I suspect that by this time every American must have an idea of the enormity of the oil spill that is taking place in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill is of such proportions that we should consider it before long a cataclysmic event. All of which brings me to “Gruber’s Law” that I would like to recite at this time.
For nearly 15 years, Gabriel G. Gruber has been my dermatologist. Because I am fair-skinned and bald, I see Dr. Gruber on more occasions than I would like. As I advance into my later years, I have found that there are growths occasionally popping out of my arms and my body that may be troublesome. When one of these growths happens, I usually refer it to Dr. Gruber, who inspects it. For several years, Dr. Gruber has reported that the growths are innocuous and should be left alone. I like Gabriel George Gruber, so I follow his advice. On one occasion when I asked him about removing the growth, he told me that to do so might bring on consequences that I might dislike. In so doing, he cited Gruber’s Law, which I will pass on to you.
Dr. Gruber assured me that he could remove these growths but he advised against it. He told me, “Look, if we don’t bother those growths, chances are that they will not ever bother you.” The corollary to that line of reasoning might be that if we attempted to remove the growths, there might be consequences that I would greatly dislike.
Now if we transfer the Gruber philosophy to British Petroleum and all of those in the drilling business in the Gulf of Mexico, there may be also something to learn. If the drillers took the proper precautions and if they did not drill in cases of a depth of 5,000 feet of water, it could well be that there would be no consequences at all. But in the case in point, British Petroleum elected to drill more than 5,000 feet below the water surface. That released some methane gas which came up their tubes and resulted in the explosion, killing 11 men. Beyond that, the drillers had indeed found oil and that oil is now threatening the fishing and tourism industries in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a gusher that has been blowing now for more than a month.
It may also be instructive to find that Sarah Palin has not repeated her “Drill, baby, drill” for the length of this episode.
I am aware that I know nothing about drilling for oil under the sea. And I am also aware that the oil that is produced tends to make us less dependent upon foreign sources. But be that as it may, the facts of the matter are that the oil is flooding the Gulf of Mexico and no one seems to know how to cut it off. But it seems to me that Gabriel Gruber’s injunction has some merit. If we had not bothered the Earth to such great depths, perhaps the Earth would not have bothered us.
As a matter of fact, Dr. Gruber, whose middle name is George, attended Harvard College and its medical school. I assume that by the time he finished with medical school he was sick and tired of Harvard. But at any rate, Dr. Gruber is a highly educated man. And I am proud to call him not only my dermatologist but a friend as well.
Now we encounter Gruber’s Law which holds that, if we do not bother the earth, it may never bother us. But British Petroleum bothered the earth and set off a series of disastrous events.
E. E. CARR
May 14, 2010
Essay 454
~~~
Kevin’s commentary: This whole thing was just an unrepentant mess through and through. Turns out it’s really hard to plug a leak that deep in the ocean, because we don’t have a whole lot of equipment rated to 5,000 feet of depth. This is due to extreme pressure and other environmental problems. For a demonstration, you can watch this video of a crab walking along a deep-sea pipe with a small crack in it.