I am dismayed at how the news coverage and public opinion seem so concerned about whether Tony Hayward (target of left wingers and "small people") or President Obama (target of right wingers and Tea Partyers) are sufficiently sorry or outraged or whether they "care" enough about the people (or pelicans or sea slugs) who are affected by the spill. Neither of them had anything to do with why it happened or how to fix it. Obviously it was a series of bad judgments and shortcuts made by a lot of different people involved in the drilling operation, including BP operations people and the drilling rig operators and probably some other corporate blue and white collar types many rungs below either of those guys. Maybe the MMS guys, too in the permitting. The morons who insist that Obama needs to "get tough" and demand that BP fix it, or has failed to do so might as well insist that he demand the hurricanes don't come this season and that the earth begin rotating the opposite direction. "Demanding" is useless. Hayward is right that BP and everyone in it already has every incentive they need to get it capped. They want their lives back and they know darn well their stock options and probably jobs are on the line as are their reputations among their peers and family members for being competent and socially responsible. I don't care how Tony feels or whether he goes yachting nor should anyone else. BP and its engineers are in the best position, with the expertise (such as it is) and equipment to get the leak stopped. The real problem was expressed well by someone early on in this thread. No one has the technology or knowhow to control a leak this deep under such pressure. Period. Let BP fix it and clean up as best they can and maybe at that stage bring in others to do the cleaning, or help anyway. Then make BP and the drilling co., etc. pay for everything. Personally I think the environmental damage will be less than everyone is predicting. If Bikini Atoll can be teeming with life now, as it was within a year after the A-bomb tests, and Prince William Sound ended up having more damage caused by the beach cleanup efforts than by the Exxon Valdez oil itself, the Gulf wildlife will recover. The fishermen, maybe not in the near term.
Ultimately, though, the real culprit isn't any of these people. It is the American & world public. We want cheap and convenient personal transportation - cars, trucks, SUVs, motorboats, RVs - so badly we continue to demand gasoline at whatever cost to the environment. We want to live in a suburb in a single family home instead of in an apartment at a transit hub in the inner city near our office, or within walking distance of our employer. Or we're too fat and lazy to ride a bike. And so on. Here's an idea - let's all buy an electric car instead!
