Monday, June 7, 2010

BP Oil Spill is Obama's "Katrina"

In poll results that should surprise virtually no one, except maybe his most staunch supporters, most Americans consider Obama's response to the BP oil spill to be worse than Bush's response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

That being said there are some things that have shaken out of this recent catastrophe, as many are calling it, that most people are seemingly oblivious to.



First, is the shock and wonder as to how this disaster could have even happened.  Though if one would actually think this through objectively it is something that was bound to happen eventually, even if it hasn't already happened.  It is quite possible that there have been much smaller offshore oil leaks that have occurred, but have been covered up, and cleaned up, without the world as a whole being any the wiser.

Of course this one gets all the press because of the obvious corruption that was uncovered in the very agency that was responsible for making sure this kind of thing never happened.

Second, is how the general public is ready to string up the President of the United States and the execs at BP for "allowing" this disaster to happen, and/or their response to it.

Sure, this event occurred off the coast of the United States, therefore, everyone assumes that the President of this country should step in and take responsibility for it and the subsequent cleanup.  But let's consider that the company that is actually responsible for this is headquartered in Great Britain.  Where is the response from the Queen, Parliament, or the Prime Minister for that matter?

Third, if you pull back even farther you can certainly blame this either on the relationship the auto makers have with the oil companies that pushed these oil companies to find ever larger deposits of oil and faster ways to get it to market, or the very consumers that push for the latest and greatest in motor vehicles without any regard given to any of the obvious alternatives.

Lastly, if one wants to distill this whole situation down you can only come to one conclusion for the actual "reason" for this disaster: Money.

There is the famous saying: "For the love of money is the root of all evil."

The reason for any man-made disaster can always come back to this.  From the blind devotion to find quicker and easier ways to increase a company's bottom line, to the regulators "overlooking" certain deficiencies in how a company operates in relation to adherence to guidelines for "considerations", to ad revenue generated from the media frenzy that stirs up the obvious public outcry against the Big Bad Oil Company, Inc.

Really the only people that have any sort of right to be complaining about this disaster probably don't even know about it.  Meaning those people who have never even seen a vehicle that operates on petroleum, much less has used anything made from it.  Point being that those people are extremely few and far between.  So unless you have never driven a car, used any form of public transportation, or used any byproduct of crude oil, you have nothing to complain about.

Instead let's continue finding ways to get off of the dependency to oil.  Quite possibly this disaster may be the death nail for Obama's Presidency, especially in light of the public backlash from passing the Health Care Reform Bill.  The only way this President will be able to save his Presidency and have any chance at re-election come 2012, is to somehow convince the automakers to sever their ties with the oil companies and make a drastic swing in the direction of renewable fuels within the next two years.

Yes, there is a much more likelihood of pigs flying and chickens having lips than this happening, but there it is.

3 comments:

  1. "So unless you have never driven a car, used any form of public transportation, or used any byproduct of crude oil, you have nothing to complain about."

    Well put.

    -Damien

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  2. I have always liked you as a person, and now reading your thoughts is great. I think because you come across as an even person in your views. I think of myself as open and even in relation to most people I read or hear about. Left or Right, Blue or Red, Black or White, Citizen or Non- Citizen. We all live and die the same way. What is the bottom line to everything? Keep up the good work, and I like the content, and the look. I would bring some hummer into the blog, I know you can be funny.
    Ron R

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  3. Hey "Anonymous", thanks for the positive feedback. I have found that as one gets older and gains wisdom it is more logical to sit in the middle and be amused by both sides, than to allow ones self to get sucked into the fray from either direction.

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