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The on-going disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has now become a catastrophe on a scale that we cannot fully comprehend. Not only is there no end in sight but the repercussions of this tragedy will be felt for many years to come in so many different ways.
With eleven people tragically killed at the time of the explosion, we now also know that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of livelihoods in Louisiana – and probably Florida – will be severely affected through the onslaught of thick crude oil that will permeate every aspect of life along that coastline. Obviously the fishing industries are already in total disarray but the full effects from this ecological nightmare are unimaginable.
Of course, there are hundreds of questions being asked about why and how this could have happened, and to date, there have been very few explanations. However, the one thing we do know is that they were in unchartered territory. At 35000 ft deep, they were drilling deeper than ever before, and we now know that they were totally unprepared for anything going wrong at this level. Without getting into the ‘blame game’, the one very simple deduction we can make from this disaster is that we – as a world – are desperate for oil. To be taking such huge risks at such high costs is a clear indication that our accessibility to oil is fast running out.
Many people believe this to be a good thing in the long run but the fact is that right now we have an energy crisis. All over the world, despite the big concerns from an environmental perspective, nuclear reactors are being built again at HUGE expense in order to try and plug the energy gap.
What does this mean? It means energy prices are going to escalate dramatically. What’s more, Spain is especially vulnerable in this regard because it generates so little of its own energy, and depends on importing it from elsewhere. The BP disaster is a wake up call to the world.
We need to all try and be as energy efficient as possible and use renewable energy whenever we can….to save our bank accounts from disaster and our planet from further catastrophes.