Beyond Petroleum... no, seriously....

I read an article yesterday about the state of BP affairs. In it, the writer chronicles the company's rebound after an explosion of the Deep Water Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico a year ago today. Apparently the oil company (thanks, in part, to the staggering rise in oil prices) was able to show 5.6 billion in profits last quarter in addition to acquiring new drill prospects in many areas around the world including the Gulf. According to this article, BP- “the leading lease holder in the Gulf”- has a permit to drill one new well and probably plans to drill more.  It’s ironic that the company who very nearly destroyed the Gulf's ecosystem can become a major “owner” of that ecosystem in the same year. I take some comfort in the fact that BP did an entire executive overhaul after the spill, however one still has to wonder if the case is as simple as: "out with the old and in with the new".  Have the engineers and executives at BP really learned how to drill a well without causing such havoc in the deep ocean?  In my opinion BP still has a lot to prove in the way of getting back its prior reputation, and with relief funds being applied very slowly I’m not entirely sure Gulf Coast communities will ever embrace the oil giant again.  CEO Bob Dudley told investors:  "BP has not — and will not — shy away from its responsibilities," He was also quoted saying "We need to earn back your trust, along with that of state and federal leaders and the trust of Gulf Coast residents and customers, We are determined we will once again restore that trust, and I realize this requires action, not words."  Well, with $20 billion set aside for reparations and only 3.8 billion actually given I find this statement sorely lacking in sincerity. So the question I keep asking myself is: When will we move beyond that which has been monopolized by politics and industry? Furthermore I wonder what happened to BP’s premise years ago that it was trying to go “Beyond Petroleum” I personally see them going head first up petroleum’s ass, over and over again. it really isn’t surprising to see they quite cleverly pulled the wool over the public’s eyes.

Drilling for oil and gas is a risky business; one that has ushered in a new era of prosperity for our species. Personally I don’t think our dependence on fossil fuels should be stripped away completely; however I find it incredibly foolhardy for an intelligent species to leave itself open to all the hazards posed by this industry without trying to create possible solutions and back up methods to alleviate the inevitable strain it has wrought on the world- socially, economically, and ecologically.  To date the scientists of the world have yet to find a contender to take on fossil fuels in the energy market, at least not in the broad sense. Although there has been a surprising starter effort to shift some of the world’s focus to other energy sources such as wind and solar power, plus new bio fuels and electric cars. I, myself, work for the Oil Industry and one of my co-workers raised an interesting point. In the case of electric cars it seems the “problem” is just being shifted to another area. The electricity that fuels the car still comes from the plant which runs on fossil fuels so I suppose in some cases (automobiles) there really isn’t a way to solve the issue.  I did read about another extensive research project that is working to convert certain algae and other bio materials into fuel for cars, it was quite interesting and my hope is that it will continue to yield positive results. In the future however, if our species can only rise above the bullshit being fed to it, I would love to see some type of harmonious marriage between green energy and fossil fuel energy, further, I don’t necessarily believe nuclear power is the way to do this because as we see in the case of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant the significant risk that poses is too great unless we learn how to better prepare for such unforeseen circumstances as earthquakes and other geo & weather anomalies. I think it’s time to really rack our scientific brains and find alternative fuels and power sources that have minimal risk factors.  Because if our species ever hopes to live long enough to leave this planet when it finally does become uninhabitable we seriously need to get to work.