I Caused the Gulf Spill

This oil spill is really depressing.  It couldn’t have happened at a worse time then when all the birds and fish are at home, nesting and spawning. The poor Gulf of Mexico is so rich and diverse and economically important that we should protect it in a bubble like the pope.   Like Hurricane Katrina, the only thing worse than it happening at all is slowly watching the disaster unfold on TV, getting closer to the shore every day with the anchors on CNN getting more dramatic by the hour.

As far as I can tell from the research I conducted to write my Cleaning the Gulf Spill article, there’s many people to blame.

BP = Big Problem

Photo: jbcurio

“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you place the blame” Oscar Wilde

• BP is apparently to blame for its lack of a tested disaster plan.  I can’t believe how many times I have heard the phrase “never before attempted at this depth” in the last few days.  They should get that Mariana Trench guy to go down there and turn off the valves.  Of course, the fact that no one has been able to replicate his feat since 1960 should tell us something about how well we do in the ocean.
• Transocean is to blame for making the crappy valves.  No surprise that the Swiss company is trying to stay out of it.
• The US Minerals Management Service is possibly to blame for not inspecting the rig properly and for being kind of shady because they oversee both the leasing and the inspection.
• US lawmakers are to blame for not implementing safety and regulation, for allowing offshore drilling at all, for accepting millions in campaign and lobby money from BP and for loving oil in general, from what I can tell.  There are some exceptions to this.  Senators from NJ and Florida have been actively calling for more oversight of offshore drilling and Governator Arnold did a 180 on his push for drilling off the coast of California yesterday.
• No one may be chanting “Drill, baby drill” any longer, but just for fun I wanted to see who the Tea Partyists were blaming for this.  Obama, environmentalists and commies, of course.  One guy’s sign actually read “Oil Spill Distribution = Communism!”  So, I guess the Obammies are also to blame for apparently setting up this whole disaster to…promote universal healthcare or something.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Glenn Beck also blames the debaucherous actions of the fish for causing the devil to spill oil on them or something.

I was pretty surprised at the numbers I found for oil leaked into the ocean.

Oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez = 8%

Land drainage and waste disposal = more than 50%

Oil spills – 706 million gallons annually

Offshore drilling = 15 million gallons

Everyday oil use = 363 million gallons

Most of the oil comes from motor oil.  Some is improper disposal after an oil change.  Some is from recreational boating, but much of it is water from oil-coated cars, streets and parking lots that ends up washed down the drain and into our waterways.

Cars are wheeled oil spills.  Drive, baby, drive

Oil and water don't mix

Two gallons of used recycled oil can power a house for 24 hours. Find a recycling center here.

Photos: sjorford; cbown