Burn the Gulf!

If a couple of guys, say two of the aliens Stephen Hawking believes are out in the Universe, are floating above the Earth and watching what’s going on, they have to be sitting back drinking a cosmic beer and thinking about running for another galaxy. One example…
They are looking down on our planet as the Coast Guard is ready to literally set the Gulf of Mexico on fire. With 42,000 gallons of oil bleeding into the Gulf each day from a sunken oil rig and the slick getting closer and closer to the beaches and shores of Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, the apparent best thing to do is set the slick on fire. That slick as of Tuesday was 100 miles wide by 45 miles long. Vinotok on the Gulf anyone? Burn the Grump!

According to the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans, oil giant BP is working to build a series of containment domes that would be placed underwater to corral the oil and allow it to be pumped to storage tanks on nearby ships. Maybe they should have a few of the domes in a storage space somewhere just in case something bad happens…like what just happened? “Too expensive,” the bean counters might say since chances are slim that something like what just happened would happen.
It is estimated BP is spending more than $6 million a day in efforts to contain the spill. The bean counters might want to look for another job. I doubt one of the domes costs $6,000,000.
The company is also about to begin drilling separate “relief wells” that would intersect the leaking well and allow the company to pump a heavy drilling fluid into the well to counteract the flow. Eventually it would be plugged with concrete. That process could take up to three months, and the containment domes will not be finished for at least two to four weeks. You can do the math–at 42,000 gallons a day, there is a bit of oil to set on fire. Burn the Grump!

Still think there is too much government regulation out there, tea partiers? Ask your fellow tea baggers with beachfront property in Gulf Shores, Alabama or Pensacola, Florida if maybe they think perhaps a bit more regulation or mandated emergency preparation might have been appropriate.
I don’t have a problem with the U.S. developing its energy resources from oil to solar to wind. But do it with some responsibility and not just an eye on profit.
Drill baby Drill? No. That bumper sticker mentality is pretty facile. Drill where it is appropriate and do it with proper regulation and some sense. Keep the common good in mind. In the meantime…Burn the Grump! I mean Burn the Gulf! Burn the Gulf!