The oil disaster here is intensified by an ongoing disaster Louisiana has always faced, and that is the slow loss of land. 10,000 miles of canals were cut through the coastal wetlands in search of oil. This gives way for salt water to kill the forest by speeding up the process of soil erosion. The levees erected by the U.S. Army Corps deny the delta fresh water and nutrient-enriched sediments from the Mississippi River. Since humans have been meddling with the coastal estuary, a land plot the size of Delaware has been lost. The oil spill has accelerated the degradation and the Cajun coast is now the fastest disappearing landmass on Earth, losing a football field-sized area every 30-40 minutes.Land depletion only makes this area and its people more vulnerable to natural disasters, like hurricanes. Louisiana is losing its land, and those that dwell here are quickly being displaced.
In analyzing the way this catastrophe has affected the seafood market and the communities whose livelihoods depended on it, the mainstream media has neglected to pay heed to the larger, more fundamental issues of the global seafood industry. 85% of the seafood eaten in the U.S. is from Central America and Asia, harvested in aqua-culture farms, not locally fished in our own waters. Aqua-culture farms can be compared to factory farms as they both support the mass production and growth of meat for mass consumption. They are dangerously unsustainable and the products are not healthy to eat. The more seafood is produced on a mass scale, the further decrease in price of imports. Major restaurants and supermarket chains have formed alliances with these fisheries to capitalize on farm-raised seafood because it has greatly expanded their profit margins. This makes it ever more difficult for the farmers in Louisiana to compete. Only 6% of the nation's market share comes from our coasts.
BP, and the global petroleum industry, has burgeoned the dependency on the profits from oil and gas production in certain communities. This area of the Gulf has developed because the oil industry supported Louisiana's economy and politics. It is unsafe to build your entire livelihood on a market that is certain to fluctuate. The minute it loses its power, that community will suffer beyond repair. This dependency, however, is the primary reason why we might not hear opposition regarding the industry in Louisiana. The lack of alternatives for development make dissent even less likely.
Contrary to what we might assume, the people of southern Louisiana will relentlessly defend offshore drilling. With the lowest unemployment rate in the country, this is one of their only opportunities to make a living wage. Those that claim the ban of offshore drilling will be in every one's best interest are not the ones who have been burdened by the oil industry. In fact, most people in the U.S. are able to drive their cars because of oil refineries, drilling, and production in Louisiana. Banning drilling would further victimize these communities. It would alleviate the oil industry from taking much needed responsibility, and allowing them to continue their destructive practices elsewhere.
So, as much sympathy as BP has expressed to the people whose lives revolved around fishing, it won't do any good without catalyzing systemic change of the concentration of power in the food industry. Why don't they demonstrate their sincere compassion by restructuring international commodity agreements that would support fair farm prices as well as regulate the global agribusiness? Why doesn't BP become a champion for fair trade, communities, and environmental preservation rather than the accumulation of capital and exploitation of non-renewable resources? With these kinds of forces in play, the fundamental reasons for these disasters could be eradicated.
Or, perhaps BP's assets and oil leases should be seized due to their devastating lack of responsibility. If we were to nationalize the oil industry we could redistribute the profits to repair the delta. We see actions like this happening in other regions of the world, and they are successful. Why not take a hint? The citizens of the Cajun coast could organize with other communities who share in this struggle from around the globe. The East Timorese, for example, have just beared the brunt of a large oil spill in the Timor Sea. They are trying to gain control of the oil production. Were we to work in solidarity we might get somewhere.