From Tomgram by Subhankar Banerjee, photographer and author of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land:

Despite the sobering vision of BP’s collosal mess in the Gulf, Shell Oil is reportedly “moving vessels and other equipment from distant locations, in preparation for assembling its Arctic drilling fleet” . . .

The difference between the Gulf of Mexico and those northern waters is this: the climate is far less conducive to clean-up operations. . . . real help would be in short supply and a long way off.

. . . the nearest Coast Guard base would be almost 1,000 miles distant, the nearest cleanup vessels and equipment too few and 100 miles away, the nearest airports capable of handling large cargo planes similarly at least 100 miles away, and the nearest “major potential supply city,” Seattle, a couple of thousand miles away. Combine this with extreme local conditions and you have a surefire recipe for turning “drill, baby, drill” into “disaster, baby, disaster.”

Read also: Michael Klare, The Oil Rush to Hell