of using this chemical are that it
can interfere with the marine ecosystem for fish, and exposure to dispersed oil can
cause damage to their vital spots, which can lead to their deaths. Long-time dispersed
oil will put the entire marine ecosystem at risk or to the brink of death.
7. Do you think it is acceptable to only remove pollutants visible to the naked eye?
Why?
No, I don’t think it's acceptable only to remove pollutants visible to the naked eye
because there are chances that pollutants could be buried deep down as in the
documentary, oil was buried under the sand, and eventually, it may rise up to the
surface, which can lead to another catastrophic disaster.
8. The former chairman of BP, who was forced to resign after the disaster, is
Tony
Hayward. Do you think this disaster would have been reacted to differently in any other
way if the oil company and its boss were American rather than foreign (British)? Why?
Yes, I do think that the disaster would have been reacted differenlt if the oil
company and its boss were American rather than foreign because America would be
more lenient because the origins of the company was from America. They don’t want to
taint their name with the incident and ruin their reputation. Government would be not as
strict as it wouldve been for a foreign country.
9. The 33 deepwater rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are subsided by the American taxpayer
to the amount of
$50 billion. Does this seem like a good use of public funds? Give
reasons for your answer.
I don’t think this seems like a good use of public funds because, first of all, this is
the money that we will never get back, and out of the 33 deepwater rigs, only two of
them have managed to meet their designated capacity. This shows us that the money
they are using is going to waste, and the rigs are considered as failures.
10. Give some examples of how The Gulf Coast has recovered from the effects of the
Deepwater Horizon leak, and some of how it hasn't.
One of the things that The Gulf Coast has recovered from the effects of the
Deepwater Horizon leak is that from the surface, it looks like there has been no oil leak.
While some of the things the Deepwater Horizon leak hasn’t fixed are that dispersed oil
is still in the ocean, just not visible to the naked eye. This dispersed oil is harming all the
marine animals. The leak also harms humans because they leak made it so fishermen
are not able to do their jobs, making them go jobless.
11. The former chairman of a major oil company compares the risks of wind power with
that of drilling in the deep sea for oil. Do you think this is a fair comparison between two
equally risky activities?
No, I do not think that it is a fair comparison between wind power and drilling in
the deep sea for oil because oil spills are very toxic to organisms, including humans
where, whereas wind power is not. For example, if somehow dispersed oil comes into
our regular water supply, then people will become unhealthy. Also, birds drink water
from the sea, so if there is oil in the sea then it will also harm them.
12. Do you think the benefits of deep sea oil exploration outweigh the environmental
and social risks? Give some reasons for your answer.
If we are talking about today’s time period, I don’t think that the benefits of deep
sea oil exploration outweigh the environmental and social risks because oil leaks can
happen, which can ruin a marine ecosystem, and to use the drills to extract oil we are
burning through alot of fossil fuels which is harmful to our climate. We need to reduce
climate change as much as we can for the benefit of our future.
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