It’s been overly publicized, overly discussed and overly criticized but it hasn’t been solved.
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill had everybody talking about the catastrophe that hit the Gulf Coast for a few moments, shaking their fists at an irresponsible overseas company but hardly doing a thing to solve the underlying problem  — a problem that could be slowly killing not only our coastal ecosystems but its people, as well.
Water pollution was the first issue that came with the spill, but it wasn’t the last. The health of endangered species, and more importantly the safety of the seafood supply, all relied on the proper cleanup of the Gulf Coast.
And while the fault of the initial spill lies with BP, the plans for the cleanup remained heavily on the federal government, and more specifically, Gov. Bobby Jindal. The U.S. Coast Guard continually asked for locations that needed to be cleaned up and relied on our lovely representative to do the deed.
If only they realized sooner that at the heart of every governor is a politician trying more than anything to protect not the state but his own namesake. Reporters claim that while Jindal often spoke to the Coast Guard in a timely manner, he usually referred them to areas that complained of the spill rather than areas that truly needed it. He was even accused of “showboating,” according to the New York Times.
It’s not surprising, but it’s most certainly not helpful.
Crude oil, like what leaked from the BP oil spill, is extremely toxic to wildlife and is best handled if cleaned up in the first 24 hours. Of course, this miniscule time frame was impossible to come by considering the government hadn’t even heard about the leak until after this window had passed.
As time became more and more critical, Jindal should have thought of the environment more than his potential voters.
After all, if the livelihood of the land is ultimately damaged beyond the point of no return, no matter how happy the people are now, it will eventually come back to bite them in their butts.
Reports from an Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower have already talked about the Gulf Coast’s seafood being unsafe, and it’s only a matter of time before other people begin to agree.
Ultimately, another decline in seafood sales will only continue the devastating blow of unemployment.   It would throw the fishermen back into the ocean of dismay, longing for a time when seafood was not only safe but when politicians could see the larger picture.
As the state’s most visible representative during the crisis, it was Jindal’s responsibility to look past his own face in the mirror, to what really matters , the environment. While his obligations lie largely with his people, they lie even more with the land on which they live — the land on which they’ve built their livelihood.
Parishes may not have fully understood the danger as their people looked over a sea of black, that their land wasn’t the most endangered part of the infected Gulf.
Their complaints to Jindal were valid, as they were only trying to protect their own land — and in the end, themselves.
But because the parishes aren’t the ones able to utilize the booms, their opinions should be better studied by higher legislative power.
Representatives are set to help the state by utilizing their knowledge to the best of their abilities. Either Jindal was experiencing an off couple of months, or he just doesn’t have any ability.
Regardless, Jindal has made it clear that he has yet to understand that with every action comes a consequence.
And while his only feedback right now may be the reward of helping his people, the consequence will come when he finally acknowledges that he hasn’t done any such thing.
Priyanka Bhatia is a 19-year-old pre-veterinary medicine major with a minor in environmental management systems. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_Pbhatia.
 
 
 
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Contact Priyanka Bhatia at [email protected]