The Worst Environmental Disaster in U.S. History

The BP spill was called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. President Obama called it the worst. And I am not singing Yankee Doodle Dandy in Portuguese either. Of course, everything is unparalleled to the folks in Washington. How embarrassing that it has become hard to find the oil. Google says “where is the oil?” I guess probably the powers to be in Washington are frequently yelling the same thing in four-letter words.

So are we left with the anti-scientific precautionary theory – dreamt up by the very same guys who caused this disaster? Isn't that an appropriate question? We don’t know what could happen so it must be worse than anything we could think of. I’m sure the American people patience is wearing pretty thin when it comes to the politicians, chair warmers quirks.

Will the Gulf ever return to “normal?” No, I don’t think so since in the environment there is no normal. Ecology is the story of constant change. What scientists have found is those microorganisms are eating up the spilled oil. These organisms are naturally present in the Gulf because oil has been naturally leaking into the Gulf since the creation of the Gulf in deep geological time. They quickly multiplied as their food supply increased. I can bet their population will crash when it is gone. In the meantime, they will do their job at the bottom of the food chain. And sure enough I’ll bet that a couple of years from now people will discover that the fish and shrimp population has increased. Why? More food. The oil spill has essentially fertilized those waters. When the effect is over, there will be complaints.