China Oil Spill

“In no other country in the world is the love of property keener or more alert than in the United States, and nowhere else does the majority display less inclination toward doctrines which in any way threaten the way property is owned.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Chapter IV: The Principle of the Sovereignty of the People of America, 1835

Last July there was a massive oil spill due to a pipeline break and explosion in Dalian, China. On July 16, 2010, in the northeastern port city of Dalian, China, two oil pipelines exploded, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air and burning for over 15 hours destroying several structures. The damaged pipes released thousands of gallons of oil, which flowed into the nearby harbor and the Yellow Sea. The total amount of oil spilled is still not clear, though China Central Television reported an estimate of 1,500 tons (400,000 gallons), as compared to the estimated 94 - 184 million gallons in the BP oil spill off the Louisiana coast. The oil slick grew to at least 430 square kilometers (165 sq. mi), forcing beaches and port facilities to close while government workers and local fishermen work to contain and clean up the spill.

The explosion was caused when workers continued to inject desulfurizer into the pipeline after a tanker had finished unloading oil, according to a statement posted on the website of the State Administration of Work Safety.

The statement said the explosion remains under investigation. The pipeline is owned by China National Petroleum Corp., Asia's largest oil and gas producer by volume.

Officials warned of a "severe threat" to sea life and water quality as China's latest environmental crisis spread off the shores of Dalian, once named China's most livable city. One cleanup worker drowned, his body coated in crude.

Cleanup workers were reported using chopsticks and their bare hands to remove the gooey oil from the sea, while state media said 2,000 soldiers, 40 oil-skimming boats and hundreds of fishing boats helped with the cleanup. Fishermen without equipment did most of the cleanup work at one of Dalian's most popular beaches, Jinshitan. For more details click here.

I bring you this report of a 9-month old incident for two reasons. One to share some incredible photos, and the other to illustrate the hypocrisy of one the largest polluters on the planet.

China, like India, is one of the largest polluters on the planet. They have few if no laws or policies regulating the way Chinese industry or government treats the environment. Yet they can sit in the United Nations and criticize us on how we are destroying the planet.

You will never hear Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama say a word about China’s lack of environmental concern or how they are probably the biggest polluter on the planet. Why is this? Are they afraid China will get angry with us and demand payment on all the money we owe them or is it just that those mentioned are so captivated by the lefty environmentalists that they can only blame America for all the ills in the world.

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