Larger image here Credit: GOOD

As The Seattle Times said: Worst. Earth. Month. Ever.

How did we celebrate Mother Earth during April? We debated setting her on fire. That’s one of the options officials are weighing for the Louisiana oil spill, which each day is looking more and more like Exxon Valdez Numero Dos. I’m sorry. I thought we had developed some sort of advanced technology in the 21 years since the Valdez crash to make sure a environment-destroying, sad-animal killing oil spill never happened again. Oh wait. That technology is fire? GODDAMN FIRE?! Apparently we haven’t advanced our oil-handling technology in 164,000 years.

Well, at least we’ve also developed excellent infographic skills:

Larger image here

Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

15 replies on “Setting an Oil Spill on Fire is not a “Solution.””

  2. Yeah no shit. Can’t wait to hear this one. You do know what was going to happen if they didn’t set it on fire, right?

  3. I don’t know what they should do about it, but then again I don’t work for BP or the EPA, which it seems to me should have effective plans for emergencies like these.

  4. They sent robots down to patch it up, but that’s obviously not going to work.

    I mean think about it, oil is robot food!

  5. um….11 years since Valdez spilled? Wikipedia says March 24, 1989 and my foggy childhood memories seem to agree.

  6. They did try, Sarah. Basically they’re down to either setting it on fire in a “controlled” explosion or allowing the oil to spill out into the ocean killing millions if not billions of sea creatures and possibly contaminating half the Gulf of Mexico.

    I don’t like the idea any more than you do, Sarah, but believe me, it’s the last resort.

  7. 11 years? Is Smirk pining for her high school days?

    Fire is our solution for a lot of things, even fighting fire. It’s hard to beat nature’s own inventions. I’d much rather that than using more chemicals.

  11. This is reactionary blather. Yes setting oil on fire is a legitimate solution to an oil spill. There aren’t a hell of a lot of ways to solve an oil spill, and so this is one of them. Maybe instead of freaking out over the fact we’re using fire to tame an oil spill, we should be freaking out about the fact that oil spills will continue happening if we continue to pursue offshore oil drilling, or for that matter any sort of shipping which uses oil (spills from shipping vessels happen a lot too). We’re just delaying the inevitable by doing more drilling… We’ve already passed the peak of our oil reserves anyway. So let’s get on those ‘green’ technologies, already!!!

  13. I wish Matt Davis had written this and Sarah had written the piece on Saltzman’s charity failure. I don’t like change! I’ve learned to look to Sarah for incisive reporting and to Matt for reactionary blather. The world is upside down right now!

  15. BP…still hoping to be able to cash out on their malfunctioning well..i doubt they want to see their $$$ go up in flames, literally! obviously, eco-protection is not a priority, due to their lack of emergency planning/preparedness….i’m sure they will find a way to scoot on the bill as well; obama had better stick to his convictions and make sure they pay…it may also be a good time for off-shore drilling reforms

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