A violent storm on Sunday, November 11^th in the Black Sea ripped the Volganeft-139 Russian oil tanker in half, dumping almost 2,000 tons of fuel oil. The heavily refined fuel oil is particularly damaging because of its relative weight and thickness, and is now sinking to the ocean floor. The proximity of the spill to shore also means increased levels of environmental damage. 30,000 birds have already died and the dramatic damage to fish populations can’t even be estimated.

Three days later, the Cosco Busan container ship pulled out of the Port of Oakland, California, only to ram into one of the support buttresses of the Bay Bridge. The gash in the side of the ship’s hull permitted 58,000 gallons of oil to pour into the surrounding water.

 

Initial Coast Guard reports estimated a spill of about 140 gallons. By the time recovery efforts realized the severity of the accident, the setback to the clean-up mission was irreparable. Prompt responses are crucial in order to recover spilled oil before it disburses. The Coast Guard did manage to recover close to 10,000 gallons, but does not expect to contain much more.

 

The two instances have many differences including that one ship was transporting fuel, the other was a container ship transporting cargo. Together they serve as an indictment of our consume-and-car-crazy lifestyles. Specifically, driving automobiles means more demand for gas with the accompanying pollution, global warming, wars… and oils spills! Of course oil is used for things other than cars including the plastic products which surround us, and even to keep many of the public transportation systems moving along. But, less driving equates to dramatically less demand for oil, fewer tankers, and fewer catastrophic oil spills.

 

Keep in mind these spills generate attention because of the scale and quickness of the environmental damage. The cumulative effect of a nation and world full of over-consumers and car drivers is much more serious, although more gradual and therefore less visually shocking than dying wildlife covered in oily sledge. The fact is that we are all contributing our own trickle to a huge oil spill that continues to drip on a daily basis.