Just a matter of time

It’s been almost two years since BP oil’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burned and sank into the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 men. And it was all due to human error, corporate negligence, and political cronyism. The oil spewed into gulf waters for three months while an ill-prepared, ill-equipped oil company struggled to find a way to cap a well so deep in the ocean that even a modern submarine could not approach it. Clean-up efforts scrubbed clean the beaches and ocean’s surface, while deep below, nothing could be done. Hands were slapped, fingers pointed, and politicians postured and pontificated. But two years later, aside from rearranging a few bureaucratic deck chairs, nothing has been done. Nothing! The oil companies own Washington, and Washington is broken. Rest assured we will see another Deepwater Horizon someday. It’s only a matter of time.  (See all related PT commentary under “BP oil spill.”