moreover, these are basically 50 year old ships... But yes, someday oil will looked upon like eating jade or mercury.

Same will probably be said about our "green" technologies. They may be the best we can do now, but in the future they will be primitive. Don't take this comment as me saying we shouldn't do them. Rome wasn't built in a day. Hopefully someday we will have clean energy that doesn't require toxic materials is all I'm saying. Look no further than the new light bulbs we are being forced to use. They can't be tossed in the trash like everything else. They are hazardous materials. But of course nobody will follow those rules and our landfills will fill up with the hazardous materials in them. They are the best of intent, but are just trading one thing that will kill you for another.

Part of the problem might also be that the ship appears to be grossly overloaded; you can't put ten pounds of sand in a five pound sack. Even when afloat it would not respond well to steering or maintain the right attitude. As they were piling the excessive load on someone probably said; "It'll be alright"! Similar to overloaded ferry boats this was a recipe for disaster. Again the many suffer for the ignorance of a few.

Some day greedy corporations will look upon your comments and laugh their butts off as they find new ways to produce synthetic oils.

I'll believe oil will be gone when nothing is made out of plastic anymore.

Fat chance of that.

By the way, realitiycheck seems to have something I agree with. That ship looks ludicrously overloaded.

The ship was not grossly overloaded.

Container ships are made to carry the containers stacked exactly as they were loaded on the decks.

They are not expected to be in a situation where the ship is grounded and listing.

Dont forget the Arab Spring to your list.

WE can only HOPE that oil and the bandits that control it will be looked upon with disdain. Until then it is up to US to take charge and live greener more sustainable lives....Take Action NOW to change your life and depend on Oil less! There are a multitude of web sites and resources to tell you how.

Notice the power of the oil industry to control the mainstream media. This ship started leaking oil several days ago, but the mainstream media didn't bother to mention it. And when it does mention it, the headline is about the containers falling off, not that the oil is causing a catastrophe for New Zealand. Big OIl controls us. We are slaves to petroleum. Until we unbuild the petroleum-industrial complex, we will all be at the mercy of people who sell black death.

oflife, Oil, like asbestos, is still the best product available to man at this time, for their use. Proper handling of each is necessary, not to rid us of them without any adequate replacement. I don't like the product of bowel movements, but we best not do away with them. If we did that, then we could all be full of it, just like unthinking environmental crackpots.

For fifty years, people have tried to make double-hulled ships mandatory throughout the world. Nobody listened.

mozzie, mozzie, a double hulled ship would not have meant jack to this shipwreck, it ran aground. What would your next step be tri-hulled ships, even quad-hulled ships? Think before you post.

Dasvet: Here's the deal: the ship CRACKED and oil is being spilled. A double-hulled ship would contain the oil giving rescuers more time to resolve the situation. Have you nothing to do but insult people when you don't know what you are talking about?

oflife,

Why don't you show the oil companies and stop using their product and everything made from their product NOW.

Telling you the truth hurts your feelings? A double hulled ship would have made no difference here. If your feelings are hurt , it is because of your lack of knowledge, not my posts.

Richard=1971294 @ #1.2:

All fluorescent tubes, including the new compact ones must be handled separately from typical waste. This is not new.

Fluorescent lighting was discovered in the 19th century and has been commercially viable for around 70 years, so trying to demonize the compact bulbs seems a bit slow on the draw to me. They provide great light quality; huge energy savings; long life; durable construction; and a favorable price point of the life cycle unit, (real costs, not first costs). I actually changed out my entire home using used bulbs, which I got free and have been working great for 5 or 6 years now, with no failures. If and when a bulb finally dies, I will dispose of it correctly in my recycle container per our local trash companies instructions.

Even these are now being usurped by LED's which I am using in most of my building projects.

Cheers. Here's some info on waste disposal of these products.

http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Mercury/upload/HWMP_FS_Fluorescent-Tubes-Trash.pdf

Funny thing - petroleum his a natural occurring product of the earth and seeps up from the ocean floor and on land all the time. Just because man uses it for power it is a demon compound? Can't figure this one out folks. Look at the La Brea tar pits in California...thousands and thousands of ancient animals drowned in that gunk, let's leave oil alone and go after something worth taking care of, like pedophiles.

tuort, I'm doing my best to be free of the thugs and the oil they sell. One of the smartest buys I've ever made was a good, utilitarian bicycle. And yes, I read every label for materials used and country of manufacture.

Living green and morally is not that hard to do. I find it easier, in fact. It merely takes making the decision and following through.

The mess off NZ is not about single hull, double hull, yadayada. It's the result of greed and zero social responsibility.

I thought it was about an accident. And those thugs you speak of make it possible for you to use your computer to post. Oil has problems, but without it plan to go back to living in 1850.

As long as we have people like bush, cheney (halliburton) and co. meddling in the country's affairs, oil will always be top commodity...

Dasvet: When you have spent 35 years in the oil industry, then you might have something intelligent to say on the subject.

BTW: Don't bother with a further post. I am "ignoring this author".

Here's a thought for all you well trained obedient "environmentalists", make stuff near where it is to be used. Shipping contributes, globally far, far more pollution than every car on the road in the world. The dream of a society that uses no products and leaves no footprint is realizable, but it would take every other nuke on the planet to get there. You tree huggers that drive down to the walmart in your priuses, superfund sights on wheels to save a couple of pennies on products made by slaves and then shipped in vessels which burn essentially tar to traverse the oceans ARE the problem. Those who have turned their farms into ethanol producers, starving the planet as they use up the fresh water and diminish the MPG of the gas it is mixed with are equal to the bankers who have destroyed the global economy.

I'm doing my best to be free of the thugs and the oil they sell. One of the smartest buys I've ever made was a good, utilitarian bicycle

And the tires of said bicycle are made of synthetic rubber produced by... (ding! ding! ding!) Oil!

Brake grips and brake line coating, brake pads, handlebar grips, almost always made of synthetic plastics produced by oil.

Remember, oil is NOT just used a fuel source. It is used to create plastic which is ubiquitous throughout modern society. Taking a look around this room I am sitting in, I've already lost count of how many things in here are made possible by oil: computer casing, telephone, whiteboard, cables, pens, rubber bands, trash can, plastic bags, etc., etc.

In fact, I owe my life to plastic (I was placed in an incubator for the first few days of my life).

You all can say you hate "Big Oil" but you just remember all of the incredible products that are produced using byproducts of oil. Our technology, as we have it now, is not possible without plastics, and plastic is not possible without oil.

Wow, Mozzy, you actually managed to beat out everyone else for the "stupidest poster" award. I must say that competition was quite stiff, and that you didn't win by much! Congratulations, Mozzy!!!

You know, the funny thing about oil is that we don't generally use it for power (electricity) generation, we use it for transportation and, as previously mentioned, plastic and rubber products. Odd that solar is used more for electricity generation and less for transportation unless, of course, you have an electric car with a solar charging station.

Now I ask, what are we (read: YOU and I) doing, seriously, to reduce our dependency on oil? Are you driving less and riding your bike more? Selling the gas guzzling SUV and getting a Hybrid or electric vehicle? Recycling all that you can?

It's funny. I just had an energy efficiency study done on my house. Most of my utility bills go to cool my house (electricity) while much less goes to heat (natural gas) my house. If I invest in LowE coated windows, greater insulation, high efficiency appliances, etc., my impact is more on the electricity side and not so much on the heating side.

Maybe we need the $8 per gallon of gas that the Europeans pay to help nudge us along a little faster.

We can reduce our dependency on oil when there is a viable alternative, not before. We could also reduce our dependency on FOREIGN (the real problem)oil by using what is available here in the US and Canada. Fat chance of that with the environmental quacks telling us all to quit driving, thereby killing the tourist industry by the day.

YO MA MA. just think if we made this stuff locally we would not have to ship it half way around the world, just think of the reduction in world pollution, jobs at home, wildlife saved, and the overall impact on the environment. the trade agreements are all screwed up. I can go on all day on this subject, if wee made our own products, used our own resources, and became more self sufficient most these problems would go away , we would be in a position to control pollution at home. and ward off financial disaster as well as not be held ransome buy foreign markets no unfair trade deficits draining our economy, things may cost more but we would have the money to pay for them. Those ships come in full and leave near empty. and those empty containers clutter up the continent.

Gotta love all the out of work tree huggers who keep saying we should pay twice as much for gas. Just go to Europe, we don't want you. Give double the money so that the Saudis can continue their treasured traditions of the subjugation of women and child rape. Yes, I'm saying that the suggestion of increasing oil prices is akin to supporting these activities, in case there is any question.

Tiggle; Speak for yourself My summer electric bills are near nothing because I don't run that air conditioner, My electric bill in the winter is under $100.00 because I dress worm and keep the heat down But when it comes to gasoline I'm at the mercy of the market ( speculators ) trying to make a buck to pay retirement when mine has been somehow evaporated where it went nobody knows, sucked up by someone. and your solution is to take what little people have left and give it to the people who put us here in the first place your intelligence amazes me. its that type of thinking that is destroying the WORLD. some people cant afford to drive to work now and you think that doubling the burden will fix the problem what school did you attend.

To all of you "go green" idiots...take a look around you and all of your personal belongings...now gather them all up and toss them in your not so green compost pile...everything you own has been shipped, transported, delivered etc. by some form of vehicle...guess what...it wasn't some contraption invented by the LITTLE RASCALS with squirrels under the hood chasing acorns on a belt driven wheel borrowed from the hampster that you love to "play" with...by the way...try using less vaseline (petrolium based) on the hampster!

@Adcey: I don't see any green stars after your post. Better luck next time, troll.

Cool Man that looks fuged UP

Has anybody considered the possibility that the ship was leaking and damaged and the captain deliberately ran it aground to keep it from sinking?

Have none of you ever read the book,"Wreck of the Mary Deare"?

Mark-423819:

How many mpg do you get with asbestos?

fishy, What is the insulating factor of gasoline? :-)

Kinda greasy to be the foundation ..

Which is why the amount of carbon in our air is forcasted to be higher than pre-Cambrian, pre-extinction levels. And remember those levels in the pre-Cambrian period killed over 90% of all life.

Monkey-- the pre-Cambrian extinction event had nothing to do with carbon levels:

"The first extinction of the Precambrian, which largely affected stromatolites and acritarchs, has been correlated with a large glaciation event that occurred about 600 million years ago. This event was of such severity that almost all micro-organisms were completely wiped out."

More carbon means more heat, not a global ice age. Another theory posits that:

"There was an event commonly known as the "oxygen crisis" which occurred around 2.4 billion years ago.

One theory suggests that this was caused due to the production of oxygen by micro organisms. In the early Earth this oxygen normally reacted with minerals in the surface rocks during weathering (creating very thick beds of oxidised rocks such as banded iron formations). However a point was reached where no more minerals were available to react with the oxygen and so it began to accumulate in the atmosphere.

The increase in oxygen proved catastrophic for a large proportion of life at the time leading to the mass extinction event described earlier."

Also, not linked to Carbon in the atmosphere-- in fact, it's rather the opposite.

More importantly, there is a marked drop in carbon in the pre-cambrian era. They use this drop in carbon levels to mark the beginning of the Cambrian era, and associate this drop in carbon with the mass extinction that you've referenced:

A more precise date of 542 ± 0.3 Mya for the extinction event at the beginning of the Cambrian has recently been submitted.^[18] The rationale for this precise dating is interesting in itself as an example of paleological deductive reasoning. Exactly at the Cambrian boundary there is a marked fall in the abundance of carbon-13, a "reverse spike" that paleontologists call an excursion. It is so widespread that it is the best indicator of the position of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in stratigraphic sequences of roughly this age. One of the places that this well-established carbon-13 excursion occurs is in Oman. Amthor (2003) describes evidence from Oman that indicates the carbon-isotope excursion relates to a mass extinction: the disappearance of distinctive fossils from the Precambrian coincides exactly with the carbon-13 anomaly.

So... Yeah... Might want to do a little more research there, eh Monkey?

Do monkeys blush, such as Monkey@keyboard does after WMG-21 embarrassed you?

Chinese lead painted toys on the way to America for Christmas... Ho! Ho! Ho!

Doubtful as it ran aground off New Zealand. Unless the skipper was substantially directionally impared or was taking a short cut through the Antarctic continent.

Geeeeet... The comfy chair!!

Why don't Somali pirate dress the part? I'm sure that they could find some lace trimmed shirts and striped pants someplace cheap.

That would mean they are followers of the FSM.

ElkMeadow - They would probably be sued by Disney if they did, LOL.

Not to mention that it's hard nowadays to buy the silly pointy hats! :P

relax Sam, its not that bad

And it's not cracking in the center. Sheesh. Get your facts straight.

We should all get off the grid to save the planet!

Plus the birds like to lay in it, and make "Oil Angels"! So cute.

I truly think oil is and should be treated as a precious commodity for manufacturing, plastic products, etc. Just not burned in order to get from point A to point B. When it's burned, it creates all kinds of hazards..

Hazards like stupid drivers.

It should be held for military use only, and anything else that cant use a substitute. Our war machine cannot switch to electric. Imagine what will happen to the west if we lose our tech edge. Not good.

There is only a hundred or so years left worth of oil out there, before we have to really scrounge for every drop. That's going to go fast.

Actually, the war machine is switching to electric. Fuel convoys supplying front line troops have been determined to be too costly in purse and blood.

sirlafalot: got me rolling and listing on that one! "oil angels!" roflmao!

Don't know, but New Zealanders are about to find out!

I wonder if it's something good like tvs, stereos, camera's etc. I wish I was there right now with my minivan and a crowbar.

Your minivan would sink lol!

Thats all thats mostly available, its has nothing to do with wanting it. BTW, my PC is mostly all metal. Considering i ordered the parts and built it myself, I was able to choice as many non-plastic parts as possible. My case has almost no plastic in it. If they offered more of that in the pre-assembeled PC's, no one would be demanding a plastic case, would they. We could be limiting our use, its just cheaper not to for industry.

Its industry that has to change, not the consumer. The consumer doesnt care what its made of, aslong as it looks good and works as it should.

Liar!!!

HMMMMM? OK the case may be comprised mostly of "non-plastics" but what about the rest of it? Keyboard? Motherboard? cables? Monitor? Computer chips? I find it hard to believe that you or anyone else would brag about not using plastic to build your computer! Is that the way it is with you idiots? Well in that case- I just burned through a tank of E85 in my ford ranger pickup. Went from 19MPG on premium gas, to 14MPG with E85. I'm doing my part by burning less gas right?? But what about the fact that to produce ethanol it takes an absurd amount of water? What about the fact that taking CORN from the US food supply astronomically raises corn prices?? What about the fact that the steam giving off at ethanol plants contributes to global warming, or was it climate change?, no global warming,no climate change,. LOL I love how you people pick and choose what you believe is helping. One day you are supporting something to the death, the next you are demonizing it for some other reason, and then back to supporting it a week later! Make up your minds!

No, blow up party dolls.

There go the blow-up party orcs for Peter Jackson's Hobbit post-production cast party.

My inflatable party doll always looks so surprised to see me. Or maybe she's trying to blow smoke rings? I still love her though. Her name is Squeaky.

America Today,

Let me know when you come up with a hemp computer. I think you've been smoking too much of it.

Nah. Just knows it all. I wondering what his computer is made of now. Probably tin cans, string and sticks. Good job Neanderthal man.

America, you couldn't afford a hemp computer if that was all that was available. Industry and thinking people know that, hence the reason the computers are made of plastic.

And why would DOW Chemical have any of it? Is it their responsibility to make computers out of alternate products? Their purpose is to produce and supply chemical products to their customers. For example, let's take Apple...if another form of materials were cheaper and peformed better, then Apple would not do business with DOW Chemical but instead would opt for the cheaper, better product. And if that cheaper, better product actually existed, SOMEBODY or some company would offer it. (I'm not sure if Apple actually does business with them. Just an example)

Don't you see how contradictory it is to talk about greedy companies when on one hand you say all they want to do is "steal" our money, but on the other hand you're saying that they wouldn't opt for a better, cheaper product, instead opting to give more money away? You're saying that a different company would purposely not offer a product to compete with DOW Chemical if they knew it existed? So they're just greedy sometimes? Or just when it makes political sense for you to call them greedy?

I'm not asking you not to think a company is greedy. I'm just asking you to make the argument in a logical way.

Come on guys. He wasn't suggesting his computer be made of hemp. He was just saying there are alternatives to petroleum-based products. Although his last sentence was not very nice and ruined any good points his post might have made.

Matt, you're right that companies will go for a cheaper, better product when they can, but thanks to established interests, sometimes this is difficult or not desirable financially or reputationally (I just made that word up BTW please don't chide me for it) for a company. For example, once a working relationship between a supplier and manufacturer is established and a quality product is produced, the manufacturer might be less likely to change to something new because of all sorts of various risks. However again don't get me wrong, you're mostly correct on this.

Kyle, I agree. Once you have an established relationship, there are benefits to maintaining that relationship beyond easy to measure in-out economics. But, if the incentive is great enough to switch, you better believe they will.

Other countries are developing new forms of energy and we're just sitting around? Explain that one to me. Check your facts before you make ignorant statements.

The US is:

#1 in wind power, #4 in solar, #1 in ethanol, #1 in geothermal, #4 in hydroelectric, #1 in nuclear, #1 in algae fuel research, #1 in natural gas

What else would you even be referring to?

I thought Brazil was no. 1 in ethanol. Matt you might want to check your facts on that.

I'm wrong they're no 2 in production & no 1 in export.

No. Brazil is number #2. In 2010, the US had twice as much production as Brazil.

This is just one source:

If you are looking at this page: you'll notice there is a mistake in the 2010 country table. While as a continent North American produces 13.7 billion gallons, somehow Canada is the top North American country with 356 million gallons. The US has been accidentally excluded.

Dangstraigtup: you comment shows you have no knowledge of shipping industry. There are ships loaded 13 or 15 high. This is a small vessel which got caught in the cross waves.

There have been vessels cut in half which were not loaded at all, the waves act like a sharp sword in the deep ocean. Try sailing once and you will know.

Thomas: I agree. That's like somebody not knowing about boats saying, "Well clearly that boat was going to sink. There's no way something that big can float!"

People can only understand what is right in front of their faces.

Both of you are DA's. The only point you seem to make is that some ships can stack containers 15 high. So? The containers on this ship in the aft section are clearly stacked 7 high in the photo. The ship is stacked completely from port to starboard with containers, and clearly has been agressively loaded to the point that the center of balance is much too high.

If you just want to impress someone with your maritime shipping knowledge, why don't you go down to the barbershop and impress the heck out of the old timers waiting for a haircut. No one here is interested!

and by the way, for knowledgeabe people, it is not a boat--it's a ship. A boat is a vessel that goes underwater, and is known as a submarine. and one other thing--this ship was grounded on a reef, not caught in "cross waves"--whatever that is.

Wow! We learn something everyday, Dang, all this life I have owned a boat, and never knew it could travel underwater, except for sinking, that is. Are you talking about Hitler's Uboats ? This life is so confusing, and I am so glad you are the sharpest knife in the drawer to guide us.

A submarine is indeed referred to as a boat - and that is a ship not a 'boat' technically speaking. Submarines aren't the only seafaring vessel called a 'boat' though, obviously.

Although, only a turd would bother correcting you on something so trivial, unless he has a particular affection for that ship as a captain or crewman or something.

The only point YOU seem to be making is that the ship, according to some arbitrary visual standards, is stacked too high.

I also wonder what this has to do with a crack that big running up the side that would turn over any boat (<--Ha, look what I said!) regardless of the stacking.

Plus, ships don't tend to stand upright when they've run aground.

You two DA's are the ones who statred hurling insults for no apparent reason.

Matt, did it ever occur to you to that the reason the ship grounded on the reef was that it was drafting too much because of overloading.

I have been grounded during a typhoon and know first hand what a ship does when grounded. Your da friend is the one whosaid that the ship got caught in cross waves!

I think the seabed just got too close to the surface of the water. By your post, you inferred that only an underwater craft could be called a boat.

Walker, duct tape wasn't available, because it is an oil product.

Actually, there are quite a few cargo ships utilizing sails to save fuel.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-04/08/how-to-turn-a-tanker-into-a-sailboat

@proudAmerica: Please see my comment above.

This was a baby vessel, take a look at a real mother ship with containers stacked 15High.

Have Peek at this: http://gcaptain.com/emma-maersk-engine?506

As afore mentioned the ship was overloaded, anything taller than it is wide along with being top heavy tends to tip over. A little common sense goes a long way!

First off- The Rena was NOT overloaded! Second off- Do you realize how deep they stack the containers in the hull of the boat, ship, boat; oh crap I lost my train of thought there with the confusion. Third- STFU you idiot! You piss and moan and spout off crap that you do not verify!

Some of you can't stop using "greed" as a justification for your arguments. I'm not saying it's always wrong, but saying the word "greed" doesn't make it true.

What basis do you have to say the ship was overloaded? Just because you think it looks like it? Ships cracking and turning over rarely happen, even on an often ferocious ocean. Accidents happen. One accident should not change the whole process of how things are done.

It's amazing to me with the incredible power of water, this stuff doesn't happen more.

For some, any profit is greed. It is in the lib bible.