Delta Oil Spill Essay

In 2010, we were in the midst of the British Petroleum gulf oil spill. Close to 60 days into the fiasco, there had been no mention of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). From the title of this government agency, one would think it would be involved. This is a demonstration of what is wrong with our humble, bloated government. Watching news reports on the oil spill, one saw many branches of government flailing around doing what? Why were there so many flailing, ineffective operations going on? There were legal holdups and indecisions slowing actions that would have mitigated the oil spill impact. For sensitive areas of the Louisiana Delta, there were requests that were either not authorized or took too long to authorize. Once authorized, in part, the United States government would only pay for one of six areas authorized. We would not allow foreign registered ships, which have capabilities that we do not have, to operate in our coastal waters and to clean up the spill because of maritime law from the 1920s. The law has been waived during emergencies before, why not …show more content…
Funding would be through independent property assessments. All property would be assessed for risk exposure for such things as oil slicks, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes—whatever emergency probabilities exist for various areas around the country. Each zip code would have a risk assessment level, with special areas, such as floodplains, assessed at a different risk level. Fees would also be assessed for activities conducted. For instance, if it is oil drilling companies drilling in water where there is risk of coastal damage, such as seen on our gulf shores, then they would have to build a trust fund to pay for initial emergency response. If trust fund becomes full, then they can stop paying fees until there is a need to refill or increase the amount. Also, part of their fees would be used to have the necessary equipment prepositioned for fast