Recent Petroleum Industry Tragedies

This current problem occuring in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana is a tragedy, and alludes to other problems that attribute to the big picture. We have consistently been dependent on a handful of resources (oil,coal, natural gas) to provide our energy needs. These forms of energy have allowed the nation to prosper, as well as certain individuals and certain states, like my home state Texas. When we have incident such as this explosion of an oil rig platform occurs it just illuminates the hazards associated with industry. We also witnessed this a week and half ago when several miners died in a methane-sparked explosion in a coal mine in West Virginia.

The blame is always placed upon these petroleum companies, and rightfully so at times because of the profit driven nature. However, they have chosen their professions based on the need of millions of American's excessive hunger and need for more and more energy. In an indirect way, we are just as much apart of the fault as these industries, if not more. We provide the incentive and demand for these companies to continue to operate. They are merely utilizing the capitalist system we have created to be prosperous.

Consciously, we need to examine not just the issues surrounding these two incidents and who is at fault, but our overall consumption habits. Also, there needs to be steps taken in order to allow transition of these companies to not just be based in one area of energy, but allowing for them to utilize resources both financial and tangible for several forms of energy. It makes sense for "energy companies" to have a diverse profile, however in order to be encouraged to move in that direction, consumer habits must change and must be evident.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/us/23mine.html?hpw

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/us/23rig.html?hp