The Lousiana oil rig failure...

Bubblehead Nuke · 05-02-10, 06:25 PM

This is NOT about just the environmental damage. The economic cost of this is going to be STAGGERING.

They are deploying oil booms to try and contain this. Ships and boats can NOT cross these booms.

This renders the Mississippi River unaccessible. This renders the port of New Orleans inaccessible. This is going to STOP all shipping into and out of the area.

Think oil imports. New Orleans is a major import and distribution center. Supply and demand is gonna kick in and prices are going to skyrocket.

Think goods (a.k.a FOOD) that is shipped into the country that is docked at the port of New Orleans for distribution up the Mississippi River to other points. All those South American goods are not going to be coming in.

The fishing season is stopped. Boats can not get out to the fishing grounds because of the booms. Seafood is going to skyrocket.

Tourism on the gulf coast is going to take a beating. But it pales in comparison to the ripples this is going to make in the US Economy.

Yes, you can reroute ships to other ports, but many of those ports are already being used by other ships. The Mississippi is THE artery for good transportation in America. If you have to go around it, the cost starts to go up significantly.

05-02-10, 06:25 PM	#11
Bubblehead Nuke XO Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 435 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	This is NOT about just the environmental damage. The economic cost of this is going to be STAGGERING. They are deploying oil booms to try and contain this. Ships and boats can NOT cross these booms. This renders the Mississippi River unaccessible. This renders the port of New Orleans inaccessible. This is going to STOP all shipping into and out of the area. Think oil imports. New Orleans is a major import and distribution center. Supply and demand is gonna kick in and prices are going to skyrocket. Think goods (a.k.a FOOD) that is shipped into the country that is docked at the port of New Orleans for distribution up the Mississippi River to other points. All those South American goods are not going to be coming in. The fishing season is stopped. Boats can not get out to the fishing grounds because of the booms. Seafood is going to skyrocket. Tourism on the gulf coast is going to take a beating. But it pales in comparison to the ripples this is going to make in the US Economy. Yes, you can reroute ships to other ports, but many of those ports are already being used by other ships. The Mississippi is THE artery for good transportation in America. If you have to go around it, the cost starts to go up significantly.