Gulf Oil Spill

Every night on the news, it is the same old same old, with the first thing that is talked about is the gulf oil spill.  How there are 1.5 - 2.5 million gallons of oil  pouring into the ocean each day.  How every attempt that BP is doing to cap the disaster is flunking.  How there will at least be another month and a half that the oil will be gushing into the ocean.

Images like this

(1)

and this

 (2)

haunt our dreams and disgust us on a daily basis.  And rightfully so.  It is disgusting to see Earth destroyed like this, and it is disgusting to know how incomprehensible the environmental impact of this oil leak will be on future generations.  Fact is, we all know that BP puts on a face for the environment and the people, but behind that facade, all the executives are caring about is the bottom dollar.  They think: "How much is this going to cost?"  They worry: "What about the shareholders?"  They wonder: "How long until people forget this?"  To answers: It's going to cost a shit load, the shareholder are indeed selling, and we will not forget about it.

And I for one am not one to point fingers at BP for this mess.  What happened to the oil rig was an accident, just as much as if a train de-rails, a plane crashes, a tractor-trailer jack-knifes.  They are accidents.  When you are working with something as volatile as crude oil, these things happen.  We hate it, but it is a way of life.  Nothing is ever perfect.

But "civilization" is to blame just as much, or more so than BP.  If it was not for our need of excess, maybe this disaster could have been adverted.  Sure, images above are disgusting, but what about the images below.

 (3)

 (4)

Sure, most people know that plastic bottles are derived from oil, but what is that second fabric picture doing there?  Well friends, that is polyester, which is also a synthetic derived from crude.  In fact, any material/fabric that you can think of that has a "poly" in it is most likely derived from crude oil.  And what about the carpet under your feet (provided there is carpet) it is likely made from nylon which, guess what, is oil based.  Toys, games, movies, TVs, radios, CDs, laminate flooring, medicines and roadways are just some of the oil based products that we use everyday that do not get a second thought about where they come from.

It is funny, when everything is fine and dandy, and the oil is mined and flowing just normally, no one says a word, and the people who do are considered extremists, hippies, tree huggers, whatever.  But as soon as there is a major disaster, caused by our insatiable need for excess and products, everyone jumps onboard of the "Save the Planet" train because it starts to effect us in a manner that we can actually visualize.  The real villains here with this disaster, I hate to say it, are us.  It will be a scary time when the wells really do start to run dry.

-d

(1) Oceanworld.tamu.edu
(2) rferl.org
(3) innovative-water.com
(4) b2btrade.biz