RUSSIAN OIL DRILLING OFF CUBA POSES HUGE RISKS TO SOUTH FLORIDA

 

RUSSIAN OIL DRILLING OFF CUBA POSES HUGE RISKS TO SOUTH FLORIDA

I couldn't believe this one and just had to share it. The Russians have eagerly accepted the challenge of oil exploration off Cuba's coast, despite little experience in deep water drilling or any safety measures in the event of a spill. To imagine the impact to South Florida from an oil spill from an economic and environmental standpoint one need only look to the recent oil spill disaster that took place in the Gulf of Mexico courtesy of British Petroleum. In the event of a spill it is estimated that the oil would reach the South Florida coast in 6 to 10 days. If the beaches are damaged, so will the fishing and boating industry, and you are talking about tourism which is the lifeblood of the Florida economy. If it goes away or is damaged it would be an absolute catastrophe. This inspired the writing of the book "Black Horizon," by James Grippando, a local attorney. It examines this scenario exactly, and he says that 8 days is all the response time there would be to respond to a spill. Given the renewal of the Cold War, it is not unthinkable that the Russians could intentionally create an oil spill to damage our economy. Right now the U.S. is going against Russia in virtually every global hotspot such as Iran, Ukraine, Syria, and China to name a few. Given their vast energy supplies, this is surely a reason to tweak America, since they don't really need the gas. I will be keeping a close eye on this one and will be hoping for the best. As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.