Personal thoughts on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill
Posted by Carrie Thompson, Associate Director of Trust for Mutual Understanding and a long-term supporter of Pacific Environment.
Since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig of April 20th, we have all been watching in horror as the disaster and its gravity slowly unfold. An industrial accident that brings the loss of eleven lives is heartbreaking in and of itself. That followed by the realization two days later that an untold amount of oil was spewing from a broken pipe is almost too much to bear. And even though I now live over 1500 miles away, the tragedy strikes a deeply personal note, as I grew up on the Gulf Coast. I have a hard time thinking about the spill without crying.
I have a complicated relationship with oil. Growing up in Houston, both of my parents, in one way or another, worked for oil companies. But if we are being honest, we all have a complicated relationship with oil since we live in a country where we expect to be able to walk into a room, flip a switch, and have light. We depend on oil for our transportation, our system of distribution, for our modern conveniences, for every aspect of modern life—we are all dependent on oil, and while the ever present threat of climate change looms for our future, the oil spill in the Gulf reminds us of the immediate danger of this dependence.
My mom, now retired, is a bit of a news junkie, so in our weekly conversations, we often drift towards the topic of the oil spill. She said something which stuck in my head this Wednesday. She asked why all the executives at other major oil companies have remained conspicuously silent on BP’s mess. Together, we imagined them sitting in their offices, breathing a sigh of relief that it isn’t their problem. But it truly is their problem, because this could have happened to any of the world’s major oil companies (or to any one of their numerous subcontractors). After a few-second pause, my mom came up with the suggestion that oil companies ought to be required to pay into a government-run emergency fund that could be used as a financial safety net for communities negatively impacted by these types of catastrophic events. Of course, in such situations, the company directly responsible for the accident should pay for the emergency response and clean-up, but there also needs to be help for the millions of people whose lives are so drastically and irreparably damaged. What does the spill mean for the people of the Gulf Coast who depend on the tourism and fishing industries? If it takes the Gulf 20 years to renew itself, what will they do in the meantime and who will help them? We have to recognize that markets do fail, and government intervention can play a valuable role in correcting those failures.
I remember my parents’ post-beach-visit ritual as a small child. I would sit in the back seat of the parked car, door open, feet out mid air, as my parents used turpentine to remove oil from the soles of my bare feet before we packed up for the drive back to Houston. Doing research now, I imagine the oil on the beach was the IXTOC I blowout of 1979. I fear that this is the new best-case scenario for Gulf Coast beaches for the next several decades, and that worst case scenario involves large swathes of long-term beach closures. Our planet’s oceans and seas sustain us both economically and spiritually. The connection we have to these bodies of water is deep, and yet we have taken them for granted. Watching oil invade the coastal marshes of Louisiana is devastating—such important wildlife habitat, such an important part of our country’s ecosystem, and no clear plan of how to clean it up. The lack of government oversight and the lack of care on the part of industry is frustrating, but it’s the impact on people, wildlife, and important environmental habitats that is heart-breaking (and by the way, could we come up with a better name for the latest procedure to stop the flow of oil—“top kill” hits a little too close to home). When reading about the spreading underwater oil plume that might create dead zones (DEAD ZONES!!) in the Gulf, I try to remain optimistic about nature’s ability to renew in 20, 40, 70 years. But it is much harder to remain optimistic about the area’s immediate future.
I am so grateful that President Obama declared that he is suspending planned exploration drilling in the Arctic, canceling planned leases off the coast of Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico, extending a moratorium on new deepwater drilling, and suspending action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells under way in the Gulf of Mexico. But more is required. Please let this be our wake up call. Please advocate for alternative sources of energy. Please conserve energy. Please advocate for better oversight and stronger regulation. Please recognize that while the frustration with BP is well-deserved, that since we have now been made aware of how broken our system is, we need to fix it. Please advocate for policies and vote for leaders that have the strength to do just that.
Tags: Clean Energy, Energy, environment, Gulf oil spill, offshore drilling, oil spill
