The Biggest Oil Polluter on Earth, Mother Nature

Now, some can say that the percentage due to spills from drilling and extraction remains low because we restrict that activity — but we don’t restrict it everywhere, and drilling spills have become very rare.  On the other hand, we keep buying more of our oil from abroad, which means we have to bring more of it by big tanker across a much longer voyage, and that brings more risk.  Already it accounts for four times as much as drilling and extraction spillage, and it could get worse:

Considering that U.S. oil consumption and oil imports have steadily increased, the trend of declining spill incidents and volume in past years is noteworthy. Yet, recent annual data indicate that the overall decline of annual spill events may have stopped. Both consumption and imports are projected to maintain upward movement, and the United States is expected to increase the proportion of its imported oil. More oil-carrying vessels will be entering U.S. waters, and a higher percentage of transported oil will likely travel by vessel. The threat of oil spills may increase if more oil is being transported into and around the nation.

Guest host Connell McShane opened a segment on Your World w/Neil Cavuto today (July 14, 2008) with this: "To California now. Environmentalists drilling into your heads how dangerous and dirty offshore drilling is and, we're actually getting evidence that drilling could help the environment. Our William LaJeunesse is in Santa Barbara with more on this. What's the story on that William?" (Emphasis in original.)

To LaJeunesse who said that "most opposition to offshore drilling, of course, is based on fear. Fear of an oil spill" and "when oil washes up on the beach here in Santa Barbara, people naturally blame big oil." But "the National Academy of Science" says "Mother Nature spills more oil into the environment than Exxon, Shell and BP combined."

With that Fox put this pie graph on-screen and LaJeunesse explained it:

The state of Washington has made it official. "[T]he biggest single source of air pollution in Washington isn't a power plant, pulp mill or anything else created by man.  It's a volcano. Since Mount St. Helens started erupting in early October, it has been pumping out between 50 and 250 tons a day of sulfur dioxide, the lung-stinging gas that causes acid rain and contributes to haze. Those emissions are so high that if the volcano was a new factory, it probably couldn't get a permit to operate, said Clint Bowman, an atmospheric physicist for the Washington Department of Ecology. All of the state's industries combined produce about 120 tons a day of the noxious gas.