Gulf of Mexico : a dilemma in the making?

As a kid I walked the beaches along California’s Central Coast. Often coming home with thick bits of black goo stuck to my feet, my clothes and on the shoes I refused to wear in the sand. Mom was not happy. I would stare at the oil rigs far offshore and wonder why fish and fowl would have to die and kids like me would annoy their Moms with so much ick.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know the Deepwater Horizon exploded after a fire April 20. Eleven are dead. And, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) reports 210,000 gallons of oil a day leaking from the the spill. This is a disaster that will have serious, and long lasting, economic impacts. Around the world, eyes are on the U.S. as it deals with this disaster.

You can expect an increase in the cost of your daily oyster indulgence and just today we learned you’ll be paying more at the pump as well. The fun lovin’ folks at Carnival Cruise lines are being re-routed (slightly) but so far the spill hasn’t impacted your cruising pleasure, reports of smelly journey’s through oil soaked waves are just rumors – so far.

As of this morning the slick is estimated to range between 2 million and 9 million gallons covering over 77,000 square miles, the size of Nebraska. More than 25 million seabirds have crossed over, or through, the slick in the past 2 weeks. Oysters are reproducing, trout are spawning, and shrimp are growing. The environmentally sensitive wetlands of the Louisiana shoreline provide respite for 90% of the marine wildlife in the area.

If the environmental aspects don’t tweak your ire, consider the economic devastation. The largest producer of fish and shellfish in the U.S. outside of Alaska, local shrimpers anticipate a 7 year recovery period.  The wetlands provide protection from hurricanes and there is a real worry that the wetlands may be decimated – leaving the coast to see much worse than Katrina.

Yesterday, California’s Governor Schwarzenegger had a change of heart about drilling on California’s shoreline. It might have been the sight of goo covered birds that helped the Guv change his mind, or the thought of the economic consequences if 210,000 gallons of oil a day were to hit our shores.

Either way, congratulations, Governor Schwarzenegger.

{My evil twin has taken a more irreverent view and worries only about the oyster population.}

UPDATE: Thanks to an avid reader we’ve learned our friends at Green For All are collecting signatures to take action against the Texas oil companies push for a Dirty Energy Proposition, which would repeal California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and kill thousands of jobs. Please, take a moment to sign the online petition.