Category Archives: Man and Nature

Fire, Man and Nature

750 KW PV Array at Coronado Navy Base

750 KW PV Array at Coronado Navy Base
750 KW PV Array at Coronado Navy Base

“Already a national leader in energy conservation, the Navy Region Southwest (NRSW) has recently become the proud owner of one of the largest Federal photovoltaic (PV) systems in the nation, demonstrating its commitment to using renewable energy technologies. The 750-kilowatt PV system installed at Naval Base Coronado makes the Navy one of the largest public-sector generators of clean renewable energy in California….”

Man and Nature

Santa Barbara 1969 and Gulf Coast 2010 Oil Spills

1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill:

“What Went Wrong?

Union Oil’s Platform A ruptured because of inadequate protective casing. The oil company had been given permission by the U.S. Geological Survey to cut corners and operate the platform with casings below federal and California standards. Investigators would later determine that more steel pipe sheating inside the drilling hole would have prevented the rupture.

Because the oil rig was beyond California’s three-mile coastal zone, the rig did not have to comply with state standards. At the time, California drilling regulations were far more rigid those implied by the federal government.”


2010 Gulf Oil Spill:

“….technological advances have allowed us to explore oil offshore in ways that protect the environment” and that outer continental shelf areas now off limits “could produce enough oil to match America’s current production for almost 10 years.” – President George Bush, 2008

Man and Nature

1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill

“The Santa Barbara oil spill occurred in January and February 1969 in the Santa Barbara Channel, near the city of Santa Barbara in Southern California. It was the largest oil spill in United States waters at the time, and now ranks third after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez spills. It remains the largest oil spill to have occurred in the waters off California.”

Man and Nature

Santa Barbara Oil Spill 1969

“….The spill, which spewed more than three million gallons of oil into the ocean, spread quickly, marring 35 miles of coastline between Isla Vista and Ventura.

Thousands of birds and other marine animals were killed. The damage to beaches, on the mainland and at the Channel Islands, would have been, and still is difficult to calculate….

Many believe the spill and its devastating impacts gave birth to the modern day environmental movement….

Shortly thereafter, in late 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established. According to the EPA’s Web site, a string of environmental-related laws followed, including the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, Marine Protection Research and Sanctuary Act of 1972, Endangered Species Act of 1973, Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Environmental Quality Impact Act of 1970. The list goes on.” (click for full article)