I’ve been deeply troubled by the environmental disaster taking place in my beloved Gulf of Mexico and caused by the BP oil blowout. It’s been six weeks and still there is no end in sight to this nightmare. It might be August before BP can drill a relief well: apparently the only sure-fire way to stop the leak. In the meantime, a million gallons of crude oil will likely poison the gulf each day.

As much as this disaster upsets me it also made me examine what led to it. By drilling for oil, BP was fulfilling a need: the world’s insatiable need for oil. And that insatiable need is my insatiable need, too. If my car doesn’t get gasoline, it doesn’t go anywhere. That means I can’t get to work, which means I can’t provide for my family. Not a good scenario.
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