FOR the last few days, attention has understandably been directed at the shores of the Gulf Coast as oil has started to wash up on beaches and in marshes. But last week I had the chance to see the effects of the spill from another perspective — when I dived into the oil slick a few miles off the Pass a Loutre wetlands in southern Louisiana. What I witnessed was a surreal, sickening scene beyond anything I could have imagined.
via www.nytimes.com
nature is not going to deal with the oil with a single command and control structure. NOR SHOULD WE.
bioaccumulative dispersant contains known carcinogen. Friday eve # NewsHour guest professor from #University of South Florida describes a chef's nightmare a mile below the surface: natural gas under pressure, combining with salt water, oil and dispersant to make an emulsion with properties more like water: most of the oil is NOT rising to the surface but pervading the water column and thus the entire food web.
nature is not going to deal with the oil with a single command and control structure. NOR SHOULD WE. grab your destiny in your own hands, gulf states: employ best practices, don't do anything stupid, try to anticipate unintended consequences, but lead, follow, or get out of the way. every coastal community is going to have to deal with its undulating coastline, marsh, disappearing barrier islands in its own way. waiting for the feds to authorize or do or lead is proving to be just, well, dumb. i'd think y'all had figured that out 4 years back. spend the money and send BP the bill. they're paying for dopey advertising for FL beaches, they can write more checks for actual Work.
one group has to deal with the source of the flow a mile down. command and control is appropriate for that, but not for the local response.
we better be as opportunistic, flexible, locally adaptive, communitarian as Nature on dealing with the cleanup, or we will perish waiting for a single silver bullet from An Authority from elsewhere.
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