Posted by: junkfoodmedia on: January 28, 2010
So did you hear about the oil spill on Saturday in Port Arthur, Texas? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I caught it in a passing news blip on television; more like a headline without a story. Hey, have you heard about the balloon boy? Yeah, I thought so.
Since I don’t have cable, I searched the cable news stations websites to see the coverage (or lack thereof) of the oil spill. I decided to compare it to the topic of the balloon boy, a ridiculous occurrence that was documented by the cable news stations live, and then discussed over and over again in the media. I was quite disappointed my investigation did not prove me wrong and alter my perception of our Junk Food Media. My web search for “Port Arthur oil spill” turned up only a few articles on each of the cable station’s websites, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. However, a search for “balloon boy” turned up pages of articles on this subject.
Why isn’t Exxon in the news for this disaster? Does it take 11 million gallons of oil in our waters to make us file lawsuits and take action, like it did in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez? How about the 462,000 gallons of crude oil that saturated Port Arthur’s Sabine Neches Waterway, just off the Gulf of Mexico. Why doesn’t this make the news in detail? Is Exxon funding our cable news stations? Are they paying “journalists” off through lobbyists, as they do our politicians? When it comes to cable news stations please note that I use the word journalists very loosely.
How will this affect the local wildlife? How will it affect the local wetlands? I found an interesting site which has a recording of the most severe oil spills since the sixties through 2004; you can find it at: http://www.marinergroup.com/oil-spill-history.htm Unfortunately, based on the data on this site it appears the frequency of crude oil spills internationally is only increasing. It’s also disturbing to note that this oil spill is larger than some of the spills cited on that website.
When all else fails, we can count on our local stations for worthy reporting, that is if the disaster happens in your viewing area. Here is an article from a news station in Houston, TX, which is about 100 miles from the Port Arthur area: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/state&id=7241080
I would like to quote the last two sentences of the aforementioned article. “It was the largest spill in Texas since 1990, when a Norwegian tanker spilled 4.3 million gallons about 60 miles off Galveston. The state typically has about 800 spills a year, but nearly all involve less than one barrel, according to the Texas land office.” Eight hundred spills in 365 days? That’s over two spills per day! Eight hundred multiplied by even a half barrel adds up quickly in the course of a year. There are 31 gallons in a barrel, translated from barrels to gallons, even at half a barrel per spill; that is still 12,400 gallons of crude oil spilled into Texas waters every year. For me, that is 12,400 gallons too much. I am not under the illusion that since I live far away from Texas, the environmental havoc does not affect me. It affects us all. If there are 800 spills a year in Texas alone, how many spills are there nationally? Internationally? This is not just a local story; this has international implications.
