Responding to the Gulf Tragedy

Oil is still flowing from the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico. It started on April 20th and hasn’t so much as paused since. That is five weeks of continuous flow that has totaled somewhere between 18 million and 40 million gallons according to the LA Times Blog. The latest attempt to stop the flow is proving doubtful. The San Francisco Chronicle is saying: “It will take 7 years for the oil deposit below the Deepwater Horizon well to empty if left alone. On Saturday, BP acknowledged it may abandon its best chance so far to cork the well: the 'top kill.'” In the paper today: the government has been quietly investigating criminal charges against BP.

Charging BP with criminal charges is, of course, necessary. It is difficult to describe the tragedy as anything but criminal. Attributing criminal blame to BP seems reasonable and placing the cost of cleanup on their shoulders is also reasonable. But the blame is shared by the government at many levels who work with these oil organizations and also by us consumers who have been voting our complacency with our wallets as we continue to purchase petroleum-based products without question or complaint. In short, the blame for the extensive pollution, the impending die-off of myriad species, the horrible concoction of dispersant and crude that burns skin on contact, the travesty that will plague the wetland and marine life in that area (and beyond) for decades (if not longer) is all of ours, it is the system of consumption that has a life of its own. We all contribute to it, allow it and benefit from it and there is no easy way out of this system.

That doesn’t leave us as a species in a comfortable situation though. We are responsible for immense death and we can’t help it, not easily at least. We cannot just stop our role or we will have to give up, well, most everything. Everything that is not individually or community grown agriculture requires intensive use of oil, many medical supplies are plastic, all transportation (even walking – the comfy soles of your shoes are petroleum related somehow) is crude-oil linked. Food, health and transportation, not to mention entertainment, are much of what sustains us and they are oil-related. Life is oil-related.

Sadness, indignation, helplessness are the emotions I know I feel when thinking about this system. The Gulf situation is but a dramatic manifestation of this system and it is difficult to find a proper response— maybe because there isn’t just one. The poet Robert Bly suggests we grieve, that an appropriate response to all loss is appropriate grief. Bill McKibben suggests action. The Dalai Lama suggests meditation, kindness and lightness. Grief, action, meditation, kindness and lightness; I want these mindsets to replace the emotions I’m currently feeling and I am committing myself toward that replacement.

Articulating these mindsets means giving a foundation to respond appropriately from. Practically, it means spending time with people and places (especially nature) that you love, being creative with your community engagement, volunteering with local organizations that have positive and righteous missions, being very mindful of your consumption and how you choose to spend your money (which is voting for what you believe in), sitting quietly with your thoughts about your place in the world, smiling and smiling with others.

It was suggested at the last EcoLink meeting that the reason it has been five weeks and still no progress in repairing the flow is that BP didn’t want to lose their well completely, that they wanted to do all things possible to retain their investment in that expensive well. That is reprehensible. Tuesday, June 1st, is the start of a four month hurricane season that is expected to be busy. That is frightening. With such deliberate evil actions on the part of man and destructive natural forces that promise to exacerbate those actions, it is difficult to imagine focusing your mindset toward the positive, toward a response that involves, among many other things, smiling. But, as a close mentor of mine has repeatedly expressed, the future has always seemed bleak to every generation on the planet yet it still continues.