Tragedy Repeats Itself 21 Years Later: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Amnesia

Oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the people are devastated, and the ocean is a disaster. How similar this scene is to the Alaska oil spill 21 years ago! That incident in Alaska led to bans on offshore oil drilling. However, things have changed over time. In the pursuit of profit, that bitter experience from long ago has faded from memory, and the people seem to have gotten a serious case of amnesia.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled 34,000 tons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. At the time, this was one of the world’s most serious oil spills, resulting in the deaths of a few hundred thousand birds and several thousand large sea creatures. The local fishing industry was devastated for many years, the coastal economy was in dire straits, and the impact on society has continued until today. This incident afflicted U.S. society as a whole, directly forcing then President George Bush to sign an administrative order that completely froze the U.S.’ offshore oil drilling.

However, perhaps we tend to forget the pain once the scar has healed. Starting in 2008, an election year with high oil prices and a unique political situation, U.S. offshore oil drilling once again found itself torn between prohibition and progress. In the end, this battle ended with victory claimed by George W. Bush’s administration — both the Senate and the House successively passed bills to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling. In March of this year, President Obama formally announced that, in some areas, the resumption of offshore oil drilling would be expanded to allow the development of offshore oil and gas fields.

Originally, there was nothing to criticize about developing the offshore oil industry, raising domestic oil production and decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. The problem was.. are you ready? Was supervision adequate? Were safety technologies ready? Were sufficient preparations made for dealing with accidents?

Regrettably, environmental safety considerations cannot stand a blow against the pursuit of profit. Few people expressed environmental concerns about offshore oil development. Skyrocketing oil prices also made Americans forget about environmental concerns. In the past two years, polls showed that most Americans supported offshore oil drilling. Because of their blind faith in current technologies, concerns about environmental safety were almost completely neglected.

Another manifestation of amnesia was the lack of government supervision. The U.S. Minerals Management Service has conflicting obligations. On one hand, it is responsible for monitoring the safety of offshore oil drilling and development. On the other hand, it must make oil companies produce more, hence allowing the federal government to get more of its share from oil revenues. If the supervisors are supposed to encourage more production, then how can they truly “supervise” oil companies?

A report from the U.S. Department of the Interior verified that Minerals Management Service employees lacked professional ethics and did not uphold rules and regulations. It seems like the Minerals Management Service completely forgot the “pain” of the Alaska oil spill.

Although the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was not directly caused by the U.S. government’s lifting of the ban on offshore drilling, this incident is a sign of an entire society’s amnesia with regard to environmental safety. Forgetting the past, letting the pursuit of profit get the upper hand and being apathetic about safety will surely lead to a more painful lesson. It is a warning to the world: “Have you also gotten this kind of amnesia?”