BP wants to drill for oil in Great Australian Bight - WTF?

This is a seriously stupid idea. But stupid is pretty run of the mill these days when it comes to massive corporate fossil fuel people. All about the bottom line and all that, lining the pockets of the 1%, bla.

So the seas off South Australia are part of the Great Australian Bight, a breeding ground for Wales who migrate there to do so, as well as feed. It's a unique place on earth, and quite remote compared to drilling say, off the southern coast of the US...... that worked out well didn't it.

Petroleum giant BP has resubmitted its environmental plan for a proposal to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). 

Its initial plan was submitted last October, but the national regulator told the company to make changes before it would be considered. 

The company's plan states the exact well locations have not been determined but are expected to range between 1,000 and 2,500 metres deep in an area located about 395 kilometres west of Port Lincoln and 340 kilometres south-west of Ceduna. 

The drilling program is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2016–2017, with each well taking between 45 and 170 days to drill. ABC

Needless to say there is much uproar from everywhere in Australia over this. I myself have only just heard of it and am already in my own personal uproar about it :)  Already Australia's greenhouse emissions have increased since the Lieberals axed the carbon tax. Now, when the world is shunning Australia for doing so and making huge efforts to turn away from fossil fuels, BP wants to drill for more oil? Fucks sake!

Not to mention the risk of a massive oil spill. Being as the place is so remote it would be a disaster folks of biblical proportions.

There's a global petition happening against it from the SumOfUs people here. Please sign from wherever you are in the world.

If there was a major oil spill, there is a first response subsea toolkit in Fremantle. It is estimated that it would take 5 days to get the toolkit from Fremantle to Adelaide, then extra time to get it to the spill site by vessel.

This is still not the equipment used for complicated deep sea well capping which would have to come partly by sea from Texas - taking 35 days in BP's own words.

If there is a major spill of any sort in the Bight then it could easily affect the entire southern seaboard of Australia -- from Ceduna to the South Australia-Victoria Border, and even through Bass Strait. The current which attracts so many of these marine mammals is the same current that would make dealing with an oil spill in this area extremely difficult.

This would affect immeasurably one of the planet's incredibly important assemblages of ecosystems and the breeding and foraging grounds of the whales, sharks, marine mammals, pelagic fish species and all the other amazingly diverse marine flora and fauna.

The Offshore Drilling Authority NOPSEMA refused the initial application by BP, because of insufficient application detail, particularly in reference to emergency response plans, but BP is reapplying. This decision will be made in mid-May 2016 so this is still a big issue! Tell BP to piss off