louisiana2000

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf is reportedly considered the worse oil spill in history. The disaster killed 11 workers in the initial explosion and continued to dump 170 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 3 months before the flow of oil could be stopped. 1,000 miles of shoreline was affected; birds and other wildlife along the Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida coastlines were replaced by tar balls and oil slicks rolling up to the shores. The environmental effects will have long a lasting impact on the wildlife, coastlines and tourism in the Gulf of Mexico for years to come. The devastation should be a call to action in taking steps to lessen our dependence on oil. The legacy is the lesson learned. It is known what led to this spill can be traced back to the lackadaisical nature of the oil industry and government officials in overseeing and enforcing safety measures. The world has seen how this cannot happen again. The first steps should be to correct and enforce government oversight in regulating offshore drilling. Second, our environment should not suffer another disaster such as this. We need a concerted, well-funded effort to say goodbye to the oil era and look towards sustainable energy options.