I was reminded of this at last Saturday's beach party. Thirty-two years later the odd tarball still turns up in the sand.
That same sandbank now hosts a wind farm: an elegant and renewable "fuck you" to Big Oil.
Monday, July 19, 2010
WTF Monday - BP Special
In sympathy for the folk living around the Gulf of Mexico, here are a couple of shots I took in May, 1978 when a Norwegian supertanker, the Eleni V rolled over and split in half on a Norfolk sandbank.
I was reminded of this at last Saturday's beach party. Thirty-two years later the odd tarball still turns up in the sand.
That same sandbank now hosts a wind farm: an elegant and renewable "fuck you" to Big Oil.
I was reminded of this at last Saturday's beach party. Thirty-two years later the odd tarball still turns up in the sand.
That same sandbank now hosts a wind farm: an elegant and renewable "fuck you" to Big Oil.
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13 comments:
I think wind farms are beautiful. We're lucky to have one wind turbine working for our town and a couple of other private ones in the neighboring town.
Are there downsides to your coastal wind farm that you could share?
There are a couple of wind farms outside the Los Angeles area. They are elegant--good word for them. Would that the world would institute these instead of oil wells. I want an electric car.
Good story Dive.
I always loved windmills, and these are elegant wind mills to me.
Oil tankers sit off our coast at the moment, so anytime the same disaster could happen. oh dear.
I totally agree, windfarms are beautiful. I never understand when someone's complaining about them. To me look like a flock of long-legged birds.
The 'Fuck You BP" is better than the "WTF." Change the title?
And if people think windfarms are ugly, what do they think of the oil spill by comparison?
Lupine Lady: no downsides at all. A few people were afraid that they'd annihilate migrating birds but they've been there over a decade now with no resultant carnage. The only downside is that there are not more of them.
Petrea: Me too! I want a Tesla. Woohoo! An all-Californian electric sports car actually made just up the road at my brother's place (see many a "Phil's Magical Kingdom" post).
Mme: It would be a better story if it had a happy ending, but Big Oil continues to lobby and pollute. Hey ho.
Mum: Yup. Hundreds of the buggers float past every day. At least they won't run into the sandbank so easily now it's covered in windmills.
Vanda: Yes, they are rather like enormous wading birds. I'm a huge fan of them, which is just as well as there are lots around here.
Katherine: My point exactly.
Our new government is busy making enemies at the moment. They've blown their alleged 'green' credentials clean out of the water by abandoning support for renewable energy and going back to nuclear, leaving the taxpayer with the clean-up and decommissioning bills. Sigh …
I will join the Fuck You Big Oil chorus! I don't care if its BP or Exxon. They are all a bunch of greedy MFs. I think the birds do much better with the wind turbines than the spewing crude that kills the entire ecosystem.
Like it or not "Big Oil" has been with us for over 100 years and more than likely will be a huge player for at least another 100 years. I hate the pollution oil spills have caused and hope no more happen. The fact is there is almost as much oil on the planet as there is water. The world economy revolves around cheap oil. 95% of all the world's power could could be produced by nuclear fission yet it only accounts for about 15%. The rest is primarily generated by oil and coal. Oil will become obsolete as soon as the gasoline engine becomes obsolete.
Powerful photo story you've posted. So good to see a wind farm up at the former disaster site. Looks like common sense won out. Wish it would in other places in the world....
Darn tootin', Neetzy! I remember seeing gulls and cormorants gasping and twitching their lives away stuck in that slick. It's bad enough on TV but when its right there in front of you it is truly horrific.
Mark: Commercial interests and lobby groups will keep renewable energy a poor relation until it suits them. One hopeful sign is that the Arab oil states are now investing hugely in renewables. They're not quite efficient enough at the moment but with that investment they will eventually become more profitable than fossil fuels and then maybe we will see a change.
Ms.M: I second that emotion.
I love wind farms too. I remember the oil spill that affected us, I reckon those pictures were taken on colour film, weren't they?!
Hey, Pea!
Hee hee. No, back then I was strictly an Ilford HP5 man: grainy and moody black and white film on a Rolleiflex camera, developed and printed myself.
How times change. Now it's all digital and Photoshop takes the stink out of darkroom work.
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