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Reuters reports that managers at US oil refineries are going to the mats, sleeping on recently purchased mattresses inside rental trailers, as refinery workers enter the third week of their strike at nine US oil refineries that experts and some employees say raises concerns over safety and operations. For months, retired refinery worker John Ostberg from BP's Toledo Refinery has been warning his bosses in emails about their plans to run the refineries with replacement workers and supervisors if a strike occurred. He fears that replacement workers are not properly trained, or too far removed from the frontlines, to respond to unit upsets and other problems that can escalate quickly without experienced intervention. “Management says it’s safe. I disagree,” says Ostberg.
At least three of the nine US oil refineries targeted by a nationwide strike of USW members have reported upsets and unplanned repairs since their workers walked out on February 1 and one of the refineries has shut down completely. Criff Reyes, who has worked Tesoro's Martinez Refinery alkylation unit for 16 years, says he believes that Tesoro opted to shut down the plant — rather than restart it following maintenance — because managers are not qualified or experienced enough to run it after about 400 USW members walked out. Meanwhile Ostberg, who helped run the refinery operating center (ROC) — the heart of the plant — warns that if there is a problem with one unit at the refinery, it can quickly grow to other units and often takes more manpower to put under control. “I sit behind a blast-proof wall, so I’m not worried about my safety," says Ostberg. "But I fear for everyone else.”
(Score: -1, Troll) by khallow on Monday February 16 2015, @12:41PM
frankly, cheaper gasoline is NOT helping the planet.
Expensive gasoline helps it even less. Poor people are notoriously hard on the planet.
we need $5/gal gasoline to keep pushing us toward sustainable solutions.
There's nothing stopping you from paying $5/gal for gasoline.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 16 2015, @01:29PM
Poor people are notoriously hard on the planet.
Complete and utter rubbish...
One can only assume you are some kind of shill, as no-one could be that dense.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Monday February 16 2015, @02:23PM
Poor people are notoriously hard on the planet.
The reasons why:
1) Poor people have more children than not poor people. Overpopulation is the primary driver of environmental problems.
2) Poor people use resources less efficiently. For example, not poor people might use a natural gas or electric stove to cook food with very efficient supply chains. A poor person might use wood cut unsustainably from a nearby forest (wood smoke is also very polluting). Another example is that a number of practices require a fair degree of education such as disease avoidance or sustainable agriculture. Poor people are more likely not be educated enough to carry out these practices.
3) Poor people don't have an excess of resources or wealth so that they can cut back for the planet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 16 2015, @07:12PM
It depends on just how far apart wealth wise you want to compare.
The rich use energy for much more than their essential daily needs. Luxury takes energy. Not only to use, but to make, and dispose of. Luxury is also VERY inefficient, it can afford to be after all.
Compare that to the really-really poor, who have nothing to spare, and for whom all their energy consumption goes directly towards their survival.
Consider the case of India vs the USA.
India vs USA energy use [nationmaster.com]
Most of those stats show the USA consumes betweem 5 and 19 TIMES the energy of India, despite having 1/3 the population. [nationsonline.org] (USA: 317 Million vs India: 1.2 Billion)
The only reason poor people are hard on the planet, is because they have no other choice.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 16 2015, @08:17PM
The only reason poor people are hard on the planet, is because they have no other choice.
But that's it. Rich people can cut back, or distribute away more of their wealth should they insist on the status signalling behavior. Poor people can't. And something like a policy of making gasoline expensive doesn't impact the rich person very much. It's notoriously regressive. Such a policy tends to create more poor people with their lack of choice and societies with large poor populations tend to be very weak on environmental protection.