Satellite Image 24 May 2010 (NASA)
It’s no surprise that the news of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been increasing. What started out as a gushing leak has turned into an environmental disaster.
This morning I was listening to NPR on my way to work and heard yet another disturbing report. Some of the marsh lands on the Louisiana coast are now oil covered. Reeds and cattails are coated with a sticky oil film along their bases. Wildlife habitat is being destroyed by the minute in those areas. If the oil becomes too thick and kills the marsh plants, the roots will also die and decay. This would weaken the already thinly held together soils and destroy these fragile ecosystems completely.
What’s important to take from this grim picture is the loss of fisheries, mammals, and birds that reside there. The oil cannot simply be washed from the shore with water pressure as with the Exxon Valdez spill. The soil would be washed away as well and would have the same effect as the plants being killed by the oil. One solution proposed is to flood the area with fresh water in hopes of diluting the oil and moving it away from the shore. However, with stiff winds and the tidal system, this would be a huge task.
Our dependence on oil has caused many problems over the years. The Gulf War and the Valdez are just two of the issues. What has to be accomplished is the phase out of oil and fossil fuels as much as possible. It’s really hard to imagine that we have not reached this point already given our advanced technological era. We first put a man on the moon over 40 years ago! Why can’t we have cheaper solar and wind power options?
I’ve been a skeptic and believer in conspiracy theories for many years. The one that always sticks with me is the thought that big oil companies stifle the development of alternative energy. You may or may not agree with this but it does make sense. Oil companies and their investors stand to lose a lot of money when we stop using oil. So, deep pockets, those that can spend millions of dollars a week on off shore drilling leases, tend to rule over common sense. In my opinion, it’s all about money here and the threat of losing the future payments that come from oil exploration and drilling that is keeping solar and wind power from being common on every home.
It really is a shame how accidents like the Gulf Oil Spill do not help to bring us closer to the widespread use of clean, alternative energy sources. Maybe someday money and greed will be replaced with a desire to conserve our planet. Maybe.
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