The full ramifications of the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will not be known for many years, but no time has been wasted in pointing fingers at those who are deemed responsible for the continued gushing of oil that is decimating the environment and economies of our southern states.  President Obama has put the blame squarely at the feet of British Petroleum, the corporation that owns the oil rights.  BP in turn has claimed the liability rests with the owner of the drilling platform, Transocean, Ltd., from whom they leased the rig.  And proceeding down the pecking order, Transocean says the real culprit is Halliburton, an oilfield services corporation that admittedly failed to set a cement plug to cap the bore.  All this, even though the exact cause of the debacle has yet to be determined.

Upon whom else can we heap the blame?  I’m just waiting for the idiotic comments of the evangelical crowd who will certify that this was an act of God’s retribution for any and all of the following:  homosexuals, supporters of same-sex marriage, atheists, lack of prayer in our public schools, abortions, the creeping socialism of non-citizen President Obama.

Assigning the blame has definite legal and political ramifications, but for me one of the primary issues is in distinguishing the difference between a bad outcome and negligence.  It is inevitable that there are going to be oil spills throughout the world, and while this one may end up being the worst on record, it is not the first, and it certainly will not be the last.  Consider the Nigerian Delta in Africa, where from 1960-1997, it is estimated that 4.2 billion gallons of oil have been spilled, and where you can be certain that the last thirteen years has seen no improvement.   While the aftermath of the massive eruption of oil off the coast of Louisiana will undoubtedly be devastating, the long-standing and on-going defilement of the environment in other parts of the world have gone unnoticed to most Americans, given that they did not occur in our backyard.

No one really knows for sure exactly how much of the crude black gold is escaping into the Gulf, but it helps to put it into perspective by comparing it to the amount that leaks naturally from fissures at the bottom of the ocean in the same territory.  If we accept an estimate of 200,000 gallons per day pouring into the Gulf since the rupture of the line on April 20, it is now up to around 5.5 million gallons of the sticky, gooey stuff floating around in the water.  A humongous amount, no question, but not nearly as much as the 38 million gallons a year resulting from natural geological causes that already contribute to befouling the waters year in and year out.  Not that these numbers justify a complacent attitude towards what has happened, but only some glimmer of hope that the environment may yet prove to be resilient to the onslaught of even more oil.

Not long before this calamity occurred, President Obama had indicated a willingness to expand off-shore drilling, citing the advanced technology of the oil industry and lack of significant leaks over the last decade.  So much for the timing of his speech, and a moratorium is now in effect.   But let there be no doubt, this will only be temporary, for the fact remains that we, like the rest of the world, are dependent on oil for our economies.  We may bemoan the consequences of despoiling the Gulf of Mexico and its shorelines, but it will in no way deter us from drilling again, for we are addicts, and our drug of choice is oil.

We are not alone is this never-ending quest for fuel, and while we are categorically not going to alter our lifestyles to eliminate the risks involved, neither are any of the other developed and developing nations of the world.  Do you really think that the Chinese, or Indians, or Europeans are going to forego the need for carbon-based fuel?  Not in our lifetimes.  The fact remains that we do not at the present time have any so-called “green” solutions that are technologically feasible on a large enough scale to provide what the world demands.

The only difference at this point is that we are directly affected due to the proximity of the disaster, otherwise it would be the typical “out of sight, out of mind” attitude.   It matters not in the least whether you are of the Republican or Democratic Party in the Gulf-bordering states, the unanimous conclusion already voiced is that we will have to cope with the consequences, but the drilling must go on.

Accidents are an inevitable result of our insatiable energy needs, and an untoward event does not automatically equate with negligence.   You can point the finger wherever you want, but all of us ultimately share in the responsibility for what has happened and what will happen again, as assuredly as the sun rises each and every morning.