Accountability

I don't consider myself as a tree hugging environmentalist, but I do consider myself a conservationist. What is developing in the Gulf of Mexico is not just solely the fault of British Petroleum, the owner of the oil rig responsible for potentially the biggest oil spill ever. I think this is a much bigger problem than that. Consider the hubris of the oil industry to drill into the sea bed miles below the surface of the ocean. We as a race do not even have a clear understanding of what goes on in the oceans, never mind at the sea bed and we have the arrogance to believe that we can disrupt that delicate environment safely.

Perhaps it's not hubris, but greed that is at play here. Its analogous to Wall Street's role in the financial crisis. People without a real comprehension continue to head down a riskier path in search for higher profits until a tipping point is reached.

Ultimately, we cannot place the entire blame on the oil industry either. We as a society all contribute to the problem. The complacency that exists in society leads us to take things for granted. We expect to have certain conveniences in life and we are intolerant of any disruption of that lifestyle. So can we as a society really put the entire blame on an industry that is there to fulfill a demand? The kind of "accountability" we place on oil companies and Wall Street banks makes it very convenient to scapegoat. We are not even aware of our own role in contributing to the problem. What if we all made a conscientious effort to conserve? Perhaps then the demand would not be high to the point where companies take undue risk in the pursuit of profit.

Let's for once look ourselves in mirror and be accountable.