Sportsman's Paradise Lost?

Trees and plants always look like the people they live with, somehow.
--Zora Neale Hurston in Seraph on the Sewanee (1948)

If someone had told me that there could be any ecological disaster that could dwarf the American tragedy called Hurricane Katrina--and the gross presidential mismanagement in its wake-- I would have been highly skeptical. Of course, that was before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion of April 20 at the Macondo well, roughly 40 miles off the Louisiana coast--and before the Obama administration's handling of it.

And I know that there are those who will say that I'm being too hard on this President. "He's only one man" or "Give him a chance," they usually tell me. Moreover, Obama's defenders point out that this is a disaster that has been decades in the making. And who can deny the sleazy, greasy, incestuous relationship between "big oil" and the previous administration, which was headed by the two oil men, Bush and Cheney? Halliburton has even been cited as a player in this debacle.

But here's the thing: This unprecedented "accident" happened on the watch of President Barack Hussein Obama--and so far, his administration has performed abysmally. But, I'll come back to that.

For now, I want to try to convey the magnitude of what is being lost down on the Gulf Coast, perhaps forever.

"Sportsman's Paradise" Lived

As a young girl growing up in Louisiana, I often wondered what "Sportsman's Paradise" meant. After all, I read this appellation on our state license plates day-in and day-out. My juvenile mind wondered why we didn't have a more colorful, concrete nickname like, say, Florida's "The Sunshine State."

Sure, I knew "Sportsman's Paradise" had something to do with the outdoors. And although I am now a proponent of gun control, Lord knows, the menfolk in my family love the hunt (or at least they did). And, it was certainly not lost on me that Louisiana boasts some of the best fishing in the world. After all, my hometown is Lake Providence, where I resided on the Bayou Road.

Still, it never dawned on me back then that the "Sportsman's Paradise" moniker crystallized my entire way of life. Indeed, some of my fondest memories are of freshwater fishing in the Mississippi River, in the lake for which my hometown is named, or in one of the dozens of "fishing holes" that dot East Carroll Parish, which is in the northeastern part of the state, part of the tri-state region called the ArkLaMiss.

This is to say nothing of the speedboat racing and waterskiing on the lake, which were above my family's station in life; even so, it was sure fun watching the wealthy Whites do so during the sweltering summers. Since my parents wouldn't let us swim in the lake, the only time I was ever in the lake was when I was baptized therein, all of twelve years-old.

And even though I can count on one hand the times that I have been to the southern part of the state, the seafood harvested from the Gulf was a staple in my family, as it is for the entire seafood industry, providing an estimated 70 percent of America's oysters. Moreover, the Gulf of Mexico boasts one of the only sustainable wild shrimp habitats and fisheries in the world.

It is not hyperbole to suggest that this could all be lost, which is unimaginable, especially for one whose culture is irrevocably tied to this cuisine.

For instance, on special occasions, my mother would make the most delectable oyster po-boys, using loaves of melt-in-your mouth French bread, sometimes home-baked by my father. And I still remember how she would make what had to be the world's best shrimp-fried rice, using little bowls to mould the delicacy into uniform mounds. And don't even mention the seafood gumbo, loaded with crab legs, shrimp, and sometimes even crawfish.

Paradise Lost?

But sadly, it has taken a geyser, spewing millions of gallons of toxic oil into the Gulf of Mexico--and a transnational oil giant, with seemingly no governmental oversight, spraying and pumping gallons upon gallons of unspecified chemical "dispersants," both aerially and 5,000 feet below the surface of the water--to make me fully understand what the name "Sportsman's Paradise" means.

I never gave the wetlands and marshes a second thought. Really, until now, I never fully appreciated their beauty--or their sacred worth as an incubator for dozens of species of marine life--and birds.

And speaking of birds, the pictures of oil-drenched brown pelicans, the Louisiana state bird, are enough to make the blood boil. This is what made me think of Zora Neale Hurston's poignant observation about plants and trees being a reflection of the people they "live with." Obviously, the same is true of birds and animals--and the waters.

James Carville--staunch Democratic strategist, and New Orleans resident--has described the Obama administration's response to the Gulf Crisis as "lackadaisical," insisting that the President has displayed "political stupidity" and naiveté by relying so heavily on British Petroleum (BP) to manage the crisis.

Carville, the "Ragin' Cajun," called out the POTUS, urging him to take action--starting with coming to the scene of the crime--because "we're dying down here."

Bigger Than Katrina

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that Team Obama initially tried to avoid taking ownership of the crisis, opting to just badmouth BP (who deserves it) and promising to "keep its foot on the neck" of the oil giant, as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar infamously quipped.

But here's the rub, this is the United States of America. Barack Obama is the President and, as such, he--not BP-- is charged with protecting America's "bounty," as he eloquently stated during his tense news conference last week, 37 days into this cataclysm of biblical proportions.

Chris Matthews, MSNBC news analyst and host of "Hardball," observed similarly on the "Tonight Show." "The President scares me," Matthews said. "When is he actually going to do something? And I worry; I know he doesn't want to take ownership of it. I know politics. He said the minute he says, 'I'm in charge,' he takes the blame, but somebody has to. It's in our interest."

I have even begun to wonder if scriptwriters have been brought in to manage the crisis. Seriously. Staging and public relations, it seems, are the name of the game.

For example, Jefferson Parish City Councilman Chris Roberts is accusing BP of bussing in 300-400 people, reportedly offered $12 per hour, to act as props for the Obama visit. They allegedly donned hazmat suits and simulated a massive clean-up effort for Obama's fly-by photo-op in Grand Isle, departing shortly after the president left.

So far, BP denies this allegation--and no one has yet implicated the White House in this despicable, greasy scheme, although how could they not know about the alleged duplicity, assuming they are as "on top of things," as they would have us believe?

And to listen to some of the names like "Deepwater Horizon," "Operation Top Kill" and other action movie-type terminology, you half-way expect Will Smith or Sean Connery to ride to the rescue in a heart-stopping climax worthy of a 4th of July-released thriller. But alas, this is not fiction, although I'm sure multiple docu-dramas are already in the works.

As it were, some have taken to calling the oil spill, Obama's Katrina. Well, I disagree. This is far worse than Katrina--and Katrina was epic.

And this is not to minimize the fact that well over a thousand people died and the city of New Orleans was virtually destroyed, much of it still not rebuilt. With the BP oil spill, however, who knows what the long-term environmental and health effects of this spill and the "dispersants" will have on those exposed to them, as a recent Washington Post article reports.

At least you can rebuild a city--if you are inclined to do so, which the federal government does not seem to be in the case of New Orleans, but that's another story.

With this apocalyptic oil spill, however, there is no end in sight. BP announced today--surprise, surprise--that the much ballyhooed "Top Kill" method has failed and they are preparing for yet another likely futile attempt next week. Conceivably, the spillage could go on for months, until either a "relief" well is drilled or until the well runs dry, which could be up to 50 million barrels, according to BP spokesperson Jon Pack.

And how's this for a visual? Each barrel holds 42 gallons. So, if the BP executive's approximation is accurate, that means roughly two billion one hundred million (2, 100,000,000) gallons of crude oil could make its way into the Gulf--almost 195 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill into Prince William Sound, which was approximately 11 million gallons.

Just imagine that.

Time magazine reports that the spill threatens an "underwater 'rainforest,'" as the dispersed oil lurks beneath the surface of the Gulf. A group of marine scientists from the University of South Florida, lead by oceanographer David Holland, recently took their research vessel, the WeatherBird II, on a damage assessment expedition, primarily of the DeSoto Canyon, which is south of the Florida coast and about 20 miles north of the Deepwater Horizon gusher. What they found is heartbreaking--and chilling.

"The DeSoto is to the Gulf what a rainforest is to a land-based ecosystem: a densely fertile area where life forms fairly explode. It's the upwellings of nutrient-rich water that make the area so hospitable to fish, coral and other living things. On the surface, the waters of the region look clean, but just below the surface and down to about 3,300 ft. (1 km), Hollander and his team found a six-mi. (9.6 km) wide, 22-mi. (35.4 km) long oil bloom, broken into millions of bits and beads and moving with the current. It had not reached the canyon yet, but it was heading that way."

That is what is at stake here, folks; and no expense should be spared to stave off a complete disaster.

Mayday, Mayday...the Gulf of Mexico is Dying

In this instance, there are no sacred cows.

That is why I find Dr. Boyce Watkins' article "Four Ways Obama can stop Oil Spill from Consuming his Presidency" so utterly offensive and short-sighted. And, I'm sorry to say, greasy.

Watkins suggests, seriously, that Obama do four things: 1) find a fall guy, the more the better; 2) "become a certified tree hugger"; 3) use a wag-the-dog type strategy and create an international incident, perhaps the standoff in the Korean peninsula, to distract the media with a bit of "Houdini-like misdirection," Watkins cleverly suggests; and 4) seize the moment and levy a ginormous fine against BP.

Newsflash: No amount of money can replace the Louisiana coastal ecosystem--or that of any of the other states that might be affected eventually: Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida. Ultimately, the Atlantic coast and the Caribbean could even be affected.

Into the bargain, hurricane season begins Tuesday--running through November--and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution serves up the following dire warning: "The predictions call for up to 23 storms of at least tropical storm strength. As many as seven are expected to be major hurricanes of at least Category 3 strength, with sustained winds of 111-130 mph. Five or more may threaten the U.S. coastline."

Granted, we are in unchartered waters here--no pun intended--and no one seems to know what to do, but the last thing we should be worried about is protecting President Obama who, so far, seems to be in way over his head, pun intended.

And we certainly don't need trickery, as Watkins advises. I must state here for the record that I am not trying to pick on Dr. Boyce, but surely, in this instance, we can put politics aside.

That is the only way this government can mobilize the army that is needed to clean-up all the oil. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour says they are ready and waiting to protect their coastline.

But this raises the following questions: Why are they just waiting, as the Louisiana coastline is being defiled? Why don't they help their neighbors who are facing this ungodly ruination, reportedly already having had over 100 miles of the Louisiana coastline "oiled"?

And, mind you, I don't claim to have all the answers, but I would recommend the following action plan for the American government:

• The use of all dispersants must be suspended until we know specifically what is being used and perhaps more importantly, whether they do more harm than good;
• BP management must be totally removed from the effort. Totally.
• Obama must assemble a team of industry "experts" from around the world and put them on the ground on the Gulf Coast. Then his administration should truly oversee their operation. Albeit true that the only people with the necessary expertise to plug the leak (if that is even possible) are petroleum engineers, they don't have to be from BP. The only things BP should do, from this point forward, is write checks--and answer questions;
• And speaking of questions and answers, a criminal investigation should be launched immediately. People need to be subpoenaed and perhaps we can get to the root cause of this event and, hopefully, ensure that nothing like this will ever happen again;
• If it can be done legally, all American oil leases held by BP should be revoked;
• Of course, the ultimate goal is the cessation of the leak, but clean-up must be ongoing--and aggressive. Thus, there should be a literal army of workers blanketing the Louisiana Gulf Coast (and other areas as needed) around the clock. As I heard one local politician say, "We have got to treat this thing like a war." President Obama needs to ensure that every available suction device in the world is in use, sucking up as much of the poison as is humanly possible.
• Additionally, wherever possible, there should be oil tankers very near the gusher sucking the oil into the ship's hold. The only limitations on this should be spatial and logistical. If it can be done, it must be done, last month.

Which Legacy, Obama?

Make no mistake, if this oil spill is not contained, President Obama will forever be known as the commander-in-chief under whose watch the Gulf of Mexico--and everything in it--died. Died. Not a good look...

Going forward, if President Obama wants to restore at least a modicum of confidence in his leadership in this area, he must form a governmental agency charged with research and development of renewable energy, as well as providing grants for promising inventors.

It is not enough to just say that we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, foreign and otherwise. This president should strive to place America at the forefront of this emerging technological arena, simultaneously resurrecting the American economy. This is a legacy that he could be proud of-- even if he serves only one term, which seems increasingly likely.

At the same time, the president must limit deepwater drilling. To the extent that it is utilized, he must ensure that industry best practices are in place. For instance, Canadian law requires that a "relief" well must be drilled simultaneously with the exploratory well. If this were already American law, we would not now face the prospect of waiting for months while relief wells are drilled--while millions of gallons of crude oil continue to flow unabated into the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally, I have a whole drawer full of Obama t-shirts. If all else fails, I'm willing to donate them for the Gulf clean-up effort.