I am not denying that the oil spill in the Gulf is a disaster. Obviously it is. However, what I find incredible is the reaction. This is happening to a Western, primarily white, major power (who, by the way, with Canada use around 45% of the total world oil produced even though the US population is a mere +-5% of the world population, so frankly, if you insist on demanding so much and forcing greedy companies to drill in ever-more complex locations, problems will happen) and the whole world knows about the spill.
How many people have died in the US as a result of drinking polluted water? How many babies and children have been violently ill from drinking oily water? None, as far as I know.
Go to Nigeria, who apparently supply the US with around 40% of it’s crude oil, and the story is different. In Nigeria, our money hungry oil companies driven by the insatiable worldwide demand for power, more oil pours from the oil region’s network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico in one incident.
Every year.
I mention this to folks in the US, and the answer is almost always the same. ”But this is the WORST spill ever.” The worst spill to ever affect the US. The worst single spill in one go, sure. But sure the environmental toll to the Nigerian delta must be significantly worse if they are getting the same spillage (albeit over a year) over multiple years.
This reminds me of the World Trade Towers incident in September 2003. At the risk of being insensitive, I often think that people die all around the world, all the time, often thanks to bombs dropped by (or supplied by – death is big business, is it not) Western countries. Dare to mention this to an American and the answer is something along the lines of “But this is the WORST…”. Clearly, if something terrible happens here, it not only has to be the biggest, but the WORST and most significant internationally.
Why isn’t this reported here in the US? Why aren’t people aware? Why don’t they give a damn if it doesn’t directly affect them?
I understand that the US is a big country. And a wonderful country with many wonderful attributes, but I cannot understand what must be wilful ignorance. Surely it must be wilful – hardly a day goes by without seeing someone dipping into the iPhone or iPad for ‘The Latest News’. We are so connected and Boulder, where I am based, seems to be joined at the hip to mobile devices. So I have to assume that the stance is “if it doesn’t affect us, who cares – let’s spend more time on Facebook”.
If you type ‘oil spill’ into Google and look a little further than the one that’s been dominating the news, it’s inevitable that you will find news of oil spills around the world.
I find the ignorance unforgivable in many instances and cannot understand people who turn around and say “Well, that’s Nigeria. This is the US.”. As if the American people are somehow blessed, more important than other cultures who suffer so that Mr SUV driver can use a few gallons of petrol driving around and looking “cool”.
And let’s briefly mention the outrage and emotion. Oh, the horror that an oil spill of this magnitude could affect the country that consumes so much oil! The horror that BP has created a fund to ensure income for affected businesses! Let’s compare this to the ExxonMobil pipeline that ruptured on 1st May in the state of Akwa Ibom , which spilled more than a million gallons into the delta over seven days before the leak was stopped. Local people demonstrated against the company but say they were attacked by security guards. Community leaders are now demanding $1bn in compensation for the illness and loss of livelihood they suffered. Few expect they will succeed. In the meantime, thick balls of tar are being washed up along the coast.
Isn’t is fascinating how the oil companies treat victims of oil spills so differently?
Our ecosystems are so interconnected that what affects the West African coast will eventually have an impact on the US, and the US spill will have a knock-on affect elsewhere. If we care about oil, we should be caring about spills all over the world. If we care about the environmental effects, we should be caring about spills the world over. And if we give a damn about people – even if they don’t drive SUVs or have the right colour skin or live in the right Western country – we should be doing something about them.
