God’s “funny” sense of humor (?)

Some say that God has a sense of humor. I would agree with them – especially right now.

A few weeks ago, the Obama Administration decided to open up new areas off the East Coast and parts of Alaska to oil drilling or OCS as many of the wonky folks call it (OCS stands for Outercontinental Shelf Drilling). All up and down the East Coast, huge portions of the Gulf of Mexico and significant areas of Alaska’s many waterways (though not Bristol Bay, Alaska’s great salmon fishery) are to be opened for drilling. This undoes a drilling moratorium that has been in place for years and had many questioning how the US would ever shift to renewable, sustainable energy sources if we just kept drilling.

Last week, an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico began to spill oil – and that spill is still going on. The BP oil rig faced an explosion that left 11 workers dead and          another 12 seriously injured. the well is spilling about 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico and has yet to be contained. Currently, the oil sheen is covering about 28,600 miles in the Gulf and despite the fact that so far the oil has not reached shore, it appears that weather patterns may take the oil to the coast of Louisiana this coming weekend.

Certainly, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who were lost in this accident and we pray that the coastal communities of Louisiana will   remain unharmed by this oil spill. But the damage that has been done to God’s Creation and the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico will take years, decades to      recover from – assuming that a full recovery is even possible. It remains unclear how this spill will damage fish populations and fishermen in the near future   or how devastating this spill really will be.

Here is a link to an article about the spill if you are interested in more information: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63Q4NF20100427?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r1:c0.250000:b33385754:z0

But it is ironic and maybe even a little humorous (though mostly sad) that just after we have decided to open up a significant portion of our coastal waters to this very type of deep-water oil drilling, we are hit with the one of the worst offshore oil spills on record (at this point its not as bad as the Exxon Valdez spill that happened in AK in 1989 but if it continues to leak oil who knows what might happen).

The National Council of Churches and its member communions are opposed to offshore drilling and were saddened by President Obama’s announcement a few weeks ago. We feel that God’s creation must not be damaged to secure what is a finite source of energy that is only furthering global climate change because if its high carbon content.

We would much prefer to see wind, solar, geothermal, or even tidal power as answers to the United States’ energy needs. These are sustainable, renewable and just options that can produced energy for our homes and our businesses with minimal impact on God’s great and beautiful creation. At the same time, it will ensure that we are leaving the Gulf of Mexico in a healthy and fruitful state for our children and our children’s children (maybe even a better state).

Though I am sure our Creator is sad to see what’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico, maybe our Lord is also smiling a small quirky smile. Maybe our Creator is hoping that we are able to see the lesson in this accident in the Gulf of Mexico – that despite the “great technology” and “safety regulations” drilling for oil in and on God’s creation is not the way forward. It is not just, not sustainable, and certainly not renewable. Maybe behind that quirky smile is the hope that we will learn our lesson someday – sooner rather than later.