Oil, the Gulf and Questions

I have watched so much news lately about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. People are desperately trying to contain the spill and the oil just keeps coming. Everything about this disaster seems to be unprecedented, from the location of the spill to the amount of oil pouring out of the well. And the only thing that keeps echoing in the back of my head is "Drill, baby, drill."

The other day I read a Paul Krugman column in the New York Times regarding the spill. He said that we have moved too far away from the time when our land was polluted and our air was not fit to breathe. We have forgotten how badly we can mess up the environment so we are willing to take risks for our own benefit. We are willing to drill in the Gulf while ignoring the impending disaster. Granted, every potential disaster has never occurred. But we have chosen to accept riskier odds.

I also heard an acquaintance lament the other day over the stuff they are dumping in the ocean to absorb the oil. She was concerned how that was going to affect the ocean. I figure at this point, with all the oil going into the ocean, anything else put into it is irrelevant. The environment is already compromised.

I have also listened to every fisherman, shrimper and oysterman who would agree to be interviewed talking about how they are learning to deploy containment booms to protect their livelihood. It is difficult, on-the-job training but they are willing to do it to protect what they can. The biggest concerns seem to be what the cost will be in the future, not just monetarily but to the environment, and who will be paying the price.

So I have started to wonder why we are continuing to drill. We are an oil-dependent country that needs to feed its habit, I know. But why are we not seeking help? When a friend or a loved one has a dependency, we encourage them to "kick the habit." When a friend or loved one is insistent on making bad choices, we are determined to butt in and point out where they are going astray. Yet collectively, we resist accepting that there are other options to oil. We turn a blind eye to solar and wind and pat ourselves on the back because we've traded in the Suburban for a CR-V. All of this leads me to bigger questions. Who is going to pay the price for our continued dependence on oil? What is the cost really going to be? Does anyone feel a twinge of guilt because our environment is changing and little shrimps are dying because we need oil?