The 3,739 oil Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico make for great fishing according to Humberto Fontova writing in Brookes News. He claims that 85 percent of fishing trips from Louisiana offshore are to the platforms, that there is 50 times more marine life around the platforms than in surrounding areas, and he has some harsh words for armchair greenies:
“Environmentalists” wake up in the middle of the night sweating and whimpering about offshore oil platforms only because they’ve never seen what’s under them. This proliferation of marine life around the platforms turned on its head every “expert” opinion of its day. The original plan, mandated by federal environmental “experts” back in the late ‘40s, was to remove the big, ugly, polluting, environmentally hazardous contraptions as soon as they stopped producing. Fine, said the oil companies.
About 15 years ago some wells played out off Louisiana and the oil companies tried to comply. Their ears are still ringing from the clamor fishermen put up. Turns out those platforms are going nowhere, and by popular demand of those with a bigger stake in the marine environment than any “environmentalist.”
Every “environmental” superstition against these structures was turned on its head. Marine life had EXPLODED around these huge artificial reefs. Louisiana produces on third of America’s seafood In fact a study by Louisiana State University shows that 85 percent of Louisiana offshore fishing trips involve fishing around these structures and that there’s 50 times more marine life around an oil production platform than in the surrounding Gulf bottoms. Louisiana produces one-third of America’s commercial fisheries — because of, not in spite of, these platforms.
All of this and not one major oil spill in half a century — not one. As more assurance, today’s drilling technology compares to the one used only 20 years ago about like the Kitty Hawk compares to a jumbo jet. The one that gave us the Santa Barbara Oil Spill in 1969 compares to today’s like a fossil.”
What did happen when Hurricane Katrina struck? Where there no oil spills and accidents then?
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.