In the book Blow-out describes the TV presenter and political commentator Rachel Maddow an intricate network we will perish in – if we do not break out of it. It's about big-oil and gas, a monster whose only goal is money. Unfortunately, neither financial nor societal interests are promoted where the money is earned through greed, lies and crime.

Goes over corpses

Maddow is a well-known voice in the United States, through the US news channel MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show (everything is Show in America). In book form, she gives us an insight into how the most profitable industry in the world, the oil and gas industry, goes over similarly to achieve its goals. Any "petrostaters" leader, Vladimir Putin, who has the country's (own) honor and (money) power first and foremost on the program, is probably the one who makes the most visible. Putin's political recipe is, as is known, the elimination of political opposition (Boris Nemtsov, Aleksandr Litvinenko), destruction of competitors (such as Russia's former richest man, oligarch and Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky, now living in exile), stratospheric oil money use to show the world who the greatest of all, namely Vladimir, king of the Sochi Olympics – all this topped by the annexation of Krim and abuse of civilian soldiers in Ukraine. This made it necessary for Putin to ally himself with like-minded people on the business front, as he had become a pariah of Western democracies.

Trump, Tillerson and Putin

Blowouts greatest advantage lies in the amount of clarifying facts. Some examples from the book: sthe cooperation between the Russian oil and gas company Rosneft and the giant company ExxonMobil, led by the US oil magnate RexTillerson; a man so powerful that DonaldTrump appointed him Secretary of State. With Tillerson's help, Russia should increase its oil- and gas operations, among other things in Arctic regions, a highly controversial affair. Putin needed Western technology and knowledge, equipment and honor and honor, something Tillerson gladly assisted with under the motto "a business deal is sacred and untouchable". Tillerson understandably stirred up when his and Putin's sacred goals were clouded by the West's economic sanctions.

The oil and gas industry has expertise in finding (and operating) exhaustion on) natural resources. Damage minimization, on the other hand, it knows little about anything DeepwaterHorizon blowout i Gulf of Mexico 2010 is an example of: 11 people were killed and about 800 million liters olje ran into the sea. Repairs failed for months. Finally, gigantic blankets were laid out over the piggery. Kitchen paper against blowout, so to speak. Shit happens.

The horizontal teasing below the ground, with the subsequent pumping of toxic
dewatering under high pressure causes not only pollution but also
earthquake.

The same philosophy applied in connection with fracking in the United States – a technique where underground rock is blown to release olje og gass. In times of political turmoil and growing energy needs energy independence was the current mantra. Then most of them passed, even after soil was poisoned, livestock died and people became seriously ill. A bigger problem was that the fracking technology led seismographicdisturbances. This became the tipping point for a state that Oklahoma.
Hand on heart – what do you know about Oklahoma, apart from being a dusty state in the Midwest, at the height known by the musical of the same name and bomber Timothy McVeigh? Namely, and that was also the problem for the citizens themselves. They wanted status and success. Then came fracking to the city, and voilà – status and success. Completely to an incomprehensible increase of earthquake haunted Oklahoma.

After a long period of resistance in the industry, it was clear: the horizontal drilling below the ground, with the subsequent pumping of toxic deworming under high pressure, not only caused pollution, but also earthquakes. During the month of February 2016, there were more than a hundred earthquake of over 3,0 on Richter's scale. Maddow writes: "Anyone who still claimed that the increased seismographic activity was a natural phenomenon was written off as either a fool or a paid liar."

The people struck back

The example Oklahoma also refers to solutions. The municipal boxes were empty while the top layers of the industry were swimming in money. Even after schoolchildren were blasted in earthquakes, money was not found to build shelters; schools had to reduce teaching to four days a week.

Finally, democracy struck back. The people shouted: Moratorium (for oil drilling) now! The oil money – and the oil billionaires, who had succeeded in trumping through a near-zero tax rate – eventually had to spend money, not much, but enough to turn things around. And they had to put down oil wells where the danger of an earthquake was great. The victory parable read: "I politikk always wins money over decency, but the constituency wins it all. ”

Oil production in Norway

Where can we place a country like Norway in the big oil and gas context? Norway is constantly praised in foreign media for respectable oil and gas management. Oil and gas production, on the other hand…

Then American ExxonMobil in cooperation with Russian Rosneft used last chance (before sanctions entered into force) to drill a hole in Arctic in a field estimated to contain one billion barrels fossilfuel, it was referred to as the largest single find of the year and anywhere in the world. The Norwegian West Alpha platform was used; it can operate at a depth of 600 meters, and the Norwegian owners boasted how fast it went.

To say it with Rachel Maddow: “Active and offensive control is the only way to fight one natural enemy system based on corruption and looting. Powerful enemies create big, difficult fights, but in this fight, the risk should be motivation enough. Either win democracy this, or it disappears. "