too many leaks; too few answers

Last month an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and caught fire. Following the initial explosion the underground pipes from the rig continued to leak oil. This has become the worst environmental disaster, in America, in the last decade, and is threatening to surpass the Exxon Valdez leak of 1989 to become the worst environmental disaster ever in America. The story has been gaining lots of media coverage and the focus of this coverage has been broad. Originally, I was impressed at how many different parts of the disaster the media was trying to cover, including: how it happened, who is responsible, how is it going to be stopped, how will it be cleaned up, who will clean it up, etc., but my optimism quickly faded as it became clear that while there was a lot of coverage about the questions surrounding the disaster, there are few answers to actually be found.

Finger pointing and passing the buck has continued to keep any positive progress on solving the problem from happening. Even after there was a Senate hearing over the cause of the disaster it is still unclear who was responsible. Everyone blames someone else down the line. It was BP’s fault, and then it was a concrete plug that wasn’t correctly poured, or a failure of a safety device and battery. While the blame game continues the leak has still not been stopped. Two attempts to cap the well have fallen short, and there appears to be no other solid strategy to seal off the leaks. It boggles my mind that with all of the attention this problem has received there has not been any new plans made or attempted to stop the leak at the source. Before the cleanup can begin it is necessary to contain the problem. The leak occurred over three weeks ago and it still has not been stopped. I believe that more attention should be turned to why this hasn’t been stopped instead of focusing on other issues, like who is to blame, which is trivial at this point and can be determined at a later time.

An important question yet to be answered is the impact that this event will have on off-shore drilling? President Obama has been pledging to make future changes between the Government and oil industry, but what will these changes entail? This has re-opened many concerns and fears about off-shore drilling, but it may still be a necessary evil because the need for oil has not decreased. It will have to continue, but how will it be improved to prevent another tragedy from occurring?

I am tired of finding all of these reports that provide nothing but more questions. Even my own rants about this issue have added nothing but more questions. Enough time has passed, and I am ready for solutions.