Deep Horizon
I am writing today with a heavy heart and a sense of dread and shame. It has been 8 days now since the tragedy of the explosion of the Deep Horizon oil rig. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones but as the days pass and oil continues to flow unabated by the thousands of gallons from the sea floor, my sorrow is being replaced by rage and shame.
In the days to come, there will be the inevitable finger pointing, there will be the endless rounds of “expert panel” discussions on the news networks who will ask whether this could have been prevented, who is to blame.
The truth is we are all to blame. We all drive, we all consume oil like there is an endless, safe supply of it. Most shamefully, most of us cannot exist without it as we have not forced our politicians to pursue renewable resources. If anything comes out of this tragedy I hope that it is a real discussion on ending our dependence on fossil fuels.
But for now I need to lay these philosophical discussions aside and face the most important issue at hand- that oil slick is going to hit the Gulf Coast. Whether it will simply be a disaster or a true calamity is up to the wind, the current, and the ability of BP and the response team to staunch the flow.
For now, my job is not to place blame, it is not to use this time as an “educational opportunity” for all of the people I see with “Drill, Baby, Drill” bumper stickers on their cars. My job is simply to start collecting the names and information from volunteers who will be standing by to clean up our beaches and our wildlife. I love my job protecting the Gulf Coast, but I would do anything to not have to do this, to not have to watch my beaches turn tacky with tar. I’m afraid it will be the toughest task we will face here for a long time to come.
