Classic Rant #280 (June 18, 2010): Oily Mess

I have held off speaking about the mess that is being caused by BP and its oil pipeline, which has been spewing out oil at a record rate for many weeks now.

I guess I didn't know what to say.

And I still don't.

What more can be said about this situation that hasn't already been said?

The areas where this oil is migrating too will be changed forever, as the ecological impact of this mess is really infinite. When you see birds and other sea life encased in oil, you know that things will change as these species adapt to their new, oily environment.

What can be done to stop the seepage? I haven't the slightest idea. It seems that BP has done just about everything it could to put a stop to it. less putting a Dutch boy's finger in the pipe's opening.

Should BP been more diligent to start out with when it constructed this line? That is pure conjecture, but what I have heard is that they may have cut corners, not taking measures to stem such a situation from happening before it happened.

What can you or I do about this?

Good question. I guess we can boycott BP gas stations. Really, what more can we do? We can volunteer to help in the cleanup, but for 99 percent of us, that's an impossible thing to do due to logistics.

I don't really know what else to say on the matter. If I were BP, if measures continue to fail, they should open up the situation as a competition. Anyone, or any company, who comes up with the solution to this mess gets X amount of million dollars as a prize. That means any individual or company who rights this wrong gets paid plenty for its idea.

Maybe that's the way to get this thing done. Open it up to the public.

BP, under the government's pressure, has devoted millions to this problem, and will devote millions more to it both now and after it is solved.

But maybe it should go to the public for a solution.

Again, I don't know what else I can say about this, but it seems that that is the way to go.