I'm not sure who is going to be suing whom over the Gulf Oil Spill Disaster. But, I imagine that there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of cases against BP by everyone who has been injured by this disaster.
We think that the billions of dollars that will be switching hands will in some way set the universe straight. I am sure that justice will be done. But sometimes, our human concept of justice is just too limiting -- especiallly when set against the backdrop of the known universe or even the expanse of the ocean we call the Gulf of Mexico.
The legal concept of making someone whole via the courts seems a puny concept for dealing with this disaster. The Gulf is one of the richest ecological systems of our planet; its waters literally are teeming with life. Consider that it's taken 4.5 billion years, since the formation of the Earth, for that spot of the universe to evolve its immensely complex ecology. Shrimp, fish, porpoises, birds, oysters, humans -- all had found a way to balance their needs and the needs of their species. The place wasn't paradise, but the idea of oil strangling the life and culture out of the Gulf is painful for anyone to think about.
Will $20 billion be enough to compensate those who have been injured? Will it take $200 billion? We can fill the ocean full of dollar bills, but the green sea of money is no replacement for what is being lost.
Maybe there are other planets with other beautiful oceans. I only hope that if we ever have the knowledge to leave the Earth and find such places that we have the wisdom to not destroy them.
