A small leak

What really does one have to add to the story on the oil leak in the gulf? The whole thing is a sad mess certainly. One could rail on about BP for instance, but as long as we're setting up our cities a certain way, BP will do what the market (ie us) tells it to do.

One could rail on about the malfeasance and stupidity of the science of drilling at 5000 feet of water. But science is by definition at the edge of what is doable. There is always room for catastrophic failure at the edge of our technological abilities. So, unless we want to see human knowledge stagnate, there will be possibilities for failure. Unless we want to abandon oil, there will be possibilities for catastrophic failure.

One could rail on about the political elements of the mess. The government oversight was insufficient. The regulations were killed. The politicians are buddy buddy with business. Whatever. The whole story there is that the Dems blame the Pubs, the Pubs blame the Dems, The true believers on either side can't be bothered to think outside their cages. It's much like reciprocal masturbation. Without each other, they'd have no erotic tension and no ultimate satisfaction.

One could rail on about the eco-disaster. And while it is alas, whether it is something that is ultimately survivable and fixable or whether it is "Americans Chernobyl" has everything to do with one's political perspective, and reverts to the previous' paragraph's circle jerk.

Further, without inside knowledge of how the oil drilling process works, and of how BP is run, and how the government interacts with BP, we can't really know anything. Certainly, all the intelligence needed to know what is going in is beyond our reach at this point. Follow the discussions at PeakOil.com or TheOilDrum, and a handful of insiders are giving out useful information. But mostly it is average folks like you and me sitting at the computer talking to each other, and guessing at information that is beyond our reach.