The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. It is now time that I make my comments on this catastrophe - a catastrophe for the environment, and proof yet again of the hubris that is humanity's addiction to that most dirty energy, oil.
It is on this theme of 'hubris' that I today finished writing a comment on this disaster, at the request of an editor of a magazine for which I write an opinion article every two months. I doubt it will be published and, as such, I am taking the liberty of paraphrasing and, here and there, quoting from the said comment piece right here on the my blog:
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the epitome of that most lamentable human downfall:
hubris. Hubris is defined as “excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance”.
The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico started from an oil well blow-out from the seabed in the Gulf's Macondo Prospect oil field, resulting in a catastrophic explosion on the BP (British Petroleum) oil rig, Deepwater Horizon on April 20th. The explosion killed 11 platform workers and eventually sank the rig on April 22nd.
The well-head of the BP oil rig was fitted with what is known as a 'blow-out preventer'. It has been stated that the platform “did have a dead man's switch designed to automatically cut the pipe and seal the well...but it was unknown whether the switch was activated.” According to the UK's Observer newspaper, “The rig's blow-out preventer, a fail-safe device fitted at source of the well, did not automatically cut off the oil flow as intended when the explosion occurred. Six attempts to do so have failed to date.” Hence the ongoing massive leaking of crude oil into the Gulf ever since.
It should be noted that certain safety devices for offshore oil rigs are not required in the Gulf of Mexico, even though they are required for offshore rigs by countries like Brazil and Norway. These safety mechanisms had not been deemed 'necessary' by the United States regulators. That most dubious assessment had been made by the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a division of the United States Department of the Interior which oversees and regulates offshore oil drilling. The MMS has a lot to answer for.
Their decision was made in 2003, slap bang in the middle of the George W. Bush administration, well known for being literally in the pocket of the Texan oil and gas industry. It's no coincidence that an oft-made and wry statement by Washington commentators when Baby Bush took over in 2001 was that, “Houston had come to the White House”. Any wonder the decision by the MMS? You do the mathematics.
The controversy over the actual spill rate escalated in the following days and weeks. And with good reason – the more the discharge of oil into the Gulf, the greater the environmental and socio-economic impacts thereof. The spill rate was of critical importance. Yet BP kept playing down the numbers. Estimates by research scientist, Timothy Crone, were that the spill was at least 50 000 barrels (7 900 000 litres) per day. Eugene Chaing, an astrophysicist, put it even higher: up to 100 000 barrels per day (16 000 000 litres)!
Even more galling is that BP has flat-out refused for any independent assessments to be made of the leak at the so-called 'safety valve', on the basis that they were doing everything necessary and possible themselves. However, let's face it, the main reason for this refusal by BP is based on wanting to jealously guard their proprietary rights over the oil field.
Once again, private property rights triumph over any collective social and environmental rights that a society may have even in the face of a calamity. And the U.S. government acquiesces to that.
It's outrageous. It beggars belief. It's hubris.
One chilling account from the media was from the US television network, CBS. One of their reporters, Kelly Cobiella, had “tried to visit the beaches in the Gulf of Mexico to report on the disaster. She was met by BP contractors and American Coast Guard officers who threatened her with arrest if she did not leave.” Most astoundingly was the they further reported that, “The Coast Guard officials specified that they were acting under the authority of BP.” Under the authority of BP?
Since when does a corporation have jurisdiction over public beaches and local communities being affected by an environmental disaster requiring federal (national) response and assistance?
The environmental impact of this spill is potentially devastating. And growing by the day. Oil, water, fish and other wildlife simply do not co-exist well. Thousands of tons of toxic hydrocarbons from the oil will wreak havoc on marine and coastal ecosystems. The Louisiana and Mississippi coasts are home to some of the most fragile and unique mangrove and wetland ecosystems in the world. Hundreds of different species of bird, marine mammal, fish and other species are at risk in this ecologically very sensitive and biodiverse area. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is already calling it
the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
BP has boldly stated that it will compensate all those affected by the spill and that, "We are taking full responsibility for the spill and we will clean it up and where people can present legitimate claims for damages we will honour them. We are going to be very, very aggressive in all of that."
How very big of them.
Time will tell, but do excuse me if I'm rather skeptical of those promises being 'honoured' by BP. My only fervent hope is that local communities take him up on his sentiment and are 'very, very aggressive'
when suing the pants off BP in massive, ongoing class action lawsuits, something at which the Americans are the best in the world.
BP needs to be hit where it hurts hardest for any major corporation – in the pocket. To date over a 150 lawsuits have already been filed against BP due to the oil spill. Bless the American people and their hyper-litigious little souls!
By June 1st, BP itself reported that its efforts to contain the spill had cost $990-million. A proverbial drop in the ocean for a multi-billion dollar corporation. The Swiss bank UBS has estimated that the final cost to BP could be up to $12-billion. Again, chump change for such a huge corporation.
Perhaps more reassuringly is that stock analysts predict that BP has lost up to one-third of its stock value (about $67-billion) in less than two months since the catastrophe began and is now more at risk of a hostile takeover. Now that's more like it.
Talk about karma. May their poor luck continue.
Am I being 'anti-business'? Not at all. I am just being anti-gigantic-transnational-corporations-that-think-they-can-cut-corners-and-buy-out-politicians-in-order-to-make-huge-profits. Like here - at the expense of the environment and the socio-economic ramifications of the environmental catastrophe that occurs from drilling an essentially filthy energy source from the seabed. It is
that type of gargantuan hubris (read: corporate greed) that I simply cannot abide.
The hubris of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe is everywhere:
It's in the frustrating (in)actions and patronizing words of a huge corporation.
It's in the (in)actions to date of a U.S. government that allowed BP to basically fill in its own reports on offshore oil rig operations and now bays for blood when said poor regulation results in this catastrophe.
It's in the continued denial by many that peak oil, of which I am a firm believer, is hyperbole and nonsense. If nonsense, then why is it that oil drilling is becoming more and more expensive due to being forced to drill in increasingly difficult and technology-intense and risk-intense places? Because we're peaking in our ability to cost-effectively drill oil.
It gets even more scary. On June 2nd Greenpeace and other organizations started reporting on how the United States is seriously considering using a nuclear warhead to seal the BP oil spill. That's right – a nuclear warhead! This goes beyond hubris – it's sheer madness.
Ultimately, it's in our own collective hubris. We are all to blame for this oil spill. Each and every one of us that drive a car or catches a taxi or fly in an airplane are collectively liable for our continued and collective addiction to this dirty and dangerous energy called oil.
Yet again, events have conspired to show us that the extraction and use of oil is not sustainable. As a sustainability consultant, that has always been patently absurd to me. The economic 'payoff' of this dirty energy, once plentiful and now increasingly expensive to extract, does not justify the ultimate environmental and social costs thereof.
Our addiction to oil continues unabated. And a huge, messy slick in the Gulf of Mexico is testimony to the hubris of that.
Do you get my point?
