“The Fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. . .”
As a native of the Gulf Coast, I have grieved at the environmental devastation being wrought across our homeland. I have paused to remember the eleven fellow human beings who lost their lives in a moment of explosion and conflagration that sent the Deepwater Horizon up in flames and down to the bottom of the sea. I have felt compassion for the tens of thousands who have lost their livelihoods in the fishing and seafood industries, the hospitality industry and even in the oil patch.
And yet, however much I may seethe with anger at the greedy lucre of the corporate perpetrators of this sorry mess, I know in my heart of hearts that our lifestyles are the real culprit. All of the oil that has spewed into the Gulf from day one to this day would fuel only thirty minutes of global oil demand. All of the oil in the entire oilfield into which Deepwater Horizon tapped would fuel global oil demand for just one day. The world consumes 85 million barrels of oil per day! That is why we are risking so much for so little; the demand is just that great.
Until we are willing to use less, we must understand that BP is not the only beast that is unrestrained. Unless we are willing to pay more, we must share the “external costs” that accrue to life and limb and fish and fowl. Unless we are willing to curb our appetites for the things cheap oil provides us, we will continue to run these most unacceptable risks.
For a fine article along these lines see http://www.energybulletin.net/53088
