Children of the Spill

by Annie Scott
June 16, 2010

Here’s what’s going on in a land far away but not so far apart from the Mitten …

When I read Sarah Palin’s recent quote that the people speculating about whether she’s had a certain figure enhancement should “grab a shovel, go down to the gulf, volunteer to help, clean up and save a whale or something,” it was the first spill-related news that actually put a smile (okay, smirk) on my face. What a welcome change!

Every other new piece of information from the Gulf is worse than the last. “Depressing” and “disturbing” are inadequate descriptors for the gut-punch feeling invoked by the stories, videos and photos from the escalating catastrophe.

Go ahead and call me naïve, but I know something good will come eventually out of this gargantuan-scale tragedy. Something must, since we don’t appear to have gotten much wiser or more safeguarded against these situations by repeating our mistakes — largely substituting faith in new technology and acceptance of greased assurances, instead of demanding by-the-book safety and accident prevention regulations and legitimate preparedness plans.

At any rate, the newsclips really take me back to the event that largely inspired my tree-hugging passion.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska happened just before I turned seven. I have a pretty poor memory, but I clearly remember being horrified and somewhat traumatized by that disaster. I couldn’t get the images out of my head of all the various forms of innocent, oil-coated wildlife and the helpless looks on the clean-up workers’ faces. Even at that age, I remember feeling powerful sadness, anger and exasperation at how much was destroyed and how long it took to clean up the area.

Later, still haunted by those pictures, I wanted to learn more about ways to keep another oil spill from happening and how to better protect the animals and environment if one did. I read every word of 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth and tried earnestly to figure out how many I could implement. These marked the first steps in my quest to Make A Difference (how cute!) and learn about how humans interact with the environment.

I never forgot that oil spill or the images burned into my brain. I had a child’s simplistic wariness of oil drilling. Oil Drilling = Bad! Exxon = Bad! Oil-Free Animals = Good! Nuance need not apply.

I wasn’t the only kid so deeply affected by the Exxon spill. It made such an impression on my significant other that he chose to do his big sixth-grade science project on simulating the effects of an oil spill on a beach ecosystem. A Southern California native and avid beachgoer, he was extremely motivated to learn more. In time, we both pursued environmental education and a green career path.

The Exxon spill was also a recurring topic in my college environmental classes. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe all of our shared interest stemmed from the impression that spill left on us at such a formative age.

Another vivid memory is from our annual family vacations at my grandparents’ Santa Barbara home. Every walk on the beach was followed by a mandatory, painfully brisk foot scrubbing to clean off all of the sandy tar that would accumulate on the bottoms of our feet. I had a lightbulb moment when someone explained that the beach tar was a result of the oil drilling that happens a mere six miles off the coastline of Santa Barbara. (Not knowing better, I figured that was how all California beaches were. I must say, it always made it even nicer to go home to the Great Lakes.)

Of course, Santa Barbara and Southern California are no strangers to oil spills. In 1969 there was a massive spill from a Union Oil platform off the coast of Santa Barbara. Until the Exxon-Valdez spill, it was the largest such accident in U.S. history. Touched off by a failed maneuver similar to the one that started the current Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, the 1969 accident leaked roughly 100,00 gallons into the Santa Barbara Channel. It caused so much environmental and economic damage that it led to a moratorium on new offshore drilling and is often credited as a major catalyst for the U.S. environmental movement. It even inspired the first Earth Day.

All the accidents and eyesores from the Golden State’s on- and offshore drilling over the years have turned many California residents and politicians firmly against new oil drilling projects. But desperate times (like a crippling state budget deficit) can do funny things to politicians and public opinion.

Last July, as a way to boost California’s revenue (including a nice $100 million upfront payment), Governor Schwarzenegger proposed expanding drilling in part of the Tranquillon Ridge oil field, just offshore from Santa Barbara County. In exchange for the rights to expand drilling for the first time in decades, the developers picked up support from some local environmental groups by offering a “deadline” for when they would stop drilling.

Though defeated by the state legislature, the hot-button and highly politicized proposal still had Schwarzenegger’s support…until May 3. Apparently it was the pictures that did him in, too. Citing the BP spill, the Governator said at a news conference: “I see on TV the birds drenched in oil, the fishermen out of work, the massive oil spill and oil slick destroying our precious ecosystem. That will not happen here in California, and this is why I am withdrawing my support for the T-Ridge project.”

That’s a start.

What other good can come from this?

The other day I was trying to imagine how today’s children are viewing the menacing leak that just won’t stop. I wondered how they’re responding to the constant, alarming videos and pictures.

We’ve all heard about Malia Obama’s plea to her dad to plug the hole. And I am holding out hope that something this devastating is powerful enough to inspire a new generation of environmentalists and lawmakers who are driven to protect the earth and can resist letting myopic “Drill, Baby, Drill” temptations set their priorities whenever oil inevitably skyrockets in price.

Who knows, maybe this disaster will inspire some kids to create a science project. Maybe one of them will even come up with an idea BP could use to greater effect than the nonsense it has tried to date. (At this point, when they’re enlisting Kevin Costner as an expert, I’d suggest they keep looking at new suggestions.)

Who knows, maybe some of these kids will even go on to study environmental engineering and design safeguards that actually prevent future spills. Maybe some of them will run for office on the platform of mandating such safeguards.

Who knows, maybe they’ll even save a whale or something.

Annie Scott lives and works in San Diego and sends dispatches back to her beloved Michigan.