BURN Radio Special #2
The Hunt for Oil: Risks and Rewards
Host Alex Chadwick tackles one of the most important energy questions facing America: Are we running out of oil? It’s not an easy question to answer and, in an effort to understand what’s at stake, Alex travels to some of the country’s most important petroleum exploration sites.
This hour long broadcast, pegged to the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, begins on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico where hundreds of offshore rigs cut into the ocean’s bottom in an unabated effort to satisfy the country’s petroleum needs. But as drilling continues, so does debate over the impact of Deepwater Horizon. Where did all that oil go? Is the seafood safe to eat? Two years on, how are the people and ecosystems of the Gulf holding up?
Further north, in Utah, sits the Covenant Oil Field, one of the biggest petroleum finds in the U.S. in thirty years. Alex talks with Covenant’s owner about the uncertain business of oil exploration. Other stories in the hour include: Oil pipelines. There are tens of thousands of miles of them crisscrossing the U.S. It’s a vital and cost effective mode of fuel transport. But many of the pipelines are old, and sometimes they leak, causing harm to people and the environment. And: The cost of a gallon of gas. It’s more than supply and demand that determines the price.
Listen to the BURN Radio Special
Full Broadcast (54:01 minutes in three segments)
Listen in The BURN Audio Player
Segment A: Deepwater Horizon Two Years After
Part 1
Alex visits Port Fourchon, Louisiana, where he discusses the state of the gulf with environmental engineer John Pardue. We learn about the organic nature of oil, oil eating microbes and the spill’s impact on wildlife and the entire Gulf ecosystem.
Alex talks with environmental engineer John Pardue
Part 2
Alex and reporter Gwen Thompkins look at food safety in the Gulf area. We hear from Carl Kendall, from the Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Studies at Tulane University, environmental health scientist Wilma Subra, Food and Drug Administration scientist Bob Dickey and local chef Nathan Richard.
For more on Food Safety in the Gulf All photos by BURN Producer Sean Collins
BIOS
- John Pardue, Prof Environmental Engineering, LSU
- Wilma Subra, Environmental Health Chemist, MacArthur Fellow (PDF)
- Carl Kendall, Public Health Scientist, Tulane School of Medicine
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
- Listen as Alex discusses oil, microbes and the Gulf’s ecosystems with scientist Robert Twilley who says that in order to advance scientific understanding it’s critical to find opportunities in the midst of crises.
Listen in The BURN Audio Player
- Watch The Gulf Spill, a video from The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling
RESEARCH
- National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill & Offshore Drilling (Final Report)
- Environmental Health Perspectives on Seafood Contamination
- Biodegradation of Emulsified MC252 Oil in Coastal Salt Marshes (Pardue, et al.)
(PDF)
- Seafood Contamination after the BP Gulf Oil Spill and Risks to Vulnerable Populations: A Critique of the FDA Risk Assessment (Rotkin-Ellman, et al.)
- FDA Risk Assessment of Seafood Contamination after the BP Oil Spill (Dickey)
LINKS
- BP: Gulf of Mexico Restoration
- Restore the Gulf (US Gov)
- Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN)
RESOURCES
Segment B: Utah’s Covenant Oil Field, Roxanna, Illinois and Peak Oil
Part 1
Alex visits Richfield, Utah and speaks with Wolverine Gas and Oil CEO Sid Jansma, Jr.
Wolverine, an independent oil company, owns Utah’s Covenant Oil Field – the largest domestic oil discovery in three decades.
Part 2
BURN contributing writer Scott Carrier visits Roxana, Illinois, an industrial, blue-collar town built around the oil business.
All photos by BURN
RELATED INFO
- What is Peak Oil? According to the Post Carbon Institute Peak Oil is the simplest label for the peak in global oil production. Learn more here.
- The concept of Peak Oil was developed by M. King Hubbert. Read about him here.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration monitors oil and gas pipeline safety.
Segment C: The Price of Gas and the Future of Oil
Alex and oil expert Richard Sears discuss gas pricing with consumers at a California gas pump and engage in a dialogue about our energy future and the role oil will play in it.
Gas station in Menlo Park, California, May 2011
VIDEO
- Richard Sears’ recent appearance before the Institute of International and European Affairs:
- Short video, Richard Sears, “Planning for the end of oil”
LINK
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