Oil in the Gulf

Lesson:
Blame is about “who dunnit.” Causes are about “what happened.” As problems get more complex they no longer lend themselves to simple black & white explanations. “What happened” may expand beyond our mental capacity to comprehend. And if the consequences are tragic the pressure to nail it on a culprit increases. That way we can rest easy knowing justice has been served. But often hundreds or thousands of people had at least a cameo role in the plot.

Application:
The images of dolphin carcasses and dying pelicans coming out of the gulf coast are infuriating, and our gut reaction is finding who’s to blame. (Yesterday a commentator on CNN actually said, “BP is the enemy.”) But if you want to blame someone for the gulf oil spill you can pick from a wide-ranging menu. Let me offer people who:

• manufactured the shut-off valve that was out of commission
• allowed the well to operate knowing that the valve was out of commission
• built the platform that wasn’t supposed to sink
• believed that any oil platform was unsinkable
• issued permits for platform operation
• were involved in the initial explosion
• poured so much water on the platform as to cause it to sink
• designed rigid piping from the well-head to the surface instead of flex tubing
• designed each of the failed attempts to stop the leak
• executed each of the failed attempts to stop the leak
• should have anticipated this type of disaster
• should have spent the money on preemptive solutions for this kind of hazard
• pushed for restricting oil drilling to deep water environments
• drive cars that use oil
• dug the first oil well in 1859 and switched us all off of whale oil
• are members of BP, Transocean, or Halliburton management
• are BP, Transocean, or Halliburton shareholders
• work for the Departments of Interior, Homeland Security, Energy, Coast Guard
• are members of Congress
• are named Barack Obama
• are named George Bush

Everyone on this list (and more) played at least a supporting role in the disaster. The interesting thing about complex events is that they involve many interconnected links. Often, if you remove one of those links the entire event fails to materialize. So, perhaps if someone on the assembly line where the errant shut-off valve was produced had rejected a certain spring or bushing and installed a different one there wouldn’t be any leak. Or perhaps if foam was used instead of water in fighting the fire, the rig might not have sunk. Or perhaps if we had all taken up the challenge to reduce our dependence on oil after the shortages in the 1970s this rig might never have been built. This tragic event is the result of many, complex, interconnected pieces. Pinning the blame on someone may feel good. And maybe more significantly, blaming someone takes us off the hook for our role in this mess. But sending someone to the gallows does nothing to improve our understanding of the problem, find a solution, or prevent a reoccurrence.