The Gulf oil spill is demonstrating to Americans the hidden costs of fossil fuels, but it isn’t likely to change much, according to an Associated Press story, which states that the country is unable to turn its back on oil and coal despite the risks.
However, BP’s leaking well has caused an abrupt change in the dialogue surrounding offshore drilling and could give a boost to the call for greater investment in cleaner, safer energy technology.
Larry McKinney, director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, says this disaster is "strike three" for Gulf coast wetlands, following increased development in the fragile ecosystems and the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The institute estimates a worst-case scenario from the oil spill costing $1.6 billion to the region.
Those costs are on top of the loss of lives in the fossil fuel industry. In 2008, accidents killed 120 people in the oil and gas extraction industry. Thirty people have died in the coal industry this month, in addition to 29,000 who have died from coal mining-related lung diseases since 1968, according to the federal government.
Read the full AP story at the link below.
Also, the New York Times reported on the danger posed by the tens of thousands of gallons of chemical dispersants being sprayed on the Gulf waters to break up the leaking oil.
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