Why the BP Oil Spill Doesn’t Impress Me

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been front-page news for over a month now. It’s a story that fails to grab my interest because I already know the outcome. Here’s what will happen:

- Eventually, they will somehow stop the leak.

- The effects to the environment will last generations.

- No criminal action will be taken against BP and attempts to sue them will take decades.

- Rather than be a watershed moment in calling for innovation in energy technology, we will continue to remain dependent on oil (not to mention the coal-mining related disasters that tend to occur every 6-8 months). People will continue to purchase their gas from BP.

- The media will move on. When Obama comes up again for reelection, no one will remember how he let BP handle the mess (and fail at it) for over a month rather than stepping in, working to solve the problem, and then handing BP the bill.

BP’s latest attempt, “Top Kill”, failed. Their next plan is to send in–I shit you not–robot submarines. After that fails, BP will crack open their ACME catalog and ask Wile E. Coyote what else he recommends.

Maybe it doesn’t impress me because I feel helpless to do anything about it. I know that nothing is going to change that would prevent a spill like this from happening again. There won’t be any political ramifications and we’re too dependent on oil to create financial repercussions against BP. Environmentalists will continue their failed campaign of trying to scare people into being good stewards of the Earth. And BP will put more money into repairing its image rather than preventing the next catastrophe. Looking at the BP oil spill, I just can’t bring myself to muster any impotent rage.

Update: I think this video proves my point: