The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the unenviable task of managing the wildlife impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak. This website offers a graphical representation of the number of birds, turtles, and mammals found dead or covered with oil as reported by the FWS as of yesterday. The Deepwater Horizon Unified Command website has the daily reports in PDF form, including a breakdown by state. Some experts are saying that survival rate for cleaned birds is so poor that euthanizing them would be a more humane effort than cleanup.
Several people I know have expressed the frustrated sentiment that “they” should “just fix it”. Dan Klarmann at “Dangerous Intersection” explains why “they” can’t.
I get that it’s a two foot wide hole spewing oil under tremendous pressure 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. I don’t know how to fix it, but I might think that a company with enough financial and technical resources to tap the oil should have enough to stop it.
From what I have heard, and seen, and read, they did have the ability to stop it. But they screwed the environment, wildlife, and thousands and thousands of people (not to mention those who were killed in the initial fire). Why? Because they (and apparently some of the so-called regulators) were too interested in making even more obscene amounts of money to take what precautions they could and have created a situation no one seems to know how to resolve.
The “mythical man-month” premise comes to mind: they can’t generate a solution they don’t have by just doubling the effort/expenditure. It is indeed simply incredible that the combined incompetency of the regulators and avarice of the oil companies allowed the drilling to ever take place without a disaster plan that was even remotely feasible, but now that ship has long since sailed, and all anyone can do is stand with jaw dropped to the ground watching them trying to develop a solution even as things get worse. This blog post casts some pretty serious doubts on the likelihood that the relief wells will work AND says that the oil field where this is occurring is so big that the leak could go on “forever” if they don’t.
To me, the sickening aspect is that this whole experience will change NOTHING in terms of preventing future disasters. Even as we speak, there is another similar BP rig waiting to blow that would make this one look like a dribble.
so on the bright side, this is going to lead to 1) all extractive industries being nationalized everywhere and 2)the death penalty for corporations, right?
Only in my dreams, Mig, only in my dreams. :-)
As if we needed any more incentive to finally do something to kick our addiction to oil….
Of course, nothing will happen, though their will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth…until Sarah Palin opens her mouth and verbally vomits again.