Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
On Deepwater Horizon—the oil rig that exploded in 2010, killing eleven workers and causing the BP
oil spill—the energy went out of control.
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In creating massive amounts of power, there's always the risk
that we'll lose control of the power. This can mean a nuclear meltdown, a massive fire at an LNG terminal,
an explosion in a coal mine, a downed live power line, or even a flying windmill.
When energy goes out of control, you can both lose the energy (sometimes permanently) and often lose
lives. Obviously we want to avoid this as much as possible. Fortunately, modern technology has made en-
ergy production much, much safer. For comparison, in the 1870s, according to Daniel Yergin's
The Prize,
some
five thousand
people died annually in kerosene explosions from the lamps in their homes.
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Gasoline
is
more
volatile than kerosene, yet we drive our cars without any fear of explosion.
One consequence of the improvements in safety is far lower fatality rates for workers. According to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, someone in oil and gas extraction is one third as likely to get into a fatal
accident as someone in logging and one fourth as likely as someone in fishing and hunting. And this might
surprise you: The fatality rate in coal mining is, thanks to a concerted effort to radically improve safety
over time, even lower than that of oil and gas extraction. If trends continue, both industries will become
safer still over time.
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In 2013, having read some of my writing, the vice president of a coal company in Kentucky invited me
to go underground in one of the mines. I eagerly accepted. When I got there, I was struck by how proud the
workers were oftheir safety practices and howworried they were that
I
would be afraid to be underground.
I reassured them that I was well aware of the statistics and that “the most dangerous part of a trip to a coal
mine is the drive there.” Statistically, that's absolutely right.
Every mining accident is a tragedy, but it should not be exploited to misrepresent the truth that coal is
becoming safer and safer.
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
The history of pollution laws consists of competing approaches to a challenging problem: how to protect
the individual's right to be protected against pollution while simultaneously recognizing his right to pursue
a modern, industrial life along with the energy that life requires.
My view of the right approach is: Respect individual rights, including property rights. You have a right
to your person and property, including the air and water around you. Past a certain point, it is illegal for
anyone to affect you or your property. But—and here's where things get tricky—it's not obvious what that
point is. Let's look at two extremes.
Onepolicywouldbe:Peoplecanpolluteorendangerotherindividualsatwillsolongastheyareviewed
as benefiting “the common good.” This policy, encouraged by some businesses in the nineteenth century,
is immoral. It says that some individuals should be sacrificed for the business and its customers.
Here'sanotherbadpolicy:
Any
amountofimpactonair,water,andlandshouldbeillegal. Thisissimply
impossible by the nature of reality—for example, consider that perhaps our most dangerous emission, con-
tagious disease, can often be transmitted through the air or other life forms in ways we cannot detect or
prevent.
At any given stage of development, some amount of potentially harmful waste cannot be prevented.
For example, the man who invented fire could not protect himself or his neighbors from smoke. Should he
