A Silver Lining From Climate Change?

Oil companies see melting ice as a drilling opportunity

Helsinki, Finland - First, the bad news: This summer, the sea ice that caps the Arctic Ocean melted to the lowest level since at least 1979, when satellites first began keeping track of ice over the North Pole.

But here's the good news, at least according to oil companies: Climate change-related Arctic ice melting means vast new territories will likely be open for drilling.

It's a twist on Rahm Emanuel's quip about never letting a crisis got to waste. And it's a matter of hot debate now among Arctic-region government officials.

Many line up with the oil industry in arguing that since climate change is happening in real time and is likely irreversible, something positive might as well come out of it. The European Parliament's industry committee has rejected attempts to introduce a moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. The EU sees itself as an actor in the Arctic because three EU countries have territory in the Arctic - Denmark, Finland and Sweden - while Iceland is an EU candidate.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there may be more than 90 billion barrels of recoverable oil buried in the Arctic - about 13% of the world's estimated undiscovered reserves. So as climate change - due chiefly to the burning of fossil fuels like oil - melts the Arctic ice, it becomes easier for oil companies to send their drilling ships northward and produce more oil for us to burn.

Still, environmental concerns that have so far kept drilling out of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge apply to non-U.S. areas. TIME reported in September that an environmental disaster in the Arctic would be much more difficult to clean up than, say, the BP rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. The Chukchi Sea is more than a thousand miles away from the nearest Coast Guard station.

Politix reporting and via TIME.

Should oil drilling be allowed in the Arctic?

[bsking]

yes. would'nt it be awesome if they found the biggest reserves of oil anywhere in the world under melted ice from the ice caps.... the only thing would be better if there was at least 1 polar bear floating away on a chunk of ice....

[Fishbone345]

Hey now, leave the bears out of it.

[MaxPain]

Of course they do along with We need a few billion in tax money so we can drill (Oh the water is to deep can i have a few billion more to drill)

[AceLuby]

Take the money we would invest in drilling in the arctic and use it to find energy that won't be gone as soon as it hits oxygen.

[bsking]

wow and where do you find this magical energy?... somewhere over the rainbow I imagine

[AceLuby]

@bsking Yeah, because solar, wind, and bio diesel is 'magical energy'... Since all you guys think of is old technology why not go back to burning buffalo s^*t.

[RobertJHarsh]

At least Buffalo dooty produces more energy per each invested dollar versus sky fairy technologies like wind, solar, and pretending real hard.

[paperdragons81]

Didn't mean to vote up , I disagree if we don't drill for it, someone else will, and they will get our money selling oil to us.

[bsking]

@RobertJHarsh just like you evil Republican capitalists... does every business decision have to be about profit?... ;)

[Takosan]

The oil industry is a major reason the ice is melting. Burning oil gives off greenhouse gas the make the world temp go up. I know. Lets melt all of the ice and let the sea level go up and put major cities all over the world under water, the we would not need oil based products......DUH

[bsking]

maybe you could pitch that idea to some crazy person like algore might buy it and turn it into a crazy ass movie.

[Takosan]

@bsking Well my friend, I suppose you have a degree in earth science, and you know more than 77 percent of scientists on earth. I suppose that all of the video from space that is showing all of the glaciers on earth melting are all fixed. I suppose that all of the thousands of people that have to move off of islands in the Arctic ocean because they are now covered in water or the perma frost is melting is also false. Plus, I would bet that you are a radical right wing Republican that hates everyone that is not like you. At any rate, by making statements like you did proves that you are very ignorant. Have a wonderful day.

[bsking]

@Takosan I don't hate you I just think you're crazy. you do realize that ice once covered North America... that's what ice does ...it melts... we are not causing it, the Sun is very hot... have a nice day taco son

[Takosan]

@bsking I hate to burst your bubble, but if you will do some checking you will find that samples taken from ice cores that were from the last ice age show and very low levels of the greenhouse gas CO2. Samples taken in sequence from that depth until most of the ice melted contained higher and higher levels of CO2 causing the earths temperature to increase. Guess where that CO2 came from? Massive amount of volcanic eruptions. Well I don't see alot of volcanic eruptions do you? Millions and millions of cars and trucks burning gas and diesel fuel are putting CO2 gas in our atmosphere, along with refineries.
Enough to increase the earths temperature. I don't expect you to understand this or even agree with this. However, you should really do some research on this subject before you start talking about "the sun is hot" We all know the sun is hot, its temperature has not changed for millions of years. The problem is the CO2 in our atmosphere is not letting the heat that is given to us by the sun escape at night when the sun is not give us heat, and it build up over time thus increasing the earths temperature. Please, before you reply again and make yourself look stupid again, do some research on the subject........

[SavageMazx]

@Takosan climate change is an inevitable part of life on this planet, the oil companies had nothing to do with the last two ice ages. I recently read an article that stated we are going to move into a global cooling period now. Some one please make up their minds. While I am all for a responsible stewardship of this rock we live on, mother nature will do what she will and the is nothing that we can do to affect change. I just wish that I had come up with the idea of trading "carbon futures". Damon you Al Gore, first you invent the internet and now you figure out how to trade an item that does not exist.

[paperdragons81]

Of course, if we don't another country will, and it will probly mean prices of oil would go down.

[twinertia]

More oil to burn, more pollutants in the atmosphere, more warm weather, more ice melts, more places to drill for more oil to burn, more pollutants in the atmosphere, more warm weather, more ice melts, more places to drill for more oil to burn....."silver lining"? More like vomit icing on a crap cake.

[PNWest]

"vomit icing on a crap cake" - lovely imagery. I think I'll skip lunch today. But it does make your point eloquently.

[DerivePI]

More silver linings - A more direct passage for container ships between China and Europe (north of Canada), and a longer growing period for crops.

[mynameisaric]

Something tells me a longer growing season will delete the Midwest of nutrients and the soil will blow away... again.

[DerivePI]

@mynameisaric --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution

[mynameisaric]

@DerivePI I'm not sure if you're serious about this or if it's sarcasm. The fact that we can grow high yield, flavorless, nutrient deficient crops year round, doesn't mean we should. And a direct route from China to Europe further expands the manufacturing trade deficit we already have in this country. Please enlighten me on the way you view this situation.

[DerivePI]

@mynameisaric - you said something about depleting the soil, I responded with a link explaining how the "grapes of wrath" problem has been fixed. Now you want to discuss food quality and the US trade deficit. The green revolution prevented millions of people from starving. How much flavor do you think those millions of people need for a quality of life?

[Dan_Tien]

Can't you just picture offshore oil platforms getting trapped in ice during an extremely cold Winter cycle? Then the moving ice sheet could pull the platforms out of position while crushing them and snapping their flow lines so that crude oil could spew out into the bowl shaped Arctic Ocean. Why not risk another major ecological catastrophe to one of the world's most fragile ecosystems as long as there is profit to be had? How odd that the very same organizations that dispute any global warming trend would likely be the first to try to exploit it.

[mynameisaric]

Amazing perspective good sir.

[jessejaymes]

Well there you have it. While right wingers call the rest of us Idiots for believing in climate change, the oil companies come right out and admit to it. Follow the money, always follow the money.

[mynameisaric]

No, we need to cap our dependency on fuels that are running our habitat. Since we don't have the technology to inhabit another planet, we need to take care of the only one we have.

[dances-weebles]

the oil companies should never be allowed to drill in the arctic reagions... no matter how much oil lies there.

[WMCOL]

Any day now it will be disclosed just what the oil companies have done to make the earth warmer so that they can get to more oil and more profits and more scalping of the public.

It is good to go after oil wherever it lies so long as it results in lower prices for consumers, and that should be a requirement for right to drill and recover natural resources. No more drilling that results in more profits for oil companies and no relief for the public.

[Cheenoguy]

This is just plain disgusting.

[sweetromance]

Yes, but then I don't believe people have caused climate change. I believe climate change is part of a natural cycle.

[MarkJM]

More oil coming into the world market? Sounds good to me. Cheaper gas is always a good thing.

[QuiteCrazy]

This is so insane!!! A silver lining??? Definately a spin factor.