Story Archives of 'oil'

Officials in the Gulf Coast are assessing damage left by Hurricane Gustav yesterday. Officials were bracing for a repeat of the epic failure of the levy system following Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

Though the levies and flood walls held up this time, Gustav still left plenty of destruction in its wake. Mayor Ray Nagin is asking evacuated residents to stay put while crews work to restore power to the 80,000-plus homes that lost electricity. And Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is asking the federal government to open up its strategic oil reserve to fuel recovery efforts and to fill the tanks of returning citizens. Jindal says it could be days before oil companies can assess the damage to their operations in the Gulf.

The region handles about 25 percent of the nation’s domestic oil production and about 15 percent of its natural gas output. Any harm to that infrastructure will affect oil prices nationwide. But our next guest says it’s not just the rigs and refineries we have to worry about - it’s the pipelines that pump the product from the Gulf to the mainland that cause more concern. After Hurricane Katrina, about 8 million gallons of oil were lost through the pipes - compare that to 11 million gallons after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Nancy Kinner is co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, where she’s also professor of civil and environmental engineering. She joins Word of Mouth to discuss cleaning up the oil damage caused by hurricanes.

(Photo by vphill)

The Bush administration is pressuring Congress to lift a moratorium on offshore oil drilling as a way to allay concerns over fuel costs. Opponents say more drilling would destroy our coastlines and pollute ecosystems, and wouldn't pay off for more than a decade. We'll explore the drilling debate.

Guests

• Sara Banaszak, Senior Economist for the American Petroleum Institute
• Masood Samii, Professor and Chair of the International Business Department at Southern New Hampshire University and Former Chief Economist for OPEC from 1978-1987
• Jim Presswood, Energy Advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council

State environmental officials say they’ve contained an estimated one-thousand gallon oil spill in Gilmanton.

Gilmanton police say a large tanker truck parked nearby emptied the fuel oil into a brook that feeds into Rocky Pond.

As New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports, both bodies of water and surrounding wetlands are contaminated and police say the spill might have been intentional.

Imagine the Great Bay in Durham as home to the world's biggest oil refinery. It's hard to picture now, but in 1973, Aristotle Onassis, with the support of governor Mel Thompson and Union Leader publisher William Loeb, tried to make it happen. A group of dedicated citizens fought the plan and won 30 years ago this month. Durham resident and political activist Dudley Dudley, who was the town�s freshman representative at the time, recounts the story.

The U.S. relies heavily on middle eastern oil for its energy needs. Some say America needs to find more oil and natural gas within its own borders, while others say conservation and is the key. Laura?s guests are Charli Coon, Senior Energy and Environment Policy Analyst for the Heritage Foundation www.heritage.org , and Richard Kennelly, Staff Attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation www.clf.org