Conspiracy?

We are about to be faced with an environmental emergency of large proportions in the Gulf of Mexico. Last week's oil rig explosion has left the well leaking hundreds of thousands of gallons of sweet crude into the Gulf and conditions are rapidly moving the slick toward land and valuable resources.

Currently estimates on the repair of the leak number in terms of months not days which will keep this story on the front burner for at least as long. Twenty years ago the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska and at the current estimated rate of leakage, the Deepwater Horizon spill will eclipse the Exxon Valdez tragedy in 52 days or less.

The oil slick coming from the Deepwater Horizon is already reaching parts of the US shoreline and is also being seen in the Mississippi River. Weather conditions are primed to continue to bring the slick toward the coastline threatening the entire way of life for folks along the coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas. Its not just wildlife that is going to be impacted by this oil slick. Yes, the oil will be toxic and deadly for birds, fish and other sea life (the Valdez spill was the cause of the decline of 31 different species) but it will also adversely affect the people whose livelihoods are dependent on fishing the rich Gulf Coast waters. In addition to fishing, the tourism industry of at least FIVE states will be affected and this also has the potential to be even farther reaching if the oil reaches the Mississippi River and the flow of traffic along the nation's busiest and arguably most important waterway is slowed or stopped. No doubt there will be more job losses in areas already affected by the current economy and past hurricanes.

The Obama Administration has already backed off their new position on new offshore drilling and issued a statement that no new drilling will be considered until it is determined what went wrong at the Deepwater Horizon. How convenient that the Administration is able to back off from a position on offshore drilling that they were never really in favor of. The language issued by the President last month in return of the chants of "Drill Baby, Drill" was for the most part an olive branch to Republicans in order to get their support on energy policy. No new wells were even being considered to have begun drilling for years so the idea that they are now backing off and stopping any new wells from moving forward simply because of this tragedy is utterly ridiculous.

The intense scope of this tragedy is going to keep this story on the tips of the lips of newscasters for months. I wonder how many stories we will miss hearing about because we are focusing on the people in the Gulf Coast. Mid-term elections, cap and trade legislation, unemployment numbers, the failing economy, Federal immigration policy and who knows what else might fall through the cracks of coverage.

These deep water oil rigs are supposed to be equipped with something called a blow out preventer. For one reason or another (and not a reason that is currently known) the blow out preventer did not work. One single piece of equipment not working (or not being monitored properly) is the catalyst for what is sure to be an environmental and societal tragedy of colossal proportions that could effect our wildlife and economy for twenty years or more.

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person. Sometimes they are plausible, sometimes not but in almost all cases they are interesting enough to capture the attention of a lot of people. I wonder if this one will?