As a nation, the United States faces a mountain of environmental risks. High-risk industries like oil and gas are becoming increasingly popular investment opportunities. However, our air, water and soil are becoming increasingly polluted while the government stands idle in the eyes of the public. If the government doesn’t support change for the good of the nation, how can the people be expected to follow?
Deepwater Horizon Disaster
Late in the evening of April 20, 2010, the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded; an event that killed eleven workers and leaked a massive amount of oil. Lasting 87 days, the leak released the equivalent of 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The accident caused a bubble of methane to break through seals on the well, igniting and exploding the well as it escaped. While oil rigs have numerous fail-safes, including blowout preventers, sources indicate that the one on Deepwater Horizon was not fully functioning. It may have been able to prevent the blast if it had it been functioning correctly.
The environmental impact of the disaster was enormous. Some short-term environmental studies have returned mixed results. Over 10 thousand creatures are estimated to have been killed due to the spill. Wildlife common to the Gulf are appearing in reduced numbers. Researchers are also attempting to predict how oil that has settled on the ocean floor will travel and affect the ecosystem. On the other hand, some marine life surveys have found that certain fish are making a comeback.
In the end, BP was found to be “grossly negligent” by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier. It appears that government regulators were also negligent in their duties. They focused more on small problems and failed to consider the possibility of a catastrophic event.
Because of this, BP did not take action on warning signs, nor did they have an adequate cleanup and disaster relief plan to implement after the rig blew up. This relaxed stance allows for issues like minor leaks to be overlooked, harming our environment and setting us up for a larger disaster in the future.
Similarly, the Porter Ranch gas leak in October 2015, the “worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill,” had a devastating residual impact. After the leak, California Governor Jerry Brown advocated for increased monitoring of the natural gas industry, but critics said that this approach was “too little, too late.” The government’s approach left too much in the hands of the companies. State regulators were too relaxed in their monitoring, which allowed the infrastructure of the well to degrade to the breaking point. Reading between the lines on this and similar instances, it has become apparent that the government is willing to let regulations and pollution slide if an oil or gas company brings in a lot of business.
The Flint Water Crisis
In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, was forced by budget constraints to switch to a cheaper water source. Because a pipeline from Lake Huron was under construction, the city opted to take water from the Flint River. That water was highly corrosive, causing lead in pipes to leach into the water supply. This caused numerous adults and children to develop severe health problems.
From the moment the project started, Flint’s governor-appointed Emergency Manager seemed to be willfully ignorant of the dangers of switching the water source, and ignored the health issues that the residents were facing. Unlike the BP and Porter Ranch disasters, the Flint water crisis is not a result of lack of regulation. Rather, it is the result of an appointed leader valuing finances over health and safety. The regulations were in place, but were ignored in favor of saving approximately $73,000.
Where do we go from here?
As the water supply becomes increasingly more polluted, concern grows that people will not have easy access to water, or that it will become highly regulated. In order to prevent this from happening, we need to recognize how essential water is to our livelihoods, and take steps to preserve it for future generations.
Pollution of the environment has been linked to everything from climate change to an increase in diseases and food contamination. These changes are directly impacting our health and every-day lives. Yet the government continues to allow companies to dump harmful chemicals into the ecosystem. Many of these changes are irreversible, yet it seems that transient economics takes precedence over preserving the health of the Earth (and by extension, our future).
While some legislative progress have been made, the failure to get measures such as the American Clean Energy and Security Act shows that the government is ultimately failing to protect our future. This bill would have set a limit on how much greenhouse gas companies could emit each year. These greenhouse gases raise the temperature of the Earth. Science has proven that a 2°C gain will have catastrophic consequences.
If the government continues to put industry ahead of the environment, we have a very rocky road ahead.
