Spill tells us to re-evaluate

"Let's just put a lid on it," one BP executive says to another, "put a lid on this bad publicity, the millions of dollars being lost, the millions of gallons of oil being wasted." At least that's how I imagine the exchange, because at this point, it's exactly what they have attempted to do.

Sure, it would be easy to blame Salazar's failure to adequately conduct environmental impact analyses, BP's offshore drilling in the first place, or the Obama administration's sluggish pace to action. But it would be more constructive to address the fact that it is our culture of consumption that fuels the billion dollar revenues of oil companies, sustaining their lobbying dollars in our government, allowing expansion on our shores, and forcing our administration to spend its time with cleanup instead of working to progress into cleaner, healthier growth.

As the gulf oil spill is quickly becoming one of the worst oil spill disasters in the nation's history, it is clear that we can't just put a lid on it. The irony is too enlightening to ignore: the oil started to gush from the Deepwater Horizon rig on the day we so gleefully label as Earth Day. But where has the Earth been in any of our priorities? Or clean beaches, sustainable fisheries (i.e. jobs), and oil-free oceans for that matter?

The oil-spill cleanup should start with a re-evaluation of our lifestyles and priorities.

Licia Sahagun

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