Which Will You Choose?

The current oil spill disaster that's happening right now in the Gulf of Mexico has greatly affected not only the environment in the immediate area and the surrounding geography but it has also affected the economy as well.

And it's not like the effect is only for the here and now . . . NO . . . the effect, unfortunately is still unfathomable years and even decades from now.

From an environmental point of view the effect is unquestionably devastating. Images of birds such as pelicans coated in thick, black goo struggling and flailing in the surf in futility is a somber and saddening reminder of the impact this oil spill has done to the environment.

And it's not yet over - not by a long shot.

Because BP has failed to cap the spewing underwater geyser of oil it is highly likely the oil may travel further into the interior where it will surely wipe away sanctuaries and breeding grounds of many animal species.

And that includes man as well.

What the economic effects will be is still hard to tell. An industry that will take a big hit is without question the fishing industry. Already hundreds of fishing families are starting to feel the effects of the spill.

They are angry and rightly so.

So too is the tourism industry, especially in the states that are in the path of the oil slick. This has been further fueled by the decision of officials to protect only the fragile ecology of the marshlands and not the beaches.

Officials have explained that it was easier to keep the oil slick out of the marshlands that it is to keep it away from the beaches.

It was a decision that King Solomon would not envy but it is the right thing to do.

Tourism can recover within a short time frame. The ecology of the marshlands would take years or decades, if at all. This loss would be far greater than the loss of tourism dollars.

And its affect will be far more devastating in the long run than the loss of tourism dollars will ever have.

BP is getting hell for their seeming ineptness in shutting down the leak. Their secretiveness and lack of openess to what they are doing doesn't help.

The U.S. government has to step up and keep pushing BP to not only stop the spill but to also clean it up. They have to also hold BP accountable for this disaster.

To his credit BP CEO Tony Hayward has promised that the company would clean up every drop of oil and "restore the shoreline to its original state."

That is all well and good but the thing is no one can bring back the dead animals and fishes. Nor can you truly bring back nature to the way it was - delude ourselves all we want it's not going to happen.

Everything may be back to how it looked before but it would be empty.

And that, unfortunately, is what is being heard right now.