A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on June 8th, 2010 in US News, World News

I’ve given up on watching TV news, at least until the “BP Gulf Oil Spill” saga is over. I’m simply tired of hearing earnest-sounding news anchors earnestly intone “the largest oil spill in American history.” With absolutely no background information – other than a vague idea about the Exxon Valdez – those words are pretty meaningless to the average American.

Today CNN was saying that the spill is “roughly the size of South Carolina.” Again – most people simply don’t have a clue how big South Carolina is…especially compared to the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s some data to put things in perspective: South Carolina contains 32,020 square miles (more or less) while the Gulf of Mexico covers over 615,000 square miles. The United States, alone, is over 1,680 miles long.

The reason the newsies are saying “the worst in American history” is that the US has been relatively clear of oil-related disasters. It has already surpassed the Exxon Valdez, but that isn’t saying much, in global terms. Only about eleven million gallons of oil were released. Compare that to the “granddaddy of them all: The Persian Gulf spill during the Gulf War released well over 240 million gallons of oil. The BP Gulf spill currently ranks about 19th.

It is informative, however, to understand that the current number two spot is held by Ixtoc 1 – also an offshore well blowout. That started in June of 1979 and it wasn’t fully under control until after relief wells had been completed in March of the following year. Over 3.5 million barrels were spilled. And that was with an intact blowout preventer (that was closed, but had to be reopened because of high pressure).

I’m not trying to say that things aren’t going to be desperate for folks in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (and parts of Florida). Where the slick hits, it is going to be really, really bad. What I’m trying to say is that the coverage of the disaster is a disaster of its own. The real question, in my mind, is why no one involved had a plan for dealing with a blowout. After that, it’s why they had no plan to deal with containment. Beyond that, I’m asking why the Gulf States apparently had no plan in waiting for dealing with such a problem.

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