Climatide

A list of the worst eco-tastrophes of all time points out that the Gulf oil spill may be the largest oil spill in U.S. history, but the world has seen worse:

Marine oil spills are much more devastating than those on land, as they spread rapidly, covering vast areas, and are difficult to clean up.

NASA Earth Observatory

The Deepwater Horizon rig spewed over 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Following the invasion of Kuwait in 1991, the retreating Iraqi Armed Guard purposely pumped around eight million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf in an attempt to prevent US marines from making landfall – it was the largest ever oil spill at sea, with a 12-cm deep slick covering an area 162km by 67km across.

1979′s Ixtoc I exploratory well oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spilt around three million barrels, slightly less than the Deepwater Horizon spill, but it went on for 10 months, creating a persistent slick that covered half of the Texan coastline and washed up on the breeding beaches of the endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtle.

flickr/neworleanslady

An oil boom intended to protect a Louisiana marsh from oil washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

A report released last week on the expected recovery of the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is drawing harsh criticism from scientists who say there’s no science to support speculation that most Gulf ecosystems should recover by 2012. As ScienceInsider‘s Eli Kintisch reports, even the report’s author – marine biologist Wes Tunnell of Texas A&M University – doesn’t dispute the claim.

The studies that could provide data on actual impacts on the four species Tunnell was asked to look at are simply not yet available, he acknowledges. “I did the best I could. … It’s an expert opinion not based on data but based on 35 years of experience working with oil spills,” says Tunnell. …

The inclusion of plenty of caveats—”the true loss to the ecosystem and fisheries may not be accurately known for years, or even decades,” for example—has not mollified the critics. Yes, they say, the report points out correctly that damaged ecosystems in warm water tend to recover faster than those harmed in cold water, among other mitigating factors. But it’s too early to know for sure, says Charles “Pete” Peterson of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: “There are studies under way that will test these assumptions.” “These kinds of indirect effects are not sufficiently pursued in this crystal-ball gazing exercize,” says marine biologist Steve Otwell of the University of Florida in Gainesville.

The report was commissioned by Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the $20 billion compensation fund. Based on the prediction that most commercially exploited species will have recovered by 2012, Feinberg has proposed paying affected individuals or companies “twice their documented 2010 losses, roughly 2 years’ worth of impact.” Oyster fishers could be eligible for four years’ compensation.

U.S. Coast Guard

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010 - killing eleven workers and causing the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Wow. A government report that is well-written (in English, not legalese) and insightful, written with the biggest possible picture in mind. The National Commission’s final report on the Gulf oil spill is at treat to read. I highly recommend taking in at least the introductory letter, which I draw on heavily here.

The report, of course, details what we now know of the events leading up to and following immediately after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010. It assigns liability and offers recommendations for enhanced oversight, increased safety, and improved disaster readiness. But what left the deepest impression on me was the Commission’s broader perspective on the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The Deepwater Horizon was drilling the Macondo well under 5,000 feet of Gulf water, and then over 13,000 feet under the sea floor to the hydrocarbon reservoir below. It is a complex, even dazzling, enterprise. The remarkable advances that have propelled the move to deepwater drilling merit comparison with exploring outer space. The Commission is respectful and admiring of the industry’s technological capability.

Of course, extreme risk is the handmaiden of such advanced technological endeavors. The report lays the bulk of the blame for this particular tragedy in the laps of those immediately involved – BP, Transocean, Haliburton, and government overseers. But the Commission makes it clear that no American is innocent in this affair.

Why was a corporation drilling for oil in mile-deep water 49 miles off the Louisiana coast? To begin, Americans today consume vast amounts of petroleum products—some 18.7 million barrels per day—to fuel our economy. Unlike many other oil-producing countries, the United States relies on private industry—not a state-owned or -controlled enterprise—to supply oil, natural gas, and indeed all of our energy resources. This basic trait of our private-enterprise system has major implications for how the U.S. government oversees and regulates offshore drilling.

The Commission also calls Americans to task for failing to acknowledge and internalize the risks and damages inherent in their fossil fuel usage.

Indeed, the centrality of oil and gas exploration to the Gulf economy is not widely appreciated by many Americans, who enjoy the benefits of the energy essential to their transportation, but bear none of the direct risks of its production. Within the Gulf region, however, the role of the energy industry is well understood and accepted. The notion of clashing interests—of energy extraction versus a natural-resource economy with bountiful fisheries and tourist amenities—misses the extent to which the energy industry is woven into the fabric of the Gulf culture and economy, providing thousands of jobs and essential public revenues. Any discussion of the future of offshore drilling cannot ignore these economic realities.

“Scientific understanding of environmental conditions in sensitive environments in deep Gulf waters, along the region’s coastal habitats, and in areas proposed for more drilling, such as the Arctic, is inadequate. The same is true of the human and natural impacts of oil spills.”

But those benefits have imposed their costs. The bayous and wetlands of Louisiana have for decades suffered from destructive alteration to accommodate oil exploration. The Gulf ecosystem, a unique American asset, is likely to continue silently washing away unless decisive action is taken to start the work of creating a sustainably healthy and productive landscape. No one should be deluded that restoration on the scale required will occur quickly or cheaply.

We advocate beginning such an effort, seriously and soon, as a suitable response to the damage and disruption caused by the Deepwater Horizon emergency. It is a fair recognition not only of the costs that energy exploitation in the Gulf has, for decades, imposed on the landscape and habitats—and the other economic activities they support—but also of the certainty that Americans will continue to develop the region’s offshore energy resources.

For the simple fact is that the bulk of our newly discovered petroleum reserves, and the best prospects for future discoveries, lie not on land, but under water. To date, we have
made the decision as a nation to exploit the Gulf’s offshore energy resources—ruling much of the Florida, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts out of bounds for drilling. The choice of how aggressively to exploit these resources, wherever they may be found, has profound implications for the future of U.S. energy policy, for our need to understand and assure the integrity of fragile environmental resources, and for the way Americans think about our economy and our security. Although much work is being done to improve the fuel- efficiency of vehicles and to develop alternative fuels, we cannot realistically walk away from these offshore oil resources in the near future. So we must be much better prepared to exploit such resources with far greater care.

‘Nuff said.