This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

by Naomi Klein

If it seems like there are more such spills and accidents than before, that’s because there are. According to a months-long investigation by EnergyWire, in 2012 there were more than six thousand spills and “other mishaps” at onshore oil and gas sites in the U.S. “That’s an average of more than 16 spills a day. And it’s a significant increase since 2010. In the 12 states where comparable data were available, spills were up about 17 percent.” There is also evidence that companies are doing a poorer job of cleaning up their messes: in an investigation of pipeline leaks of hazardous liquids (mostly petroleum-related), The New York Times found that in 2005 and 2006 pipeline operators reported “recovering more than 60 percent of liquids spilled”; between 2007 and 2010 “operators recovered less than a third.”