Oil and BP and the Gulf of Mexico - again

I urge you to read this article on the God's Politics blog - Attention must be Paid, by Jennifer Kottler:

http://blog.sojo.net/2010/08/05/attention-must-be-paid/

Just because the oil leak and BP are out of the news and other items crave our attention, this does not mean that the oil problem has gone away - in spite of what the papers imply; Far from it!

Oil and BP and the Gulf of Mexico

The CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, is reported as saying that the ocean is big and the oil doesn't amount to much! What a gaffe!

To help you understand the real and awful truth behind the Oil leak have a look at this Infographic on the PlanetThoughts.org site.

And join their site for continual updating on environmental issues.

Oil

I cannot believe what I have just heard on the news. We are watching helplessly whilst the most appalling environmental disaster is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, and who knows what the final extent will be of the damage to our planet and our wild life. And all the news item could concentrate on was the billions of pounds wiped off the share price for British Petroleum, the effect on the value of pension funds, and the effect on the stock market generally!! Where should our priorities be?

Then I heard someone describing his experiences in Antarctica - one of the most beautiful places on earth, and one of the last places on earth to be unspoilt by human activity, but for how long?

And remember that BP wanted to drill for oil in the Arctic!

When are we going to learn and curb our greed and our madness and secure some sort of future for mankind? Because rest assured, as James Lovelock has reminded us more than once, Gaia can survive quite happily without us. We should remember this as we continue to destroy our habitat.

Reflections

A couple of recent events must surely make us stop and ponder our own folly.

Apparently quite a few travellers are still stranded around the globe in the wake of the Icelandic volcano fiasco following the total shutdown of  UK air routes - this was for fear of the damaging effects of volcanic ash to the plane engines. And we have seen a glimpse of what happens to our lives when we can no longer fly. We have seen food shortages on supermarket shelves, school pupils have missed exams, and no doubt many business plans have also been disrupted. But the event has shown travellers that there are actually better, greener ways to travel, where the journey can be enjoyed as a part of the holiday. I think of trains and boats. And this forces us to slow down and enjoy what is around us.

Now we have a massive oil leakage into the Gulf of Mexico that is said to be costing $6 billion a day for British Petroleum to clean up as it threatens wildlife, fishing industries and the Florida tourist. And Barack Obama quite rightly says that whilst America will use all its available resources in the clean up, the total cost must fall to BP. BP are anxious to make it clear that the leakage was not wholly their fault although they do apparently accept at this stage the costs of the cleanup. I suspect that in the long run lawyers will be the main beneficiaries financially. And shareholders who pile in to the shares at their post leakage plummeted price will also gain financially! And those current shareholders who panic at the loss in value of their shares and pile out at the bottom will lose money - quite a lot of money. But at the end of the day what does that money matter?! The animal kingdom has to be far and away the greatest loser, and that includes not only brown pelican chicks oyster beds, tuna and much much more. And also Homo Sapiens. When are we going to wake up, and see what this awful catastrophy is showing us? How many of these disasters must happen before we realise that our greed for oil at any price is threatening our very existence, threatening our ever more precarious position in the global ecology.

There is plenty for us to reflect upon from these two events.

Simon Barnes in the Times a couple of days ago has said it all: "Our addiction to oil is madness - it is time to act."

and another insightful article Spill Baby Spill.


What do YOU think?