I am cross-posting this from the blog I write at my office, Consequence. It may be one of the best I've written.

Also, you should really follow me on Twitter, so you can get links like the one I just tweeted. Apparently, the Phoenix Suns will where uniforms in Game 2 of their playoff series (meaning on national television), that say "Los Suns." Yes, it is Spanglish. But it is also a direct protest of a state law by one of its biggest businesses. The Major League Baseball Players' Union has come out against the last as well, for obvious reasons.


Gulf Coast Catastrophe: We Already Have the Answers

Two weeks ago, while much of the Southeast settled into bed, the U.S. Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico was just beginning its night. As they responed to a fire on a Transocean oil rig 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, no one could have been prepared for what would happen next.

An explosion on the rig left the platform engulfed in flames. Dozens were rescued, but 11 were missing. None have been found.
Make a Mess or Make Progress
The Coast Guard spent the night trying to put out the fire, only to watch the Deepwater Horizon rig capsize and sink some 5,000 feet to the sea bed two days later. On that same day, Thursday, an oil slick was spot on the surface.

Initial estimates pegged the leak, originating at the head of the oil well, at 1,000 barrels a day (about 40,000 gallons). Several days later, that estimate was raised to 5,000 barrels a day and continued to grow. With 210,000 gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day, the situation quickly threatened to become catastrophic.

British Petroleum (BP), the company leasing the rig, along with President Barack Obama and members of his administration, promised every possible resource, while at the same time deflecting blame. The president postponed new drilling plans and BP continued to point the finger at Transocean, the rig’s operator.

In the days and weeks ahead, many will blame BP, Transocean, Haliburton, the administration and many others. Lost in the outrage though is what didn’t happen last Monday.

No comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation was introduced in the US Senate.

Almost a year ago, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would impose a price on carbon emissions and invest heavily in clean energy. Mainly it would cut our dependence on dirty, 19th century energy solutions like oil and coal.

Since then, in April alone, 31 coal miners died in two separate incidents, both of which brought into question the safety records of one of the industry’s largest producers, Massey Energy. Three weeks later, a state-of-the-art oil rig, with a supposedly fail-safe system, failed, sinking into the Gulf. The immediate results were 11 lost lives. The long-term results may not be known for decades.

A hard hat covered in oil found off the coast of Louisiana.


And yet, the Senate sits idly by. So many members of Congress have been outspoken about drilling, both pro and con. Florida Senator Bill Nelson immediately called for reinstating a moratorium on offshore drilling. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who once called drilling safe, said that while no one thinks drilling comes without risks, drilling must continue nevertheless.

What neither said was that we can cut our addiction to oil if they step up and pass clean energy legislation. BP may be a perpetrator, but the solution lies in Congress.

President Obama has so often said that, “we’ve been talking about our energy problems for decades.” If that is truly the case — and it is — that means we have now been having this conversation through two devastating oil spills. In both cases, the fishing industry will take mammoth hits. Fishing has been completely suspended off the Gulf Coast, meaning the livelihood of much of the region is at stake.

That is thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, while blame is spread from Big Oil, to the Obama administration. Congressional hearings are not the solution.

Congress needs to look in the mirror. This was one of thousands of oil rigs, and by itself, it has crippled the Gulf Coast region.

Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation can replace many of those rigs with wind turbines. It can take advantage of the huge amounts of sunlight that heats the Southeast and many other regions in the US. It can cut dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic, helping our national security, safety in the workplace, and the environment many parts of our economy relies on.

President Obama said in eulogizing 29 coal miners that no worker in America should leave for work not knowing whether they will come home.

That happened two weeks ago. It happens everyday in this country when we take advantage of thousands of workers on oil rigs and in coal mines, so we can enjoy the comforts of heat and light. It happens despite the fact that we know we have a better, cleaner, safer way.

Fishing boats sit idle as all commercial fishing has been suspended.

More than 100,000 coal miners have died on the job alone in this nation’s history. That not include the many more who suffered, and died from, black lung disease.

Clean energy is not some far off technology reserved for future dreams and visionary people. It is reality. It is here. It is waiting for us to invest in it. It doesn’t take a visionary person to realize that we cannot keep sending American workers into these conditions, and continue to threaten so many sectors of our economy because, a decade into it, we refuse to step into the 21st century.

The solution rests in Congress. No longer is the Senate’s deliberate pace only creating higher prices at the pump or minor incidents here and there. It is costing lives. It is costing jobs in the thousands. It is threatening to devastate the Gulf Coast region, again.

Where are our leaders? When will they listen? If, as Texas Governor Rick Perry said yesterday, this truly is an “act of God,” how does everyone in the country see the message except for Congress? We know, however, that it was not an act of any God, but one of negligence.

A failure to use reasonable care that results in harm or injury to others. In one month, that failure has led to more than 40 deaths and untold billions in damages to the environment and the economy.

Solutions sit in Congress, awaiting action. For years they have waited. We can’t wait anymore. Congress can no longer be negligent.