ANOTHER Oil Rig Explosion?! REALLY?!
2010-09-03 · explainer · Hank · 3:59 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Science & nature (also: US politics & society) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, self promotion
Hank argues that the world will never run out of oil, only of easy oil, so companies take ever bigger risks to get the hard oil; because those risks fall on shared things like the Gulf of Mexico, government regulation is needed rather than industry self-regulation.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Why Hank, an environmental activist, did not talk about the Deepwater Horizon disaster: anger, inevitability, not wanting to blame
- ★★ Hank says he is something of an environmental activist, so many people were surprised he did not talk about the Deepwater Horizon disaster. — 00:00:00
- ★★ Hank explains his silence: he knew the disaster was inevitable, was very angry, and did not want to focus on blaming people, which gets political and divisive fast. — 00:00:00
00:00:29 — Oil: we depend on it completely; we will never run out, only of easy oil; getting hard oil takes technology, money or risk
- ★ Hank says it is still not entirely clear what happened on the Deepwater Horizon rig or how its failsafe systems failed. — 00:00:29
- ★★ Hank says that if there were suddenly no oil anywhere, we would all die: no economy, power, water, transportation or food. — 00:00:29
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★★★ Hank claims we will never run out of oil: oil is not equally accessible, and while the easy oil has been burned, the hard oil only gets harder to reach. — 00:00:58
“I'm going to make the somewhat preposterous statement that we are never going to run out of oil.”
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★★★ To get at the hard oil, Hank says, you need new technologies, more money, or more risk-taking. — 00:01:27
- ★★ Hank lists the risks: drilling in environmentally fragile areas that can never be replaced, drilling too deep to repair, overworking crews, cutting corners, and pressuring managers to finish wells. — 00:01:27
- ★★ Hank says an oil well can be drilled three miles below the ocean surface, so deep that no submarine on the planet could reach it to fix a problem. — 00:01:27
00:01:56 — Corporate risk (Microsoft's phone vs BP's Gulf of Mexico), why shared risk needs regulation, a party that wants industry self-regulation; more catastrophes ahead
- ★★ Hank says corporations are used to risk: Microsoft's new phone flopped and probably lost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, a normal part of business. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:56
- ★★★ Hank argues BP may treat a lost rig as an acceptable risk, but it is risking the whole Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, which is not theirs and has intrinsic and economic value. — 00:02:35
- ★★★ Because oil companies risk something everyone shares, Hank says government regulation is needed, e.g. banning 16-hour shifts and limiting drilling depth. — 00:02:35
- ★★ Hank criticizes a newly emerged political party that says the US energy industry should regulate itself and decide what is safe, sarcastically calling it a great plan. — 00:03:04
- ★ Hank notes he is now getting angry and blaming people, which is what he did not want to do. — 00:03:04
- ★★★ Hank predicts catastrophes like this will happen more and more as oil gets more expensive, because companies will take those risks unless someone stops them. — 00:03:04
00:03:33 — Vlogbrothers t-shirt pre-order for two weeks; sign-off
- ★★ Hank announces that he and John are finally selling a t-shirt that says vlogbrothers, on pre-order for two weeks only and never available again. — 00:03:33
Threads in this video
- predicted · Hank: we will never run out of oil, only of easy oil (2010) — Hank makes the 'somewhat preposterous' claim that humanity will never run out of oil, only of easy oil. (00:00:58)
- first on record · Should industries whose risks fall on shared resources regulate themselves, or be regulated by government? — Hank holds that because oil companies risk things everyone shares, government must regulate them; he mocks the idea that the energy industry should regulate itself. (00:02:35)
- predicted · Hank: oil-drilling catastrophes will become more frequent as oil gets more expensive, absent regulation (2010) — Hank predicts oil catastrophes will happen more and more as oil gets more expensive, unless someone tells companies they can't take those risks. (00:03:04)
- launched · Vlogbrothers t-shirt: two-week pre-order at DFTBA.com (2010) — Hank announces the vlogbrothers t-shirt, available now for a two-week pre-order only. (00:03:33)
- asked · John asks Nerdfighters to pre-order the vlogbrothers shirt in its last week (2010) — Hank announces that he and John are finally selling a t-shirt that says vlogbrothers, on pre-order for two weeks only and never available again. (00:03:33)
Where the stories that moved here went next
- John asks Nerdfighters to pre-order the vlogbrothers shirt in its last week (2010) — promotion (not a request); last: asked, 2010-09-06
- Hank: we will never run out of oil, only of easy oil (2010) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2010-09-03
- Hank: oil-drilling catastrophes will become more frequent as oil gets more expensive, absent regulation (2010) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2010-09-03
Mentioned
Central: BP · Deepwater Horizon oil spill · externality · petroleum · regulation
Also: environmentalism · Gulf of Mexico · Microsoft · newly emerged political party (unnamed by Hank) · Vlogbrothers shirt
Also centred on regulation: We're Thinking About Facebook Wrong
Later videos replying to this one
- 2010-09-06 · I HATE PENNIES!!!! (Also Nickels.) (John) — imitates — “your video from Friday where you explored the relationship between privatized risk and public regulation” (00:00:03)