The oil rig explosion and resulting oil spill in the gulf has broken my heart. It saddens me that in the aftermath of the explosion the environmental disaster has drowned any coverage of the 11 lives that were lost and the devastation brought to their families. Then again, those families were probably relieved at not having cameras and microphones jammed in their faces each time they ventured out.
Now BP is being set up as an evil villain, the scourge of the earth, by the Obama administration. The explosion was an accident. (Am I the only one who wonders about sabotage?) Anytime you have humans and machinery, sooner or later there will be an accident. That’s a natural law. The oil spill and the damage it is causing is a crisis (never let one go to waste, remember) and the Obama administration will make good use of it to further their agenda. I guarantee it.
We have no real idea of how much oil will eventually end up in the ocean, or how far it will spread. I saw one model that shows it potentially entering the gulf stream and heading for Europe. I wonder if the European nations will then sue the United States? Will Obama settle out of court? Will it cause an international crisis?
As an animal lover I am saddened at the loss of wildlife. I realize that there is no way for us to know the total impact this will have on the marine life in the Gulf or the Atlantic for that matter. This crisis will not be over once the spill is stopped. It will last for decades.
I certainly don’t have the knowledge to fully comprehend the long-term effects. I don’t think anyone does.
However, I don’t think we need to stop drilling for oil. We need it, we should go after it. We should learn what went wrong that caused the explosion and take measures to prevent another. We should, perhaps, drill in Alaska and other places where a similar incident would not cause such widespread damage to populated areas or fishing grounds.
No matter what the rabid environmentalists like to think, we are a nation that depends on oil and oil based products to survive. That won’t change in this generation. Developing new energy sources and implementing them will take time and money and we are broke. We must keep drilling and keep building our own refineries to process our own oil. We must find safer ways to drill to prevent further catastrophes like the current one.
We can do it. We are American’s.
Good post. I'm currently working on my own post about this topic, but wanted to throw in an opposite opinion...
ReplyDeleteJust a few thoughts from the other side...as someone who spent 15 years living beachside, it is devastating and heartbreaking to understand that the beach and sand my 5-year-old grandchild has played-in and loved every summer since being born will not be there for the other two-year-old grandchild to enjoy.
The beach and ocean that I so dearly love is now changed forever. Not to mention all the wildlife and plant species that will die.
And, what about fair? A person throwing a soda can out of car window is charged a $250 fine for litering...emissions laws strictly enforce automobile polution, and you can't set a fire in most areas without a permit to insure others safety...Why should BP not be under the same strictures?
Destroying a few major oceans, costing Americans thousands of jobs during an already horrible economy, and killing untold numbers of plant and animal species seems to be a pretty bad case of litering to me.
Albeit, accidents happen. I understand this, but isn't there still a requirement for accountability? Why wasn't there a serious contingency plan in place for such an event? The "we hope it'll never happen" argument doesn't excuse the lack of planning for the "just in case it does" to me.
In a slowly recovering economy, the results of this spill environmentally and econmically may very well plunge America into a decline even worse than the Great Depression. We do need oil, and we should find safe ways to drill, but BP should also be responsible and accountable for the destruction caused by their lack of planning and foresight.
After all, if our neighbors oil tank sprang a leak and seeped into our well, destroyed our drinking water, killed our cat, and caused all the flowers and grass in our yard to die...we'd be banging on the door raising heck and expecting them to do something about it, right?