On Oil, the Media, and Consciousness

It wasn’t more than a couple of weeks ago that millions of student and their families flocked to some pretty incredible destinations. For some, that consisted of spending time skiing. For others, that was a beach vacation that took place near some of the bluest waters in the world. I’ll say that I was in the latter camp. 

I was extremely fortunate to have gone to Cancun, Mexico with my mother. And when we began our descent through the wispy layer of clouds, I realized what people truly came to this place and others like it for. This is what I saw!

I was totally taken by that bird’s eye view (right). Not only were the colors amazing, but what struck me most was my ability to see the reflections of the few clouds in the sky on the ocean floor. Oh, how clear it was! I was dumbfounded once again when I walked into our hotel room to find the view you see (below on the left). Tiny waves of crystal clear blue Gulf water fighting with white sand for the hearts of beachgoers brought a twinkle to my eye and a smile to my face. 

Thinking about brief experiences like the ones I mentioned and photographed in the context of Earth Day today, I begin to wonder about the things that are really endangering beautiful moments, places, creatures, and the places where people live. After experiencing what the beautiful Gulf of Mexico has to offer, why not focus for a quick bit on one of the most destructive events that happened within it – the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

According to this list of the biggest oil spills in history (by volume), the Deepwater Horizon disaster comes in at number two (however, it is the biggest accidental spill in history) with over 210 million gallons of oil spilt. How could this ever have happened, and what was BP thinking by putting the environment at such great risk by engaging in dangerous offshore drilling practices? I remember asking myself the exact same questions almost 4 years ago to the day. I sought out some answers, but here I am with an even deeper curiosity because the media at the time never really answered them. It never told me how things really happened or answered my question about what we could do to not let something similar happen going forward. The lack of clear information I had four years ago made me honestly feel like BP and the media were keeping secrets from all of us.

 Shortly after my return from Mexico, we watched a documentary-esque TV show called VICE in my journalism class. In this episode, the correspondents were tracking oil theft and illegal oil production that was occurring in the Niger River Delta. The illegal production plants were right on the water. One local resident said that the plant was so dangerous that it could practically explode at any second. At that point, the camera man pointed his camera down into the murky muck the investigating party had been wading through. If the plant were to explode, the entire swampy ecosystem would have been ablaze as well given the volumes of oil in it. All I can say is that there was limited to no possibility of any life being able to survive in such a poisoned environment. I know the same was true for many hundreds of miles of coastline following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. 

Having read many items now about how we talk about nature in our everyday lives, I think it is interesting to examine how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and other catastrophic spills play into the debates that occur about man’s relationship with nature. Thinking eco-critically, there is no doubt that many people blamed BP for the incident. Rightly so. However, this only further pitted big business and economic productivity (that’s why we consume oil, right?) against environmental health. What could have been done was, instead of leaping straight to the catastrophe, news sources could have done a far better job of actually explaining what happened and then reporting on the measures that BP and other off-shore drilling companies were taking to ensure that this never happened again. The suspicion I had four years ago that somebody was guarding information couldn't have been that far off. But that seems moot in comparison to the notion that that also means information about how to prevent future incidents was being and may still be withheld. Some may say too little too late, but the reality is we have never experienced “too late” in a dramatic way when it comes to the environment. “Too late” won’t occur for a long time, truth be told. But the media is “too late” almost always in covering events in a way that can actually make a positive contribution to society instead of merely assigning blame and creating fear.