Drill Me Running

Here we are at day 44 of the oil spill – A nauseating disaster for humans and non-humans alike.
But, who is to blame? We’ll start with the obvious choice, BP. They will, no doubt, be made an example of – criminal investigations are already in place. The instant the oil hit the water, multiple environment acts and treaties were broken. If specific people are held liable, they could face jail time up to 25 years. Sadly, like numerous animal cruelty cases, it will never result in the maximum sentence. Humans can purify oil out of their water, animals cannot.
There's also this little tidbit on Transocean.

The spill is already disrupting the reproductive season for many native animals including the Louisiana state bird, the Brown Pelican. Just one year off the endangered species list and one of nature’s most successful comeback stories is in jeopardy again.

In May, 80 Louisiana State prisoners were trained on how to clean birds. Regrettably, there are no plans in place to put this new [free] resource to use.

To date, BP has spent $1.2 billion on this cleanup. The total estimated cleanup is around $40 billion. This must mean they care about the already 200 lifeless sea turtles, 29 perished dolphins and countless dead fish. Surely innocent lives come before corporate profit…

Last year, prior to drilling the Deepwater Horizon rig, BP issued a 582-page Oil Spill Response Plan. They also issued a 52-page site-specific report for the rig itself. Both these reports were approved by the federal government. Both reports were riddled with errors.

Here are a few of my favorite rectally-derived claims from the report:
• Professor Lutz, listed as an environmental expert, left Miami 20 years ago & passed away in 2005.
• Names & phone numbers of specialists are incorrect.
• The number for the marine mammal stranding network offices in LA & FL is disconnected.
• The website BP listed for Marine Spill Response Corp. (supplies cleanup equipment) links to an invalid
   Japanese-language page.
• BP claimed they could round up enough boats to scoop up all oil before it hit the shoreline.
• The plans don’t even contain references on how to clean birds. The spill scenarios actually claim that fish,
   marine mammals & birds will escape serious harm; beaches will remain pristine; water quality is only a
   temporary problem.
• BP asserts they could skim, suck up or otherwise remove 20 million gallons of oil each day from the
   water – approximately how much has leaked in the past six weeks.
• These are all based on projections for an oil spill was ten times worse than the current situation.

The fact is we’re all to blame. This is the other side to the story inconveniently called reality.
As a society we have to ask ourselves: What the hell are we doing? If these pictures don’t stir a reaction or a need to change, well, you’re probably an oil executive.

I have stressed the subject of meat-eating in relation to global warming (stop eating it & save resources!). I’ll also be the first to say, I drive an SUV. I’m lucky if I get 17 miles per gallon out of it! And like many Americans, I’m addicted. And I like it. I feel like a junkie waiting for a fix in line at the pump. There’s an RV next to me and an Escalade in front of me. We’re all doing it! We might as well freebase gasoline right off the hoods of our cars.

But it’s time we all do something. Pick your poison, or lack thereof: eat less (or no) meat, drive less, stop using plastic bags. Every little bit will help. If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.

I think someone famous [pun intended] once said, “There is nothing hidden that will not someday be revealed.”

Mankind, this is the 45th day of your wake-up call. Are we awake yet?

That was pretty harsh, so I’ll leave you with a laugh:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - P.R.-mageddon
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News