| I remember the Santa Barbara oil spill. It was 1968 or | | | | Maine. He was a boy during World War II, and he |
| so and I had just moved to Los Angeles. An | | | | told me that in 1940 the beaches of Maine were |
| offshore oil rig was losing oil into the Pacific and the | | | | awash with crude oil that was released when German |
| news was flooded with pictures of spoiled beaches | | | | U-Boats torpedoed merchant ships off the Atlantic |
| and gummy gulls. It was sad and tragic at the same | | | | Coast. Have none of these environmentally |
| time. | | | | concerned people ever heard of World War II? |
| Thanks to that spill and a few subsequent events, | | | | Maybe not. Let's talk briefly about the war at sea. |
| the United States has curtailed offshore drilling along | | | | In both the Atlantic and the Pacific, hundreds, maybe |
| the Pacific Coast and elsewhere. Because of an | | | | even thousands, of ships were sunk during the six |
| accident 40 years ago, today we are paying over | | | | years that the war lasted. Merchant ships, especially |
| $4.00 per gallon of gasoline...as if technology has not | | | | oil tankers, were favorite targets of German and |
| been developed that could prevent a recurrence of | | | | American submarines. Warships of all kinds were |
| the same thing 40 years after the fact. | | | | targets of submarines, surface ships, and dive |
| Nobody wants to see oil spills. Not democrats, not | | | | bombers. From September 1939 until August 1945, |
| Republicans. I certainly don't. I enjoy visiting a pristine | | | | ships went down just about every day. And what |
| beach and watching the sea life and waterfowl living | | | | were those ships carrying? Regardless of the ship |
| in happy health. But where did we come up with this | | | | type, purpose, or cargo, they all had one thing in |
| idea that an oil spill is the end of civilization? | | | | common -- fuel oil. |
| When the Exxon Valdez dumped its black, liquid | | | | Except for submarines, which generally ran on diesel, |
| cargo into Prince Edward Sound in 1989, the | | | | the vast majority of these ships used crude oil as |
| environmental-conscious went into hysteria. Millions | | | | fuel. When these ships were sunk, that oil was |
| were spent on cleanup, and even more millions on | | | | released into the ocean. (At Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, |
| anti-capitalist propaganda. Capt. Joseph Hazelwood | | | | even today, one can still see oil floating to the |
| became the most hated man on the planet, even | | | | surface around the wreck of the USS Arizona.) I |
| slandered in the forgettable Kevin Costner movie | | | | have no idea how much oil was released, but it would |
| Waterworld. Predictions of environmental doom | | | | have been many thousands of tons. Exxon Valdez, a |
| ricocheted across the airwaves; environmental | | | | supertanker, spilled nearly 11 million gallons, and |
| science expert Ted Danson (taking a break from his | | | | everybody panicked. Eleven million gallons wouldn't |
| bartending) was quoted as publicly predicting that we | | | | even have been noticed had anyone been keeping |
| had only about ten years left before all life on earth | | | | track of crude oil spilled in World War II. |
| would end. (The end came in 2002, but I'm sure you | | | | And the planet survived. If the ocean can handle all |
| remember when the world ended.) | | | | those thousands of tons of crude oil, it can handle 11 |
| As if the planet's ecology isn't robust enough to | | | | million gallons. It can also handle an accidental spill |
| dispose of a few million gallons of crude oil! | | | | from an offshore oil rig. The planet is not in danger |
| I think most of these people mean well, but most of | | | | of extinction any time soon, even though Nancy |
| them simply don't know what they are talking about, | | | | Pelosi says she is trying to save it by blocking |
| and the vast majority don't use what brains they | | | | offshore drilling. |
| have. In 1975 I talked to a man who grew up in | | | | |