Again today, news from the Gulf of Mexico is disappointing: neither the "top kill" nor the "junk shot" has worked to stop the flow. Once again I urge, let's face the truth and deal with it: This is a catastrophic accident, made more apocalyptic by the fact that the end is not in sight, but it is an accident. Call it an act of god, or if you prefer, an act of man, but cope. People of the Gulf Coast in particular can be forgiven for being emotional (James Carville, hysteria does not become you, take it down a notch!) -- but all the talk of blame, or of action not being taken fast enough, is empty and useless.
Meanwhile, some more random observations related to this calamity.
It's been said already, but if ever there were a compelling argument for effective government regulation of industry, this is surely it. I stress "effective" since people who say there's no need for government or for taxes to pay for it are suddenly looking to government to handle this problem, or to blame government because of failings in oversight. But oversight must be ongoing; and the setting of standards, the conduct of inspections, and similar functions cost money. We can't starve regulatory agencies and rely on private enterprise to police itself in good times, then expect government after the fact to have done a job it wasn't given resources to do. For conservatives: Ronald Reagan said, "Trust but verify." Why shouldn't that apply to business? Could effective oversight have prevented the blowout? I doubt it, but I do believe operations managers are more cautious when they know someone's looking over their shoulder.
State and local officials have been ducking for cover too, hoping to blame somebody else. But while there is a lot of talk also about the deleterious effects of the spill on the local economy, Louisianans and their politicians, from Governor Jindal on down, need to think about their own decisions, years ago, regarding the economic mix. I have no doubt that when these rigs were built, local officials pushed strongly for approval of offshore drilling, just as Virginia's new governor, Robert McDonnell, who has no drilling but covets the prospective revenues, continues to do today. Risks were downplayed, on the assumption the huge gains were worth the chance. That may still turn out to have been true, in the long run, but in the short run, some parts of the region's economy will be hard-hit. Lives were lost, too, but we aren't hearing a lot these days about those fellows who died when the platform exploded and collapsed.
Finally, I'm surprised that so far, no one has raised the specter of terrorism related to this incident. Is that a possible explanation for this? Probably not -- no one has claimed responsibility. It does however, raise the question of the security of these oil platforms, largely unprotected, in mid-ocean. Look for the movie soon, if not the reality.
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