Oil Tanker Runs a ground the Great Barrier Reef

[Pan]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

The Chinese owners of the tanker need to be gone after to the fullest extent of Australian law. Cosco is a huge company, and this bulker was sailing in restricted waters.

As for the spill it probably isn`t a big deal. 950 tonnes is a shocking number but when you think about it isn`t that much. It is estimated the Earth seeps between 200,000 and 2,000,000 tonnes in the oceans, naturally per year. The concensus is around 600,000 tonnes. http://www.springerlink.com/content/bya6g7r7ceebanrl/. Natural wave action breaks up and disperses the oils rapidly.

Contrary to popular belief oil is a natural, organic product containing long chain hydrocarbons. These long chains are used by many organisms as a food source, much like we use sugar. It is consumed in nature. The massive ecological damage that nature nazi`s tout, really is nowhere near as serious or longterm as they`d have you believe.

That being said it shouldn`t have happened in the first place and rules are in place to protect the reefs. In true Chinese fashion they make their own rules, and destroy what they want. In return we get cheap made in China goods. So the big question is Who is really at fault hereÉ

Please, lets refrain from bashing the Chinese as a whole, hey are doing nothing that every other industrialized nation has not done during their own industrial revolution.

Blaming China whilst living in a country - reaping the benefits from our own past explotation of our country (continuing) that they are doing to theirs is simply either uniformed or unwilling to acknowledge blame. They happen to have started in an age of greater technology and simply on a scale unknown until now. Everything they do in cutting corners has been done before, first in europe than north america.(and still is, cheap goods, as you say (odd it is you brought up consumer goods and chinese bashing) are produced everywhere people are trying to make profits. So that aspect of the argument is...i think you get the picture.

That being said we live in a world where technology can prevent such things...boats with hulls proven to prevent just such an occurence, alas not mandatory because of costs to implement. This is the problem, when protective measures are not mandatory, "for profit" companys will only implement if they have to, aside from the occasional public relations upgrades. I'm really note familiar with maritime laws (international) so I am not sure how changes would be implemented, however they have to be.
But alas, humans in general will not usually willing "give up" any comforts for the betterment of everyone in general. However, this is for my graduate political theory seminar, and why democracy is an out-dated idea. To live a life to an ethical code, takes character, character, call it virtue if you will... is severely lacking in world as a whole....

If you pour concentrated oil over a small area, like Delphinus said, the reef will be overwhelmed, despite whatever pseudo scientific justifications are provided. As you say they are not threated by this oil spill because oil flows into the oceans all the time, yet in the next sentence the claim they should be protected...from what? A spill.butthey are not in danger. If it was dumped in the middle of the ocean, maybe no harm? Doubtful. It is only human arrogance that thinks that there are consequences for out actions only if immediately percievable. The rational behind saying the ocean is big so we can dump crap in it, willingly or accidentally is hogwash and frankly pathetically anthropocentric.

This sort of thing simply should not happen, there are no suitable justifications to the contrary.