The Truth comes out!

By Peter Jones

A month ago ForourGrandchildren commented on the latest rush to riches . . . . the exploitation of Arctic waters to extract the large reserves of fossil fuels beneath the ice.  Now that the ice is disappearing the fossil fuels are there for the taking.  But this prospect causes public uneasiness:  what will be the consequences if there is a major oil spill like the Gulf of Mexico disaster?

Oil companies are very sensitive to the risks of disaster.  They know that the billions of dollars they must spend will be neutralized by public anger if there is a spill.  Apart from the enormous costs of clean up, their operations will be shut down immediately, and perhaps permanently.

Oil companies work hard to assure the public that their activities are as safe as human ingenuity can make them.   Under no circumstances have they admitted that the risks are too high for any drilling.

That is – Until now!

Total SA is one of the world’s major oil companies.  It has large holdings in the Arctic off the Russian coast.   So its management must know what the risks are.

The chief executive of Total told the Financial Times that his company would not drill for oil in Arctic waters. “Oil on Greenland would be a disaster,” he said in an interview. “A leak would do too much damage to the image of the company.”

That is not to say that the oil companies who continue to exploit their Arctic licenses are deceiving the public.  It is just that human error is a fact of life, whether it occurs in the Arctic or anywhere else.

The fundamental problem is that in the Arctic a spill of any size cannot be remedied promptly and effectively!  That is why Total SA refuses to drill for oil in that sensitive environment.

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