As clean-up efforts continue in response to the Gulf oil spill, we are now recognizing it as the largest oil spill of its kind and possibly the most devastating man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history. Images from the coast reveal animals in peril and water and beaches mired in sludge. Certainly the effects on local ecology, wildlife and human populations will be felt for some time. Now, in the aftermath of such an event, our natural tendency is to find a place to rest the blame. Some blame the oil empire of BP. Some blame President Obama. But the truth is, we the people are to blame.
We demand cheap oil, and plenty of it. We scoff at smaller efficient cars and alternative modes of transportation. We design cities to cater mostly to automobile traffic. We barely acknowledge that oil is not an infinite resource thereby borrowing energy ahead from future generations to satisfy our unsustainable planning.
Political posturing by elected officials and grandiose financial promises from corporations only temporarily address the immediate problem. We continue to design our way of life around oil even though oil is getting increasingly more difficult to mine, causing a dangerous combination: increased demand and increased environmental risk. As long as we are purchasing oil at this rate, companies will strive to provide it.
The human efforts being organized to remedy this tragedy are remarkable and demonstrate that we as a human community can respond quickly, and with efficiency. However, if this does not change our attitude to the continued heavy reliance on diminishing fossil fuels, then we are only addressing the short-term issue. We are acting defensively, not offensively.
We must begin to plan for the future. A future in which fossil fuels are used sparingly and only at a rate at which the earth produces them. It will require our moderation in the use of natural resources, reserving some for the next thousand generations of humans.
