Fundamentally useful inventions could have prevented accident
“Oil-platform explosion illustrated risks of Gulf of Mexico drilling” [News, April 28] describes a “nightmare scenario” and questions whether a “level of perfection” could be achieved for such deep-water drilling.
Instead, our firm has proposed and patented, the Subterranean Electric Drilling Machine™ that is designed to drill laterally 20 miles. Much longer distances could be achieved so, such oil reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico could be reached from shore or from shallow rigs. That would prevent such deep-water disasters.
Machines could also drill underground from outside the boundaries of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil reservoirs. But this machine is not being developed primarily because of the opportunity costs associated with firms such as Goldman Sachs spending excessive time and energy on “synthetic collateral debt obligations” and similar nonsense.
Other local firms such as Intellectual Ventures of Bellevue also seek to pioneer inventions that are fundamentally useful. It would be interesting to determine if they have been similarly adversely affected by the ongoing nonsense on Wall Street.
Using funds for real investment purposes would again unleash the inventive genius of this nation that will produce many unforeseen benefits.
— W. Banning Vail, president of Smart Drilling and Completion Inc., Bothell