The BP oil disaster, and us - who is really to blame?

Who was to blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster?

Barbara Echlin and Ruth Jarman, 28th of June 2010

BP was clearly guilty of taking risks and the US government must shoulder some responsibility for allowing such risks to be taken. But should we also ask ourselves why BP felt the need to put its people and the Gulf in such danger?

The reason is simple. Our civilisation, as it is presently constructed, needs oil to function and the world is near “peak oil” – the point at which oil will become harder and harder to find. If humanity does not wean itself off oil, oil companies will continue to take increasingly dangerous risks with our environment and the climate, as well as their shareholders’ shares and dividends, in order to fulfil our need for oil. (learn more about peak oil and watch 'A Crude Awakening - the oil crisis')

So what should be our response to the Deep Horizon accident? As Christians how do we make sense of the suffering of all the creatures living within the Gulf ecosystem? – the out of work fishermen, the oil-covered turtles, and the sand and the sea? A suffering caused by our ‘need’ – or greed – for oil. If we believe in a compassionate and sustaining God how can we fulfil our mission, under God, to care for God’s Earth?

We can campaign for greater environmental scrutiny of company strategies at www.fairpensions.org but we can also scrutinise our own lives. Living in a society so dependent on oil makes it impossible to give it up altogether, but we can all cut down. Oil of course fuels our transport, but is also used to make plastic and fertilisers. Cut right down on driving, flying and buying plastic and try to eat more local, organic and seasonal food.

The human and animal lives lost and blighted by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will not have been in vain if the incident wakes us all up to the risks of oil exploration and the urgent necessity to move beyond petroleum.

By Barbara Echlin and Ruth Jarman