Greenpeace activists a simulated oil spill in front of the headquarters of BP in the state capital, in protest against the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico by the explosion of an oil rig company on April 20. The simulation used to four barrels filled with a black substance (a mixture of flour and non-toxic and washable ink), or come close to the size of leakage caused in the well operated by BP.

According to the U.S. government, the accident released the equivalent of 5 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, paralyzing the fishing and tourism in coastal states and four still causing untold damage to coastal and marine ecosystems in the region. The official, not yet audited by independent sources, is enough to turn the BP spill the largest in history and serves as a reminder of the risks that the world runs to continue to quench your thirst for fossil fuels.

www.greenpeace.org.br

"As almost all the oil consumed in areas of easier access," says Ricardo Baitelo, coordinator of Greenpeace's energy campaign, "we have to go ever further and deeper to find it." The Brazilian new reservations, for example, which are in the pre-salt are more than 7000 meters deep. A rugged platform BP extracted oil in the Gulf of Mexico to almost 2000 meters deep.

"The accident has shown that there is no technology to prevent large spills at sea," says Baitelo. Besides the lack of security, investment in oil exploration in deep waters in the opposite direction follows from the need to seek sources of energy capable of reversing the climate crisis. The unbridled consumption of fossil fuels increases the emissions of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming.

"It is high time to start investing in renewable sources like wind and solar for power generation," insists Baitelo. In Brazil, there is a bill pending in Congress to encourage investment and use of renewable energy, clean and safe in the country. But the government does not seem interested in it. Prefer to see the country's development in the exploitation of the pre-salt reserves.