Wednesday 9 June 2010

US oil spill a disaster — but more oil is spilt in Nigeria every year

Only when the disaster is coming through the front door does it seem the West takes notice of the ecological catastrophes that are throughout the world, by and large through the inadequate safeguards put in place by Big Corporations. In the ever ongoing rush for higher profits for shareholders and the over-consumption of the general western public we are rapidly destroying vital environments that will take decades or longer to recuperate. With the "clean-up" underway in the US Gulf, it is vital that other parts of the globe are incorporated into the "clean-up" picture/action as well. Maybe there will be some lean years for the shareholders, but surely this is not the time to turn our backs on such pressing, global, environmental carnage. - Beeden

One small positive that may come out of the Deepwater Horizon spill is the slender beam of reflected light cast on the fascinating, tragic story of oil drilling in the Niger Delta.
On Sunday The Observer rather stunningly announced that “more oil is spilled from the Delta’s network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico”. Given the scale and longevity of the disaster in Nigeria the disparity in publicity is troubling.
 Rafiq Copeland @'Crikey'

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