BP Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico:
Commerce vs. Environmentalism at its worst. I would hope that it's obvious, at more than FIFTY days after the Deep Water Horizon oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf, taking with it the lives of eleven people, that the technology developed to extract fossil fuels at greater and greater depths has far outstripped the technology available to mitigate disasters exactly like this one. Attempt after attempt has been made to stop the flow of crude into the Gulf (all unsuccessful, obviously), and the defense of British Petroleum and offshore drilling in general by certain people truly astounds me. As the Gulf (Louisiana especially) is still recovering from the aftermath of previous natural disasters, it now faces an industrial disaster that has already surpassed the magnitude of the Exxon-Valdez spill near Alaska, and the impact has already been great. It will only get worse, and here's why:
1. The Loop Current, which could draw the spilled oil as far up the east coast as the Carolinas - perhaps even further.
2. Hurricane Season, which is likely to make the clean-up efforts somewhat akin to trying to remove mud from wet clothing by hand while the washing machine is on spin cycle.
3. The fact that the well is still gushing oil. Current estimates project the successful drilling of a relief well sometime in August, perhaps later. Who knows what could happen between now and then?
Here are some of the things that we can basically kiss goodbye for the next few years, or longer:
1. Tourism in the South. Who wants to lounge on oily, toxic beaches?
2. The Wetlands. In case you've missed some of the reports, 40% of the wetlands in the United States are on the Gulf Coast. Not only do these areas serve as natural filtration systems and habitats for animals that don't live anywhere else, they also play a role as protective barriers against flooding. Which, as you may recall, happens down there - a lot.
3. Gulf marine life, and the livelihoods of those who depend on it. The oil or dispersants used in the clean-up efforts could very possibly have the effect of choking the oxygen out of the water, creating vast dead zones devoid of most sea life. Goodbye, fishermen's incomes.
4. The health of everyone involved in the clean-up, and those who live on the Gulf Coast. Remember that the stuff pouring into the ocean at an uncertain rate (lots), is the raw form of gasoline. The fumes and the oil itself, not to mention the dispersants, can cause local and systemic afflictions in those who come into contact with it.
Do you want to see the consequences of not following the rules? Look at the photos and video taken of the Deep Water Horizon oil rig explosion. Eleven men lost their lives because decisions were made to take shortcuts for the sake of time and money - to avoid the inconvenience of complying with the requirements that are designed to keep things like this from happening. I'm sure that none of the people involved with making these decisions ever thought that the consequences would ever have been so severe, nor do I think that they would have made the same decisions had they known what would happen. But guess what - most of us don't possess the gift of seeing the future. In order to compensate for such human failings, we have put rules in place based on past experiences, and hired intelligent people to make educated guesses about keeping similar things from happening.
In an era when people attempt to legislate truth, to make policy or law defining reality the way they see it, but may not be what it actually is, some things should be beyond debate. People dying at work because of safety and industrial shortcuts - that should be beyond debate. Oil gushing into the Gulf and poisoning the environment - that should be beyond debate. Making BP liable for the damage it is ultimately responsible for - that should be beyond debate. If BP feels that others are at fault - the Transatlantic contractors, or Halliburton, it should pay up and then attempt reclamation from them after the innocent have been looked after.
You shit in our ocean, sirs. Clean it up, and pay what is owed.
