Comments on: Oil spill in Arctic waters could have "catastrophic" impact https://ecosocialism.ca/2010/05/oil-spill-in-arctic-waters-could-have-catastrophic-impact/ FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Wed, 25 Jun 2014 21:02:09 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.38 By: Larry https://ecosocialism.ca/2010/05/oil-spill-in-arctic-waters-could-have-catastrophic-impact/#comment-37 Wed, 26 May 2010 16:10:18 +0000 http://ecosocialism.ca/?p=1078#comment-37 I worked as a reporter for CBC Radio in Inuvik NWT 1974-1976. A company called Dome Petroleum was doing the first exploratory drilling from drillships in the Beaufort Sea at that time. The Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, led by an eco-socialist named Doug Pimlott, wrote a book called “Oil Under the Ice” which I still have on my book shelf. All the things that were expressed back then are coming to pass with the BP situation in the Gulf. The main problem technologically speaking is the failure of the “blowout preventer” to work during the explosion and fire on the rig. Pimlott argued that any technology like the “preventer” can never be thought of as foolproof. He was right. It’s not a question of if they will fail, but when. The more we drill, the closer we get to such failures.

Pimlott and the western arctic Inivaluit people opposed offshore drilling in the 1970s because technology itself can’t be counted on to protect us and the environment from fallible technology. The BP explosion has taught us that they were right, it’s not a question of IF technology will fail, but WHEN. The costs to the environment of an oil blow out in the Arctic are simply too great to permit drilling.

One final point: I am irritated by the continual use of the word “spill” to describe what’s happening in the Gulf, or what could happen in the Arctic. It glosses over reality. Let’s stick to words like “oil blow out” to describe the crime perpetrated by BP.

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