Essay On The Gulf Of Mexico

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On April 20, 2010, the Gulf of Mexico experienced a disaster unprecedented in scale and environmental impact. Fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a BP drilling rig suffered an explosion that claimed eleven lives and caused the rig to sink over 5000 ft. to the sea bed floor. This was the beginning of the BP oil spill which spanned over eighty seven days, releasing an approximate 2.3 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Although the flow of oil into the Gulf was contained July 15, 2010, the lasting effects of the oil spill on the environment continue to be devastating and widespread. (Kirkwood 1) Some of the richest oil reserves in the world are found in the Gulf of Mexico, which currently accounts for 30 percent of U.S. oil production (Bourne 3). In addition to oil reserves, that part of America referred to as the “Gulf” region, located at the Gulf of Mexico and primarily including the southern coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana, is home to both significant ecological and environmental resources, including wildlife on the endangered species list. Although no one can say for sure how much oil was spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, one thing is certain: The victims of the oil spill are widespread and vary greatly. One group significantly affected by the oil spill is all of the onshore businesses along the Gulf that rely on the tourism as a source of income. This group includes hotels, restaurants, resorts, and novelty shops dependent on tens of thousands of tourists who head down to the Gulf for vacation each year (Segal 2). Another group greatly impacted by the oil spill is the off-shore businesses who rely on the Gulf waters and its re... ... middle of paper ... ... compel them to cooperate with such investigations into misspending. This problem is made worse in the case of the BP oil spill because it is BP’s monies that are being misspent and because BP, a company worth billions of dollars, caused the oil spill. The BP oil spill was a tragedy on many levels, and there were many victims of that tragedy. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to un-do what happened in the Gulf on April 20, 2010. However, by not aggressively trying to fix the situation of local governments not spending monies dedicated towards protecting and restoring the Gulf to its pre-spill condition, we are allowing another tragedy to continue that we actually can control. The Gulf region and all of its resources are too valuable to us as a nation to simply allow it to fall victim to local greed and corruption, and it is up to us to us to fix the problem now.

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