Posted on 06/14/2009 4:31:12 AM PDT by Halfmanhalfamazing
There are several studies that prove this. UCSB's study is rather bold right up front in it's findings:
Next time you step on a glob of tar on a beach in Santa Barbara County, you can thank the oil companies that it isn't a bigger glob.
That's pretty clear, isn't it?
There's a study out there from the US Government which has taken note of seepages and compared them with leaks that happen from offshore oil rigs and notes that rigs leak less than the ocean floor does.
The Brits have also noticed the positive benefits of offshore riggery, though theirs is of a slightly different manner. That is, how do the fish themselves react? Well see the pictures. Or even better, how about videos from underneath offshore rigs? There's one here (BTW, mute your speakers. You've been warned) and another here. Seems pretty clear to me. Offshore oil rigs also serve the purpose of becoming artificial reefs. That's certainly the opinion of some charter fishermen:
VENICE, La. - With its vast network of offshore oil rigs, extreme depths and a nutrient driven Mississippi River, Venice, Louisiana has been called one the most prolific fisheries in the world.
Seems to make perfect sense. When you are in the business of using your boat to make money; you make it your business to know where the fish go. Other fishermen have taken note of this as well.
There's also one more semi/related piece of information. Now that the benefits have been examined, I'm sure the NIMBYs will be coming around. Hold it right there. There is a formula you can use to determine how far off shore drilling should be conducted.
The equation is this: Visible distance (nautical miles) = 1.17 × Square root of the height (feet)
What that means is that an oil derrick 100 feet tall would be entirely below the horizon at 11.7 nautical miles (13.5 statute miles) from shore. (Multiply nautical miles by 1.15 to get statute miles.) If painted sea green/blue, they’d be invisible even closer.
And even if said oil rig was less than 10 miles away and unpainted to blend in with the water, it would still only be visible as a black speck on the horizon. For most people, they wouldn't actually know it was a rig as opposed to just some boat or something else out there. But small items on the horizon certainly are not going to hurt the tourism industry of said hotspots.
I am all for offshore and domestic oil drilling, however, I am confident offshore drilling will not take place under liberal control. Their environmental whacko base will not tolerate it.
In the various oaths of office, regarding "enemies both foreign and domestic"...these are them.
Isn’t it amazing that some of the best saltwater fishing structure are oil rigs?
It is a welll known fact along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana that the best fishing is around the oil rigs. Thats where the structure is. Most of the enviros are dupes. The hard core enviros are Communists.
The sensible one are conservationists.
Somewhat. It’s an issue of common sense for those who put some thought into it.
But it’s good to see videos and pics and studies. It’s nice to get validation for the obvious.
-————It is a well known fact along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana that the best fishing is around the oil rigs.———————
That fact needs to be known nationwide.
That’s where we come in.
The formula itself doesn’t, I don’t believe.
But the end result does assume you’re standing on a beach.(sea level)
There’s other things to consider as well, such as beach condos/apartments/etc. What if one is three or five stories up on a beach front townhouse?
That’s why these rigs should be painted to try to match the color of the water. Even if you have one that’s 10 miles out and you see a small dot on the horizon, it’s not gonna be an issue for the locals or the tourism industry.
Good post.
Do you have a link on that?
Here’s another good article “Offshore Oil Drilling - An Environmental Bonanza”:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/04/offshore_oil_drilling_an_envir.html
It was previously posted on FR here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2240102/posts
The earth's curvature effect applies only when the visibility is near perfect.
Offshore from Panama City, FL. the Navy's Coastal Systems Station had a platform that looked like a drilling rig exactly twelve miles out and another three miles out. With the persistent marine haze (during most of the year), even the three mile platform was rarely visible, but in exceptionally clear weather behind a passing cold front (usually fall & winter and even then, rarely) you could see both. Didn't mar the view at all as both looked like "ghost" images in the distance.
LOL, I wrote the book on it. You might also want to peruse the article links at that site a bit.
Why stop there? If we actually had a private property system in this country, the oil rig owners could market its attributes as producing habitat. That would give them reason to develop their designs to behave like islands for nesting birds and mammals as well. See the patent at that site.
Have you ever seen a car with the following bumper sticker?:
No Offshore Oil Drilling
Usually the sticker also has a picture of an oil-rig with a slash through it. These stickers aren’t as popular with the libs as they used to be, but they positively drip with irony. I always wanted to talk with one of those people and tell them how hypocritical (and tyrannical) they were. They essentially are saying, “Someone is going to have to stop driving, but it isn’t going to be me.”
This would be akin to a christian who professes a moral opposition to abortion and yet works for planned parenthood.
Colour me impressed.
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