I spent a lot of time writing a post on the oilrig blowout and leak in the Gulf of Mexico but ended up deleting it. Didn’t want to make some quick-to-the-draw, reactionary comments, which I sometimes do. Well, which I always do although I try to keep them out of this blog.
I don’t want to comment on the impact to the wildlife or the habitat of the affected area, which will be immense. Don’t want to comment on the silence of those have been chanting “Drill, Baby, Drill!” or those who are always saying goverment regulation is stifling private enterprise. Or those, like Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu who as recently as last month, claimed the risk and effect of such an event as minimal. Don’t want to comment on the economic impact to the fishing and tourism industry of the area. Or the economic impact to our economy in general.
You’ll be hearing about these from other sources…
My only comment is to ask if perhaps we should use this as catalyst to move more quickly into alternative energies. While there are limitations and dangers, could a disaster anywhere near this serious ever happen in the solar or wind industry? Are there any circumstances where anything even remotely close to this could happen in these industries?
This may be the sign that we really need to act now to move away from our addiction to oil and gas. This need for this energy is causing us to risk more and more, in economic and environmental terms, in order to satisfy it. And if we can’t change our behavior, the cost of this disaster will seem tiny to what may come next…
Redtree Times 
This is an example of what we pay at the pump doesn’t reflect the true cost of our addiction.
And I’ll ask, where are all those people who delighted in chanting Drill Baby Drill?
To quote one of them, “How’s that working out for ya?”
What bothers me about our willingness to risk in chasing oil and natural gas ( which is now a big deal here in the northeast) so much is that it’s only for a finite amount which will last a relatively short time. If we invested as much in seeking alternatives, starting with the first fuel crises of the 70’s, we would be in an enviable position today. Instead, we’re wallowing in crude on our beaches and policing countries in the Middle East to keep the supply line for our addiction clear.
Multiple expletives deleted…
Hi Gary,
Thought you might be interested to read this if you haven’t yet. I too am having a hard time stomaching where we’ve ended up…
I was leaving for Louisiana when the rig exploded, and I was in the Louisiana wetlands when the rig sank. The beauty that I photographed there is unbelievably fragile, and I belong to the species that may have destroyed it – if not forever, certainly for my lifetime.
There is no way to describe the horror that is coming, no matter what the media,the politicians, the bureaucrats or the corporate honchos choose to present as their scenario du jour.
Beneath the arguments swirling around lies one immutable reality with several names: arrogance, hubris, pride. What is happening now “could” not happen because they declared it “would” not happen – that was the assessment of those failing to install acoustic switches, pushing timelines, cutting procedural corners and providing less than adequate oversight.
I do not lay these failures and the horrible reality now swirling in the Gulf at the feet of the men doing the physical work on the rig. It lies in boardrooms and conference committees and corporate structures where people utterly detached from the reality of the work they authorized made decisions with no regard for their consequences.
Oh – sorry for the rant. But it’s so close, and I am desperately afraid of a hurricane coming before any cleanup is complete. Oil on top of a storm surge and blown about by hundred mile winds is not something people down here like to contemplate.
Thanks for giving the insight of one living near this this disaster. You’re absolutely right that this disaster doesn’t lay at the feet of those who work the rigs but with the bigwigs who made the decisions that enabled shortcuts and other mistakes leading up to this. These fools don’t realize that we, as humans, may have dominion over this world but it comes with the obligation to be responsible stewards of the land and other species. Every decision has consequences.
Feel free to rant. It’s a full time effort keeping myself from doing so at every opportunity.