what's with all the oil spills?

The BP oil spill of course eclipsed the others that followed due to its sheer size as well as location. The oil spill in Kalamazoo in Michigan didn't receive as much coverage in comparison because well... it happened in Kalamazoo.

The Enbridge Energy pipeline burst and dumped nearly one million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River which runs directly into Lake Michigan. The pipe that burst is the part of one of the largest networks of pipeline in the world. It carries dirty tar-sands oil from Canada to distribution points throughout the Midwest.

Tar-sands is the most pointless exercise of oil extraction in the history of oil extraction. First the ancient boreal forests were cleared then jaw-dropping quantities of energy and water are required to extract the thing that is supposed to provide more energy and create more pollution. The process is so toxic and leaves a sludge so big that it can be seen from space.

Closer to home the Mumbai spill has been officially declared as an ecological disaster today. Having occurred off the coast of the Elephanta mangroves, it poses a risk for spawning fish and sea turtles which use the area as nesting grounds. The spill coincides very unfortunately with nesting season for endangered turtle species. It will also affect other ocean life like lobsters, sponges, bivalves as well as marine animals and birds. This morning it was declared that the slick had reached the high tide mark and the "slow poisoning has begun". In addition to this, $4bn will be lost by this weekend if the port continues to be inoperational, what with being one of the busiest ports in the world. If the situaiton continues, the city of Mumbai could run out of fuel.

Trickle down effects include losses in the fishery and tourism industry. Already 500kg of fish were found to be contaminated and fishermen in the area are woeful about future prospects. The spill in Mumbai occurred after two Panamanian carrier ships collided and the on-going inquiry will tell us why this happened. However, as with the aftermath of every disaster the reasons why it happened gives little comfort because it did happen.

Everyday we are faced with reasons to wean ourselves off of petroleum. Its about time we started.

big oil and CSR

Big Oil and CSR are about as compatible as chalk and cheese. Having said that it must not be forgotten that one of the pioneers of employing CSR was oil megamoth, Shell. Shell's sustainability reputation now remain in tatters and that is a testament to how much companies can get by with green-washing the public.

Operating in one of the most polluting businesses requires there to be certain environmental and social boundaries. The BP disaster is a proof to this fact - it provides not just environmental problems of massive proportions but also makes an interesting case study from a CSR point of view. CSR is not public relations but public relations is CSR. This is the point of balance on which BP dances as it strives to hang onto whatever little reputation is has. Industry analysts predict that due to rapidly dropping BP shares, it will be easier for another company to buy out the British petroleum giant. After over a hundred years in the business with various controversies, it is hard to imagine that the company will cease to exist if it does not recover.

The clean up operation is said to cost the company anywhere between $20-25bn. Its overall revenue is in the range of $120bn which has now dropped to $80bn. For a giant corporation to pay out $20bn in clean-up charges is no big deal. It is a certain bad luck that the spill occurred off the coast of United States and affected American fishermen. If the same spill of the same magnitude had happened, say off the coast of Africa, the pay out charges would have been far less and any environmental impact could have been swept clean under the carpet.

Consider this: BP's CSR campaign has a budget of $125 million which is not even 10% of their annual revenue. BP is a classic example of 'green-washing' where it has positioned itself to be seriously investing in alternative energy sources etc, but in fact their main revenue source is from petroleum. Throughout their years in operation, BP has been hit by CSR disasters:

• An explosion at a Texas City refinery in March 2005 killed 15 workers
• Price fixing in the propane gas market in 2007
• Corrosion in the Alaskan pipeline which caused a leak and shut down production in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in August 2006

Big Oil is in desperate need of CSR reform. The mistake that most oil companies make is to get CSR hopelessly muddled up with 're-branding' and then continue business as usual. To put a new face on the oil industry, there needs to be far-reaching consistent action in operations at every level apart from investment in alternate energy sources.

Currently the industry faces a severe lack of sustainability innovation and have fallen into the trap of talking more rather than doing more. There is not a single company that is serious about CSR even though they operate in one of the most harmful businesses. This is simply because there is not enough regulation. There is also increasing demand for petroleum products - these facts are something that Big Oil takes complete advantage of. Plus, they have infinite financial resources to pay their way through any situation.

Big Oil CSR is sleazy and non-quantifiable. However after the worst oil-spill in the world, it is a shame if it has to remain that way.

another reason for alternate energy

Photo Courtesy: www.euronews.net

There are many many reasons why we should wean ourselves off of petroleum and advocate for alternate energy sources. One of the reasons has been all over the news. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill might be worse than the Exxon Valdez spill nearly twenty years ago. NOAA has concluded that oil is leaking from the rig at the rate of 5,000 barrels or 200,000 gallons a day. The Gulf of Mexico is a key area for the seafood industry and one of the world's richest fisheries and it could be badly affected, perhaps for years to come.

Oil spills are devastating to the environment. Oil once spilled onto the ocean forms a thick layer called the slick, which depending on the weather can split or get thinned out further to become the sheen. An oil spill far off the coast can be carried to the coastline due to wave action and can therefore affect coastal marine life. Coastal spills, unless cleaned up will stay around until it is broken down by weather or decomposed by bacteria - this takes a very long time. The gooey black tar-like substance coats everything it comes to contact with. On the surface of water, it is not only toxic but also cuts of oxygen supply to the waters below.

Coastlines and estuaries act as important nesting grounds, marine nurseries and oil spills in these areas prove devastating to birds, animals, juvenile fish, larvae and reefs. Microscopic diatoms and plankton are most severely affected and so are organisms like mussels, clams, crabs, other arthropods and burrowing animals. Birds and marine mammals when coated with oil can die by ingesting the oil trying to clean themselves or due to the toxic chemicals present in the oil. The effects of a spill this size might damage the ecosystem for years to come according to some biologists.

Burning the oil to clear it from the water faster which is what might be done will release more pollutants and GHGs into the atmosphere. Oil spills, volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, forest fires - all man-made and natural disasters are no more localized events of catastrophe. Harm to a part is harm to the whole.

BP PLC the company responsible for the spill has stated that it will "take help from anyone". What happens to the people who depend on the Gulf for their livelihood, the ecosystem and the fishing industry is anybody's guess...

Every a****** who ever chanted 'Drill baby drill' should have to report to the Gulf coast today for cleanup duty - Bill Maher