We have just passed the two-year anniversary of the BP Deep Horizon oil rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the upbeat "Come on Down!" BP advertising blitz you may have seen recently on television, indications abound that the accident that killed 11 men and introduced an estimated 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf is apparently a long way from being cleaned up. Recent reports by ABC and CBS News detail alarming abnormalities in fish, shrimp, coral, dolphins and in the mangroves that anchor the Gulf shoreline.
Fish are being found with strange sores and lesions that have never been seen by fishermen before. Some have patches of skin missing, others have bizarre skin pigmentations and others have tested positive for concentrations of napthalene in their bile. As you can read in the linked reports, commercial fishermen say incidences of the deformed and diseased animals increases as one approaches the site of the spill.
Oil that coated barrier islands remains in the sand and shore, killing off reeds and mangroves. The denuded and unprotected shoreline is thus eroding at four times the normal rate, and whole islands are rapidly disappearing beneath the waves.
BP has reportedly spent the substantial sum of $14 billion in the cleanup and as compensation for businesses and residents adversely affected by the catastrophe. Even so, the recent news would seem to indicate many billions more might need be committed to the effort, and even then numerous long-term effects would almost certainly still remain.
These findings, coming in the same month as the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, serve to remind us how quickly and dramatically human hubris can be given its comeuppance. Assurances about "foolproof" safety precautions or the blithe dismissal of the possibility of serious negative consequences for inherently risky and dangerous activities are time and again humbled by nature, the unforeseen, or simple human error.
A rational policy would be directed toward ending reliance on such an energy source as rapidly as possible. In many advanced nations, including Israel, with a project underway to go to 100% electric cars, Brazil, converting to running all vehicles on ethanol from sugar cane, and Germany, which is in the process of installing solar panels on every roof in the country, vigorous efforts are in progress.
Yet here, President Obama's measured steps to encourage greener domestic sources are met with furious opposition. But then, none of the aforementioned nations has a powerful and influential
domestic oil industry to contend with.
3 comments:
I remember in the 70s walking on the beach in Southern California, it was more common than not to end up with a piece of "tar" stuck to the bottom of your foot.
The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 had lasting effects on the California coastline well into the 70s and the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 did likewise in Alaska for well over a decade. I'm not sure the Alaskan spill isn't still affecting the coastline up there even today, some 23 years later. Unfortunately, Louisiana's coastline will suffer for a lot longer.
So true. Go to this link to see the coninuing effects of the Alaska spill. It's interviews with the locals on Prince William Sound.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/24/20_years_after_exxon_valdez_oil
The sand is still contaminated and the herring have never returned. Without the herring, whales, sea lions and sea birds have not returned to feed on them, either. The herring and salmon fishermen have been ruined and have received 7 to 10 cents on the dollar for their damages.
And of course, the standard response from one political party is "Drill, baby, drill!"
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