Big Oil and citizenship

[mac]

Why we need to regulate mrgybe's buddies:

[mac]

This is what happens when you elect Republicans beholden to the oil industry. https://www.revealnews.org/article/in-north-dakotas-bakken-oil-boom-there-will-be-blood/

[wynsurfer]

mac, get a grip on reality!

If you think about it, the oil industry has a pretty good track record regarding safety for those employed by the industry and those who die as a result of the pollution.

The most out of control industry in America, and probably the entire world is in fact our so called health care system, which is the third leading cause of death in America, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to Dr. Barbara Starfield:

12,00o deaths from surgery
7,000 deaths from medication errors
20,000 deaths from other errors
80,000 deaths from infections in hospitals
and 106,000 deaths from PROPERLY PRESCRIBED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS!
Death toll as of the year 2000 about 225,000 per year.

Why are we not hearing about this on the evening news?

Could it have anything to do with all those adds we see on TV for prescription drugs?

This is ILLEGAL in every country on earth except for New Zealand and the U.S.A.

Maybe we need to regulate the pharmaceutical industry more effectively, it is killing far more people than any other.

[mac]

Slinky--Pretty good track record? The oil companies have a sweetheart arrangement with the State of North Dakota, and to a somewhat lesser extent with the Obama administration. Enforcement of safety and pollution rules has been compromised by this relationship:

[mrgybe]

Does anyone know how much the Port of Oakland paid in fines for ruining the health of thousands of residents in the surrounding area? Must be substantial given the decades over which they fouled the air and destroyed lives in the local community. Just can't seem to find any record of the amounts they paid for their relentless pollution.

[mac]

As usual, wrong and snarky. You really don't want to start a debate about how much cancer has been caused by the burning of petroleum, and the tiny amount of that associated with the Port of Oakland. Made me laugh--watching Hillary must have made you desperate.

[mrgybe]

I don't know what these people are whining about........we've been told by someone with first hand experience that it's only a "tiny" problem (365 days a year for decades).

"Just about any long-term West Oakland resident can rattle off a list of health issues effecting their community: toxins from cargo ships docking at the nearby Port of Oakland, diesel smoke from Port-bound trucks, pollution from the two freeways that border the neighborhood, illegal dumping, and lack of accessible health care.

Disraeli Hives, 41, was born and raised in West Oakland, and has seen effects of poor air quality on three generations of her family. Both she and her mother have been diagnosed with asthma, as have 8 of her 10 children. The family is on a regular rotation of inhalers and respiratory pumps, and Ms. Hives only recently started breathing without the use of an oxygen tank. Hives said that almost two-thirds of the children on her block have some form of respiratory illness."

People in glass houses..........

[mac]

I've known that mrgybe is fundamentally dishonest since he posted a series of falsehoods about DDT, EPA and William Ruckleshaus. His MO is to seize on a right wing meme that disparages someone he disagrees with and repeat it, laced with insults, a fact or two, and a conclusion at odds with the facts.

Most recently this involved falsified videos about Planned Parenthood, where the falsifications are so egregious that the originators have already lost in court. Lies about Hillary, DDT, Planned Parenthood, and now mac.

I worked for the Port of Oakland from 1990 until 2006, running the environmental department. During that time, the old Naval Supply Center in Oakland was closed and the land returned to the Port. I oversaw the preparation of environmental studies to clean that land up and develop new marine terminals. Citizens in West Oakland, organized as a group called West Oakland Neighbors, (WON) were concerned that the new marine terminals would allow more trucks, and the associated diesel emissions, and sued the port. I negotiated a settlement of that lawsuit which included mitigation for air quality emissions which secured the support of WON before all of the permitting agencies. That settlement included millions of dollars to clean up the emissions of virtually every piece of equipment operating at the existing and new terminals, at least 200 trucks, as well as construction of a major new park and restored habitat. That settlement was supported with enthusiasm by the Air Pollution control district and the Regional office of EPA. Indeed, once the port had established regulations limiting the use of old trucks, it received grants from the State and from EPA to do more work.

The settlement agreement with WON set aside $9 million for air quality mitigation. Designing and implementing those measures involved frequent meetings with both WON and the air quality agencies. I retired before all of that money was spent, and before the Port had figured out how best to spend the roughly $2 million on trucks. However, that work has continued, and grew to include a ban on old trucks at port terminals and funding for cleaning up essentially all trucks calling at the Port, not just the 200 covered by the settlement agreement. The measures that had been completed by 2013, including electrical power that allowed ship engines to be turned off while in port, have reduced diesel emissions by 70%, far more than the amount negotiated. Indeed, groups like NRDC which worked on the mitigation measures and negotiations, then turned to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to try to secure similar reductions.

There is an old saying that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. I am proud to have been part of this solution. I note the ironic outrage of mrgybe, who has promoted the use of the fossil fuels whose partially burned products are the cause of the emissions we had to deal with. Like tobacco, diesel and gasoline, if left unregulated, are products that cause cancer when operated as intended. Mrgybe has pontificated about the wasteful idea of adding oxygenates to these fuels--additives that reduce the toxicity of the emissions. Indeed, the oil industry fought virtually every effort to add regulations that would clean up exhaust.

Mrgybe indeed knows glass houses--the products he promote are implicated in the deaths of 20,000 people every year. From the New York Times:

[mrgybe]

I must have missed the bit about the fines the Port of Oakland paid for ruining its neighbors lives for decades. Surely they couldn't have had a "sweetheart deal" could they? Fortunately, since 2008, the Port has started cleaning up its act.

Port of Oakland Approves Clean Air Initiative
By Robert Carlsen 3/20/2008

"The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners voted unanimously March 18 to adopt a set of principles, goals and early actions designed to achieve an 85% reduction of health risks associated with seaport diesel particulate matter by the year 2020."

Better late than never. I doubt that many other port employees spend as much time routinely pointing fingers at others when their own record is so dismal.

[mac]

Posted another lie. The air quality program started well before that. But you will always post false stories about people you disagree with. That makes you a serial liar.