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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch
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To: coug who wrote (79800)4/29/2010 6:06:03 PM
From: stockman_scott  Read Replies (1) of 89467
 
Robert Brulle, a sociology professor at Drexel University who has long studied events that influence environmental policy, sees the potential in the Gulf for a game changer:

When you look at well blowouts, they can become the biggest spills of all time. They can run on for months. The biggest one in the Gulf was the Ixtoc I in 1979. This spill ran from June 1979 to March 1980 (9 months) and released 140 million gallons of oil. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez (only!) released 10.8 million gallons.

This could have an enormous political impact. That type of spill size will eventually reach recreational areas, and places where the press can easily document the adverse impacts of the spill. Unlike global climate change, oil spills make for good graphic, and visual coverage, the causal sequence is self evident, and denial is impossible. Think of week after week of oil spill coverage on the nightly news. That is what happened with the Exxon Valdez, which occurred in a remote area. This will make opening up offshore drilling very difficult. Plus it is occurring in an area that is supportive of offshore drilling. When the adverse impacts start hitting the recreation industries of the Gulf coast, the politics could get very interesting...

dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com
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