When Deepwater Horizon spilled 4.9 million barrels of oil onto Florida Beaches, the world looked on, horrified. But what many don't know is that over 30 million barrels are spilled in Siberian forests all across Russia, due to inadequate practices, cold winters, isolated drilling sites, and government ineptitude. The oil from these aged and improperly maintained systems seeps into swamps, rivers, and forests while destroying local livelihoods such as reindeer farming and fishing from the rivers. Corrupt marketing campaigns from the oil companies and local governments, as well as lax standards, allow the locals to trust that drilling will be safe, beneficial, and necessary. General mismanagement causes slow seepage of oil into local ecosystems, slowly destroying the communities and environment around them. Approximately 500,000 tonnes of oil makes it to the arctic ocean (about 18,325 oil trucks) which has a global as well as national impact.
Additionally, there is the burning of associated gas which is technically banned in Russia. However, due to isolation, corruption, and greed these gases are burned, emitting tons of nasty stuff into the atmosphere.
Right now, contributing money to stop this is a small and generally unsatisfying solution. Making it known to the general public more through primary media outlets is an excellent solution, as it would push the Russian government to fix the problems in order to look good. Unfortunately, the stuffy and corrupt governments as well as uncaring and exploitative businesses have no other motivation to fix the problem other than cover it up.
Personally, I am horrified that such widespread damage can be caused simply by laziness and governmental incompetance. Furthermore, I feel that it is a problem that we obtain 5% of our oil from this region of Russia; it should motivate us to find new energies such as natural gas or drill safer, more regulated wells in our homeland in order to reduce the worldwide impact.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/arctic-impacts/The-dangers-of-Arctic-oil/Black-ice--Russian-oil-spill-disaster/
As horrifying as this is, I am not sure if the US can do anything about this. Russia and the US are a bit tense, and though I would like to see this stopped, can we really do anything to see that there are global guidelines to obtaining oil? It is possible, maybe, if we appeal to the UN or create a new organization focused on cleaner environments, and by doing this, the world can become a cleaner place. The problem in Siberia right now are the government and the companies. These companies seem to have the government in their pocket, which would allow them to do whatever they want however they want as long as the government gets whatever they want -- which is probably money. If we really obtain about 5% of our oil from this part of Russia, then the best we can do to stop these practices is to boycott the source. Maybe if we take the initiative to boycott Russia in their oil practices, other countries will follow and Russia will be forced to change their practices which will only benefit the people of the area and the entire planet.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! People should know that this oil industry is increasing day by day and is very useful but there are many things these industrial practices are spoiling and this post is one of them. The precautions should be taken and environment should be taken care of thanks.
ReplyDeleteDrilling and seepage