First Response

Here is my first response paragraph, to the article I posted called "Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?"

This article seems to be a call to quell the masses. Although it goes through the ‘usual suspects’ of facts about the spill, calling on the expert guesses, but then begins to detail and compare previous oil spills. It brings in the famous Exxon Valdez, as well as the Ixtoc I and “oil spilled by retreating Iraqi forces when they left Kuwait in 1991”. This article leans towards the social, reassuring us that this big and scary disaster is not the biggest and scariest one we’ve seen. Yes, it admits, this crisis is a huge deal for the environment, the economy, and the oil industry, that shouldn’t be taken lightly. But overall it leans in the direction of reassurance – taking all those facts and muting them with previous oil spills that are all cleaned up and dandy now. While not obviously pointing it out, this article definitely wants its reader to believe that this huge disaster will be handled properly, ending on a quote about the resilience of the gulf and giving the whole thing a title that leans towards the nonchalant. Though I can understand the need to comfort people at a time when it looks like black sludge will be taking over miles of ocean and shoreline, the way this person frames the ‘don’t worry, be happy’ vibe doesn’t seem completely credible. How can you compare an oil spill on land to one on sea? What were the specific circumstances of the other spills? Where are the hard facts, not just a few volume numbers and statistics? Most importantly, one must think of the long term affects of oil spills - the wildlife that are killed, livelihoods gone, ecosystems interrupted. Overall, though I appreciate this ‘call to calms’ approach to tackling the hot-button issue, I don’t find myself indulging in the fantasy that things will be alright.