The Gulf in Perspective

I was hoping to beat the sky-is-falling crowd to comment on the Gulf situation. Procrastination never pays off.
To put the Gulf drilling situation in perspective, according to the Interior Dept. in 2002 there were 4,000 oil and gas facilities in the Gulf. This employed 80,000 workers with 33,000 miles of pipeline. Between 1985 and 2001 these facilities produced 385 billion gallons. The spill rate was .001%.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, the annual discharge of 47 million gallons of crude in the Gulf is due to natural seepage from the ocean floor. In two weeks the Gulf leak is estimated to have leaked between two and three million gallons.
Is it bad? Yes. Will it harm all ocean life as we know it? Highly doubtful. Should we continue to be dependent on Venezuela and Mexico for our oil as they continue to drill in the Gulf? Heck no!! Should we continue to look for smart alternatives? Always.
But shutting down all drilling in the Gulf because of this accident would be like shutting down Detroit after every car accident. Investigate, learn from it and then make it safer and better – that’s the American way.