New Estimate for an Oil Leak: A Thousand Times Worse Than Rig Owner Says

I have a growing concern that even when (if) reasonable heads prevail and we're able to implement sane climate policy in most developed nations, corporations with a vested interest in externalizing costs will simply ignore the law and self-report compliance while actively covering up evidence of non-compliance. This isn't a theoretical thing, we've already seen it happening. It's widespread in fossil fuels (nearly every major player has had disasters, often directly causing human death and injury, in recent years caused by cutting corners, neglect, failure to comply with regulations, etc.), but also in the automotive sector (VW), animal agriculture (e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/20/north-caroli...), and others.

Even with our current dangerously lax regulation of these externalities, corporations are doing everything they can to skip out on their responsibilities, and often getting away with it with barely a slap on the wrist. So, what happens when the policies get a lot stricter (I'm being optimistic and assuming the current anti-science rule will somehow end and we'll get some responsible leadership that understands we don't have time to cut emissions gradually any more...we missed that chance by a decade or more) and companies just say, "nah, we're going to keep doing what we were doing"?

In this case, I have no doubt the company knew what they were spewing into the ocean for 14 years, or at least had a good hunch. There's tons of data involved in off-shore wells. And, yet, nobody will go to jail for the immeasurable harm they knowingly caused. Nobody will answer for it, and the executives probably went on to drilling new dangerous wells, while their financial backers probably continue to invest in fossil fuels and profit from it.

Something that's not mentioned in the article: why wasn't it detected/measured at the source/destination? They say the leak is from "bundle of undersea pipes ruptured" - so this is an active line and someone's losing $6.3k/day according to these estimates, or $32M over the time of the leak. Did nobody notice the difference (either in volume or in billing) - is this a rounding error for them?

With no experience in oil transport, I'd expect them to measure things like that, even if just to find the leaks.

This is the kind of stuff that makes me think "we're all doomed."

Crime Against Reality

This is paywalled article.