Oil Oil Everywhere

Oil has saturated current events as of lately. First, while everyone was anxiously waiting for Christmas to arrive, Shell’s announcement of spilling 40,000 barrels or 1.7 million gallons of oil off the coast of Nigeria quietly slipped through the news cycle. This is coming just 4 months after a UN study concluded that it will take Shell and others 30 years and $1 billion to clean up previous spills in Ogoniland. Shell has claimed that it contained the entire spill and cleaned it up with dispersants but many news organizations are reporting oil starting to was up on shore.

Criminal charges were recently filed against BP for the Gulf Coast oil spill. I guess 405 million gallons of oil being spilled can come with some consequences.  We will see what comes out of that.

The Keystone XL decision was delayed. I guess that’s good after scientist James Hansen said, “it’s essentially game over if the tar-sands are tapped”. Canada called our bluff and offered the oil to China who would gladly take it. The most telling quote was from activist and hero of mine Bill McKibben, "Stopping Keystone will buy time," he said, "and hopefully that time will be used for the planet to come to its senses around climate change.”

That’s a grim outlook from a hopeful man. When will we come to our senses?

Last and most depressing is the saber rattling between the US and Iran. After Iran promised to close the Strait of Hormuz- an essential oil pathway- gas prices in America bumped 15 cents. America responded by promptly selling $30 billion worth of f-16 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

When will we learn, oil will continually become harder to get and continually pollute the environment. We need a new way forward.