Uncharted Waters - Thoughts on the oil "spill" and other items...

While the unmitigated disaster that is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico clearly takes precedence as the  environmental health issue of the day, I wanted to also call attention to a couple of other important developments in our field that have been taking place in the shadow of this terrible tragedy.  First though, I don’t know that I will be able to offer much that hasn’t already been expressed regarding the disaster, but I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few things that I have found especially startling or important as this situation continues to unfold:

• About a week ago Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News reported that if all of the oil that had “spilled” up to that point were captured and put towards the energy demands of the United States, there would be enough to power the country for one…HOUR.  The imbalance of this is so remarkable to me as to be dumbfounding.  That we would continue to risk a disaster of this magnitude in the name of fossil fuel-based energy, while simultaneously all but ignoring opportunities in other renewable energy fields is inexplicable to me.  Many editorialists have rightly commented that the legacy of this disaster must be as a true starting point in our nation’s conversation about moving our fuel demands and our energy security away from fossil fuels.
• This past January I visited Key West, Fl. and the rest of the Keys for the first time and I could not be more thankful that I did while I still had the chance.  Emerging and evolving models are suggesting that oil from the Deepwater Horizon could eventually contaminate the beaches and wetlands of all of Florida, portions of the mid-atlantic, and eventually, Europe.  Do you think it is even possible that BP/TransOcean/etc… executives even considered, in their worst nightmare scenarios and disaster plans, such a possibility?  I would guess not.
• Finally, I am becoming more and more concerned each day about the human health effects that are occurring as a result of exposure to the oil, gas and other hydrocarbons that have leaked, not to mention that unprecedented volume of dispersants that have been applied to the surface of the gulf, and injected into the gusher.  Last week brought predictable news of illness occurring in several cleanup workers; I am afraid this will only be the beginning.  The “cleanup” operations are going to last a long, long time, potentially leading to more exposure-related illnesses in workers, vulnerable populations, and even otherwise healthy area residents.  Furthermore, we literally have no idea what to expect as the dispersants cause oil to fall through the different trophic levels of the Gulf, where it will enter the food chain and eventually, possibly, end up on our dinner plates.  Really scary stuff.  As has been said elsewhere on this blog, it is not often that health concerns take center stage in discussions about energy.  This disaster may change that.

OK, on to a couple of other items of note…

• For years, automakers have gotten away with offering monstrous, gas-guzzling, vehicles under regulations known as corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards.  These regulations require carmakers to achieve a specified, average level of efficiency for the entire fleet of vehicles that they offer.  For example, imagine a car maker only offered 3 models, A, B, and C.  The average miles-per-gallon of their “fleet” would need to meet a certain minimum.  However, if the manufacturer also offered a 4th option, D, that happened to be an inefficient, low-MPG SUV or a minivan, that vehicle would be exempt from the standards, and would not pull down the average.  The Obama administration is finally aiming to change that however, by removing the ridiculous exemption for “light trucks” and other CAFE-crushing gas guzzlers.  ’Bout time.  Let’s let these vehicles be evaluated for what they are, and finally start stimulating some real thinking about vehicle efficiency.
• The second item that I wanted to highlight today brings a bit of closure to another post that has appeared on this blog.  25 years after killing thousands of sleeping civilians in a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas, 7 former officials of Union Carbide’s India branch were convicted of “causing death by negligence” and sentenced to 2 whole years in prison.  An eighth official had already died by the time the case worked its way through the Indian court system.  This event is often cited as the worst industrial disaster of all time and those responsible are now set to serve a total of 14 years in prison and pay a total of about $15,000 in fines.  Lets hope the families of the 11 men who lost their lives aboard the Deepwater Horizon, as well as the tens of thousands of people in the Gulf region whose lives have been inexorably altered as a result of the oil gusher, will be more fairly compensated, and those responsible be held truly accountable.

More regular blogging to resume soon.