Norwegian shipyard Ulstein recently delivered the first of two super seismic vessels to the geophysical company CGGVeritas. These vessels are designed to tow seismic survey airgun and streamer arrays for deepwater offshore fossil fuel exploration and are outfitted for arctic capability.
While it should not be a surprise, this is yet another reminder that as long as we run our civilization on oil, it will be found and extracted.
Seismic airgun surveys are among the loudest noises inflicted on marine environments, increasingly shown to compromise fisheries, spook whales away from important feeding and migratory behavior, and damage marine invertebrates.
Unfortunately these environmental costs are still considered ‘reasonable sacrifices’ in the balance of our energy needs. And while there are efforts being made to decrease the impacts of seismic exploration, it remains abundantly clear that our thirst for oil is the leading cause of planetary-scale environmental destruction; from the polluting byproducts of such as ocean noise, CO2, and other environmental toxins, to the robust military required to secure petroleum resources (and the raft of environmental assaults that militarism brings into play).
There are many strategies being advanced to decrease the impacts of fossil fuel on the planet, but the one thing we can all do is curb our consumption. This strategy can be supplemented by highlighting the collateral costs of a fossil fuel based economy.
As we look long and hard at these costs, the perceived costs of changing our energy habits (from transportation and consumption patterns, to sustainable power generation), the sacrifices made in the name of fossil fuel will no longer be considered reasonable.
Carpooling anyone?