The BP Oil Disaster

I've avoided it long enough. It's time to comment on the BP oil rig spill.
So, what can one say that we don't already know? A gigantic corporation that feeds on our addiction to petroleum products, has neglected its equipment to the point where it malfunctioned, killed people, and created a huge ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

When one thinks about it, how can offshore oil drilling be "safe?" Working at great depths with high pressure and darkness, how can we expect to avoid disasters? When we already know that oil consumption is responsible for much of the human-made degradation of our planet, why do we continue to use oil--instead of using less harmful, renewable energy sources? I don't buy the argument that we can't "switch-over too quickly." I believe the culprit is corporate greed, and government leaders who come from, and/or profit from the corporate sector.

All we need to do is look at our computer, audio and video technology, to see that we have format changes going on rapidly and continuously. We all converted from VHS tapes to DVD's and analog TV to digital and cassette tapes to CD's, but we can't seem to find a way to stop using gas! We have electric cars, solar and wind power, and still we run almost exclusively on fossil fuels. As these commodities run low, we are forced to buy foreign oil and drill in our wetlands and pristine wilderness areas.

I like my car and I like to travel. That said, we need more and better public transit and more environmentally friendly systems for heating, powering engines and producing electricity. Our lives depend on it. Our economy is being drained by the "drug called oil," that we are forced to be addicted to. While the tour guides, fishermen, shrimpers, etc. are suing BP oil, the wildlife is dying and stinking on the oil covered beaches and in the oil soaked water. The human caused disaster has killed them and they don't "get to" sue anyone.

This problem is not over until we stop using oil.

KJC