Ethicist Paul Wolpe calls for a national discussion about the moral implications of the Gulf Oil Spill. He urges us to consider all dimensions of an ethical response to the spill. He also asks us to consider our own contributions to this crisis. Ultimately, he claims that we need to understand the values by which we should make decisions about how to respond in the face of this disaster.
Listen to this video clip of an interview with Wolpe and help us contribute to this national discussion. Speak up about the ethical issues facing us as individuals, as a country, and as a global community.
Listen to this video clip of an interview with Wolpe and help us contribute to this national discussion. Speak up about the ethical issues facing us as individuals, as a country, and as a global community.
Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
I could not agree more with the fact that we need to seriously look at our dependence not on just foreign oil, but all oil in general. We are drilling too deep for our own good to feed our addiction to oil. While it's easy to place the blame of BP and Halliburton, I can't help but feel just as responsible for living in a country that uses the most energy per capita in the world.
While greater lifestyle sacrifices and reconsidering our oil consumption habits will certainly be environmentally friendly, it will not prevent other oil spill disasters from occuring in the future. Preventing these disasters will only come through a thorough examination of the ethical standards and drilling procedures of big oil companies, who need to put rig safety over profitability.
Investing in alternative energy sources, while worthwhile for our future, will also not stop our addiction to oil. It would be very hard for all Americans to avoid oil for the mere fact that 85% of our energy comes from fossil fuels. A gradual transition to alternative energies is likely to occur in the long run, but not without a partial reliance on fuels that are plentiful and reliable, such as oil and natural gas.
Departing from our oil usage would be very hard, but has that transition truly begun. That is the question and want here. You can not just treat one bad problem and then once it goes away continue to do what caused the problem in the first place. Then those problems and catastrophes add up to be worldwide problems and threats to everybody. Just look at how the world economy is acting or at least acted in 2009. What we need is more people into the movement toward alternative energy to profoundly affect the world rather than only inching away at this polluting problem with hardly any progress. It would be very hard for Americans to do this but nothing is impossible. I mean we have done the "so called" impossible in the past.
I agree with Robert. Although reducing our consumption could possibly reduce the volume of oil that these companies are striving to produce, volume means nothing when the proper safety measures are not in place.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that exploring alternative energies may prove to be good for the environment in the long run, it is not without its implications. Just as an example,to manufacture,transport, and install wind turbines much oil and other non environmentally friendly energy sources will probably need to be used.
I think that from an ethical and a national security standpoint, this oil spill and our dependence on oil that it demonstrates have short-term and long-term implications. Our dependence on oil is almost impossible to comprehend, and as some economists and activists have pointed out in the past, we have an economy that relies and depends on cheap oil. For this reason, and the inherent limits to the speed of the democratic process, I do not see an economy-wide scale shift away from oil for the next decade or two...at least. That being said, national security must come into play. There are oil spills all around the world all the time, this oil spill happened to be on our own soil (or water) and we are paying the price. However, as difficult as it is to admit, I would rather be getting oil from our own waters than from Saudi Arabia, Iraq or other unstable or restrictive regimes. It has been said that in our "War on Terror" we are funding both sides of the war, because without all of our money being paid to them for their oil, they would have a very minor economic and diplomatic role in the world. The US, depending on oil prices, tends to spend somewhere between $300-450 billion on foreign oil each and every year. Personally, I'd like to see that money stay here, sooner rather than later. A cleaner energy supply will come eventually, by necessity, and in fact, if we try to wean ourselves, not necessarily off of oil entirely, but off of foreign oil, or even oil from oppressive or unstable nations, then we will force ourselves to live on the energy supply that is rightly ours. That is, the energy in the US, all of the domestic oil, the coal (praying that it will get cleaner) and the abundance of sun, wind, hydro, and geothermal. If we can create a situation where it is economically feasible, in fact, advantageous to engineer a way to drill 2, 3, 4, 10 miles beneath the ocean's surface, to access deep, hidden oil reserves, then I am sure with enough resources, we can exploit the Sun's potential, the wind and the waves. Ingenuity is what our country was founded on, and indeed, now more than ever, getting away from foreign oil is as ethical and patriotic as it gets.
I do agree that our dependence on oil is a large ethical problem that has surfaced due to this crisis. As much as I would love to see the United States completely change over to other sources of energy tomorrow, the process will take much longer. Like Brian pointed out economy depends on oil and the process of changing that will take at least a few decades.
For the mean time, the large oil companies (and the small ones) need to consider their ethical values. It is a massive problem when getting all the oil a company get overrides any health and safety concerns. But also, I would like to see these companies invest in the research and development needed to push our country in the direction of "clean energy". Such actions would create more jobs for the unemployed and possibly help us in this terrible economic time (not that I'm any economist). I do hope that the publicity that has resulted from this disaster gives more Americans the voice to demand cleaner (and possibly safer)sources of energy.
The Gulf Oil Crisis is everyone's ethical responsibility. Americans should try to reduce their dependence on oil by carpooling. Here at Penn State we could eliminate the campus bus loop. Students and faculty could walk or ride their bikes to class. This might also help with America's obesity problem.
I strongly agree with the previous posts that illustrate how our dependence on oil and cheap fuels will take years to shift to relying on alternative fuels. In order to shift this dependence, I believe that American oil companies should be required to adhere to federal regulations. I know how idealistic this notion appears, but I believe that all positive change emerges as an idealistic idea. Since I believe that the ethical issues surrounding oil drilling, especially in regards to environmental policies and safety concerns, should be addressed by both oil companies and the federal government, I think that imposing regulations will both protect American oil companies and set a moral standard to prevent ethical debates about oil drilling. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that mere ethical standards will simply motivate companies to address the ethical implications of drilling and disasters like the Gulf Spill, which is where required federal regulations would be incredibly beneficial. On a global scale, the outcomes of these regulations and the reactions of American oil companies will perhaps influence foreign oil companies to set standards and perhaps give expand global oil competition, but with a positive result; companies competing to be the most environmentally friendly and safe companies in order to get the US oil contracts.
The oil spill is clearly a big problem and although in time the problem at hand will be solved, its not being solved permanently. Our nation is dependent on oil right now however, there are efforts to try to deviate from this daily use. It'd be in each individuals best interest to continue to go green and eliminate as much of their daily uses of oil consumption. Buy an economy efficient car, walk, ride a bike, or use public transportation to help daily. As a country we could enforce laws that will urge people to do these things and hold tighter regulation to large oil companies such as BP. As a global community it will be necessary that we communicate and work hand in hand with one another to provide similar solutions to this continually growing economic danger. It's impossible for one individual or the government alone to solve this issue, the human race must work together to solve this problem one step at a time.
As stated in numerous posts before mine, our dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic, will not go away in a short time. Probably the most disconcerting notion about that statement is that there is only a true calling for alternative energy sources when the oil industry is in trouble. Gas prices skyrocket, people call for alternative energy sources. Oil spills in the Gulf, people call for alternative energy sources. The movement away from oil cannot continue to only happen when the oil industry is weak or there is an oil catastrophe. Brian could not have said it any better when he described innovation as the driving force behind America. Instead of becoming a stagnant nation, Americans should take the innovative initiative and look to perfect other sources of energy.
I agree with Scott. Usually change or improvement is only called for when problems are discovered. The BP oil spill is definitely a call for change, but most likely the change will be a short term fix rather than long term until resources dwindle. We, as a nation, cannot allow ourselves to fall into the procrastination trap of patching up a problem with a post-it note saying "To be dealt with later" rather than solving it. Not that solving our nation's problem of dependence on oil will be easy by any means or that I have a fool proof plan to go about it. It will undoubtedly be a slow process and will most likely take generations, but it is not impossible. As Paul Wolpe said, we need to look to ourselves as being responsible for our dependence on oil. We need to make lifestyle changes and develop alternative sources of energy, like the ones mentioned in previous posts. Basically, we need to get inspired and fast.
The BP oil spill serves as a wake up call to our society as far as oil use. Though we cannot entirely cut oil use as an energy resource out of our lifestyle, there are little changes we can make that will make a difference and eliminate over consumption of oil. Extreme culture/ lifestlye changes are unneccesary, but some action must be taken. More reliance on green energy sources such as wind or hydroelectric power might be just enough to lighten the load we impose on oil and thus prevent future disasters to occur.
The gulf oil spill is a directly influenced by the American dependence that we have on oil. It appears to be something completely necessary when in reality we should be looking for alternative solutions. I think that this is just a minor problem for now but it is a preview of things to come if this continues. I don't think we can limit Americans due to the reliance we have on oil, but something needs to change and fast.
It will obviously take a long time for America to reduce its dependance on oil. Other countries are also taking a closer look at their oil use. Many companies, including major oil companies, are looking for greener energy sources including algae, wind, and solar. It is important to look at the pros and cons of each energy source. There are many small changes we each can take to reduce our reliance on hydrocarbons and help protect the environment.