by Daniel Fuchs
The Gulf Oil Spill that for the past month or so has been the center of a great deal of news coverage and discussion is a clear indicator of what needs to be regulated in terms of drilling and what needs to be changed on a worldwide scale.
Let’s start with regulation. Isn’t it clear that offshore drilling–or, at the very least, offshore drilling to the depth that these companies were willing to go–needs to be regulated considerably? If you drill that far out, there’s no way to fix errors. It’s simply too far down in the ground. That’s partly why this pipe is so much more difficult to fix than others. IF we continue to drill at the rate we are doing now, it needs to be monitored–not by a country but by an internationally-sponsored organization–so that these disasters can be avoided.
But I think the more pressing issue is the problem with oil as a whole. At long last, hasn’t it become clear that gasoline is simply too costly a source of fuel to continue to rely on? I’m not saying we need to switch fuel sources immediately–it’s unreasonable to think that the entire human race will simply switch fuels in a day, month, or even a year–but there needs to be serious consideration as to what–and when–our new fuel sources will be. The G8 Environmental Conferences and the Kyoto Protocol have been TOTAL failures–let’s get the leaders of the world together, put them in a room, and not let them leave until there has been considerable progress. The world can’t hear “We’ll think about it” any longer–it needs to be thought about today.
