Gone

I saw this AP photo on Suzanne Frischkorn's blog and was struck by the simplicity of the message about what has become quite likely the greatest ecological disaster in our history. 

Sadly there is nothing simple about stopping the gulf spill. It continues to spew oil into the gulf creating a growing ecological dead zone.  If the spill were stopped today (which won't happen) the damage to the coastal areas are already beyond the imaginable.  No one knows when this will end and this is precisely because we have no fail safe remedy. The oil industry is unable to manage their own disaster.  Government agencies charged with regulating the industry for decades have been beholden to the industry. This should come as no surprise.  And all this time, there are people in this country who have argued in favor of more aggressive offshore drilling. Not only stated their case for it, but held rallies carrying signs and chanting, "drill baby drill."  What do these people have to say now? Perhaps they can put into words their justification in such a way that people along the coast that make their living off the region can understand. This is not going to be like a bad growing season to a farmer. This is not a year of drought. This is destruction. This is uncharted waters and indeterminable death to an ecosystem. Sometimes man sees himself separate from the ecosystem and thinks he is without repercussions. I'm not sure which is the greater ill, short sightedness or greed. They both seem to be are Achilles heel.