Six Months Later!
Few places on our small planet have suffered more repeated disasters in the past decade, resulting in loss of life and destruction of property, than the United States Gulf Coast. Katrina was bad. For many areas, Ivan was even worse. The BP blowout, resulted from insatiable GREED, and hunger for carbon-based fuels. These things are among the true causes, and reasons for the blowout. For me, it’s still a challenge, to attempt to wrap my brain around the size and complexity, of what has transpired since April 20, 2010, at the Macondo, Deep Water Horizon site. I don’t live in the area, but I do know, that the event has altered life, in that particular area, irrevocably, and for many years to come.
Well, now it’s been six months,since the Deepwater Horizon exploded, and it’s safe to say that the BP spill, will not be remembered, as making any kind of “green” impact. Climate legislation, is NOW dead in the Senate, and if the midterm polls are accurate, the soon to be elected Congress, will be even less inclined, to act on global warming, much less believe it even exists.
For those first few weeks, after the spill, there was a glimmer of hope, in the green community. It was a time, when legislative action to combat climate change, seemed deadlocked in the Senate. Right before our eyes, was a this clear and huge, environmental disaster. It showed, without a doubt, the cost of our dependence on fossil fuels. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency, was preparing to go ahead with tighter regulations, under the Clean Air Act. The catastrophe, proved what could happen if the energy industry operated without restraint and oversight, as it did. Climate change, soon was no longer, a top-level issue in the minds of American voters. Instead, there was an environmental catastrophe unfolding moment-by-moment, and day by day. It did not happen over the years and decades, like global warming does. It was NOW.
The government response to the disaster, was deeply problematic, and SLOW to respond. Evidence shows,that Washington kept the public in the dark for weeks about the true size of the spill. The response on the ground was obstructed on the part of BP, to the point where stories seemed to conflict, while days went by, as the oil continued to flow into the Gulf. As a result, a climate of distrust and paranoia, has been created in the Gulf. Researchers and government scientists are still quarreling over underwater oil, and conspiracy theories, about BP burning sea animals, and more. There is still anger, along the Gulf coast, among those who feel they’ve been left behind, while the rest of the country has moved on, and perhaps forgotten.
Energy reform, has fallen off any agenda. The biggest change in the Gulf today, seems to be the flood of money from BP, as part of its $20 billion promise to “make this right.” Today, it is BP’s money, not its oil, that is most visibly, altering the Gulf Coast. The company has been trying – on federal orders – to protect not just the water, but the way of life there. But, BP’s waterfall of cash, has changed people’s lives profoundly. However, one day the cash will run out, and then what will be left?
To date, the oil company has paid out $965 million. They set aside $20 billion, in a separate compensation fund. Over 200,000 claims have been filed, and over 76,000 have been paid. The money has been welcomed as a lifeline, by some. But, it has made the coast feel like an open-air economic experiment, to say the least.
As of late July, the damage to the Gulf’s coastline and marshes didn’t appear to have been, as serious as many environmentalists first thought. However, damage to marine life in the Gulf itself, as well as commercial fish populations, and the effect to the industry in the area, is less clear. Much of the oil that gushed out of the blown-out well, remains dispersed deep under the sea, and scientists are still unclear, about the long-term effects of both the oil, and the chemical dispersants, used on marine ecosystems.
Now, six months after , the worst environmental disaster ever, I can’t help but wonder, what have we learned? I like to think, we all wanted to find the “lessons of the spill,” even while the oil was still flowing. Instead, our need for clean, GREEN energy is still very necessary. An energy revolution, could be an answer, but, we seem unable to make the hard choices and compromises, that are necessary, to bring about that kind of change. We still, haven’t gotten serious about attacking our demand for oil. We haven’t put enough time and money, into researching renewables, and other forms of clean energy. I say “WE”, meaning our government, and those that can make the changes happen. Even China, is currently, spending more in this area,than we are. Venture capital, and investment in clean tech is declining, perhaps, due to our shaky economy. Worst of all, the oil spill, and the debate that has ensued, over offshore drilling, seems to have deepened the sense, that a clean environment and a growing our economy, are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
What was lost in the Gulf, may be restored in time. History has shown, that our species is far more efficient at destruction, on a large scale, than healing ANY damage. Frequently, the impacts of foolish and ill-advised human activities, result in consequences, that we are incapable of fixing. This is especially true, when we alter the balance in the larger scope of things, such as, the environment in which we live. Our dependent consumption of carbon-based fuels, has fundamentally assaulted, and in some cases ruined, the delicate balance that has provided a stable life-support system, on this planet for the past ten thousand years. This historically unprecedented period of climate stability, of the last 10,000 years, has allowed us to develop our civilization. It has also resulted, in our ability to destroy it all, whether by weapons of mass destruction, or destabilizing and ruining, the global ecosystem. Our own stupidity, can, and perhaps will be, the ruination of our planet.
Today,tens of millions of people, along the Gulf Coast have had their lives adversely impacted, and six months later, the catastrophe is far from over. Eleven men lost their lives on April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon rig blew. Two days later, on April 22, was the Fortieth Anniversary of Earth Day. That day,the rig collapsed and sank beneath the waves. It then, proceeded to gush an estimated five million barrels of crude oil (189 million gallons) into the Gulf, for 69 days.
The response, by both BP and the federal government, to the blowout, made a bad situation exponentially worse. Inexplicably, despite causing the largest environmental disaster in the history of our nation, the government decided to let BP, dictate how to deal with the situation. I find this UNBELIEVABLE! “When the oil began moving in toward the coast and shortly after the first pictures of a dead sperm whale made international news, the FAA closed off the airspace over the Gulf to prevent media from acquiring images from planes. Marine traffic was severely restricted by the Coast Guard, and no non-essential personnel were allowed on the water near any cleanup operations. No cell phones, cameras or electronic devices were permitted on board any BP contracted boats in the Gulf during that time. To top it off, new regulations were put in place that made it a class 3 felony, punishable by a $40,000 fine and imprisonment, to get closer than 60 feet, of any cleanup operation. Cleanup workers, were ordered not to talk to anyone about any aspect of the spill or face immediate termination. Surveillance cameras were placed along the beaches, to monitor worker contact, with media and the public.” OUR GOVERNMENT ALLOWED THIS!
The impacts, of the spill on the Gulf Coast economy, have been devastating. The commercial fishing and tourist industries have suffered unprecedented losses with no end in sight. Some of the largest fish brokers on the coast, refuse to buy or sell anything caught in the Gulf. They accuse the government, of lying and covering up (and they did), in a continuing effort to downplay the impacts of the spill and shield BP, from additional legal liability for damages. Let’s not forget, it was BP, negligence, and GREED, that caused this mess to begin with.
Just this last week, President Obama rescinded the moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf, while the European Union, announced that it will be aggressively tightening regulations on drilling, in its coastal waters. The only way to be certain there are no more incidents like the Deepwater Horizon, is to reduce the demand for more carbon fuels, become more energy efficient and conservative, and fully transition to renewable clean energy sources. We must act now, for our generation, our children, and all life on this planet. There is NO MORE TIME, for Business as Usual!
In nine days we vote. It is my hope, that we we elect people who care about a GREEN future, and a planet we can be proud to pass on to or children, and grandchildren! Our life and Our Planet depend on it!
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