Oil Spill In The Gulf of Mexico
BP, a British based global energy company which is the third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world is responsible for this tragedy. With concerns for human life lost and the effects this spill will have on our wildlife, Americans scramble to find a way to contain the oil spewing into the Gulf waters caused by the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and subsequent fire.
It is now 72 days and counting since the explosion and with no end in sight we are looking at the worst oil spill in US history. One might be wondering how the BP oil spill of today is different from the Exxon Valdez oil spill tragedy back in March 1989. To shed a little light on that issue, the oil involved in the Exxon Valdez incident was primarily held inside a tanker. Once the hole in the tanker was plugged, the oil stopped spilling into the ocean. However, BP has a more complex problem. Their rig is tapped into an underwater oil well and will continue pumping oil into the ocean indefinitely until the leak is plugged.
There is no denying that this situation is a catastrophe not just to the fisherman who earns their living fishing in the deep blue sea but all the wildlife lost due to the BP oil spill as well. What is it going to take to clean up the mess man has made to our ecosystem? How many more hours, days, weeks, or even months will oil continue to reek havoc on our shores. What is going to happen to the wildlife that depends on our ocean for survival? I wonder how long it will take before America realizes that the planet earth can only endure so much abuse before her natural resources are gone from us forever.
Unfortunately, the oil disaster in the Gulf is both politics and economics. I think politics come into play when it comes to the blame game that seems to be running rampant amongst all parties involved. It is hard for me to believe that a country like the United States cannot find a way to clean up an oil spill. I would think that they would have demanded to see emergency procedures from companies applying for a license to drill in our ocean. I think economics come into play because a lot of people lost their jobs behind this and many more job losses are still to come. No one wants to take responsibility for his/her part played in this disaster. I say forget about the politics and the economic aspects of this situation and just STOP THE BLEEDING AND GET THIS MESS CLEANED UP AND NOW!
