After Sarah Palin became involved in many of the 2008 rallies, town halls, and other political gatherings, we were bombarded with the clever little Republican Party campaign slogan, "Drill Baby Drill."  It was chanted relentlessly and caused euphoria in the Americans' hearts and spirits as a quintessential adhesive in the McCain campaign.  It made the chanters feel hope that in the future, perhaps they would not have to pay four dollars per gallon for gasoline again for their vehicles.  Not only did I not participate in the chanting, but I cringed and covered my ears at the lunacy and ignorance of the people doing it.  They knew not what they asked for.
 
Thank God, Drill Baby Drill was just another gimmick to tug at hearts that did not translate into votes.  When the morning came, the hangover set in, voters sobered up, and the state of Florida was not delivered to the Republicans.  I am by no means intimating that this was the primary or sole reason, but the offshore drilling issue remains one where the Republican Party stubbornly remains deaf and refuses to consider the negative scenarios of the policies it promotes.  Fast forward to 2010 where we have what is certainly the second largest, and before all is said and done, potentially, what may become the largest, oil spill off the coast of America in our history.
 
Last week an oil rig off the Louisiana coast, owned by Transocean and operated by British Petroleum, exploded and sank killing 11 rig workers.  American thoughts and prayers went out to the families of the missing during the search and recovery operations.  Currently, thoughts and prayers have by necessity become more dispersed because of the horrific oil spill that has resulted.  BP initially estimated the rig was "only" leaking 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) per day into the Gulf of Mexico waters and disputed the federal government's assertion that the company was unable to contain and cleanup the oil spill.  Now, the oil slick is currently estimated to be 16-21 miles long and 5 miles wide and imminently due to make landfall in Louisiana sometime today.  While the rate of leakage of the oil from the rig was originally minimized as 42,000 gallons per day, it is now conservatively estimated to be 5,000 barrels per day.  What 42,000 to 5,000?  Isn't that shrinking?  No, that's just hinky math.  5,000 BARRELS is 210,000 GALLONS per day, and therefore an increase.  
 
In a revised update, BP's Chief Operating Officer of exploration and production, Doug Suttles, said yesterday, "We'll take help from anyone.  We're not interested in where the idea comes from, what we're interested in is how do we stop this flow and how do we stop it now?"  Aren't we all, Sir?  While we all appreciate Mr. Suttles' candor, where is the back up plan for when "good rigs go wrong?"  Asking this question and opening it's answering up to all of America in an internet contest for innovative solutions in case things go wrong, BEFORE the wells were drilled would have been a better plan of operation.  Then, it and several other layers of protection should have been in place in case of disaster.  Then, internal and external inspections and testing should have been conducted frequently.
 
This is just a beautiful example of how the highest people in our largest, "too big to fail industries" are completely incapable of foreseeing any negative consequences of their actions, unless they affect them personally.  Joe Normal can see it, just as clear as Sarah Palin can see Russia from her home in Alaska on a clear day.  Why can't oil execs?  Could it be the paychecks and greed that obscures their vision?  The complete lack of a backup plan for being able to close a well at it's source is unfathomable to most Americans.  Americans assume these measures are in place and that our federal government is not only requiring these backup plans, but inspecting them to make sure that they are operable.  Wrong.
 
But fortunately, the federal government just announced that they will be inspecting all rigs in the Gulf.  What were they doing all the rest of the days they went to work?  Well, clearly not inspecting rigs.  Maybe they were lunching with oil executives.  Maybe they were calculating all the lost revenue to the Federal Treasury because royalties were not collected on lands leased to the oil industry for years.  Maybe they were watching the attractive blonde who promotes the oil industries on our flat screens everyday, touting the goodness of the oil industry and how they employ nine million American workers.  I did not hear anything about the eleven people killed, countless animals suffocated, or losses to small businesses due to the environmental damage.  Chances are, we may not see that commercial for a while.
 
So, since none of the companies associated with the oil rig have workable backup plan, the Coast Guard has come up with one.  It's Burn Baby Burn.  Despite what Jed Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies said, there is no sweet smell whatsoever when it comes to crude oil being pumped from a well.  Any Persian Gulf War Veteran who was exposed to Iraqi oil wells burning during the war will tell you that there are tremendous negative health effects that they are living with every day as a direct result of their exposure to this environmental contaminant. The last several days, the all-consuming horrific odor of crude oil has been omnipresent on Florida's West Coast since our wind comes from the west in this current El Nino weather pattern.  However, Floridians are actually praying for the humid, SE Caribbean winds to dominate to keep the oil slick away from our shores, and the stench away from our nostrils, and further devastation away from our economy. 
 
Wednesday, the first test burn of the crude oil was ignited and considered "successful."  Successful seems a misnomer.  Perhaps more appropriate would be BEST of the WORST scenarios.  Coast Guard and other federal officials say that burning the oil at sea is less environmentally costly than having it reach the shores.  While this may be the case when comparing one bad alternative against another, it is quite clear that the numbers are very incomplete as they are not accounting for, nor do we have any proper tools for measuring the true atmospheric damage.  Are these the same people that tell us that global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels?  Thought so.
 
Disaster is both foreseeable and imminent for the Gulf and coastlines of ALL the Gulf coast states, not only while the oil is visible, but for generations to come in the form of pollution, wildlife destruction, flora destruction and contamination, and potential terotogenicity in various species.  Imminent regulations and inspections need to be instituted and conducted in the Gulf with the 3,100 existing rigs.  No more Drill Baby Drill because after we survive the Burn Baby Burn, we taxpayers will have to Pay Baby Pay one way or another for the cleanup.  The price is too high. 

Kimberly Wilcox is currently freelance writing about financial politics, as well as Healthcare policy, specifically, Chemical Injury and its medical & lifestyle consequences.  She is a lifestyle coach to others with chemical injury, chronic fatigue, autism, Gulf War Syndrome & Fibromyalgia, as well as to professional athletes desiring peak performance without use of illegal PED's.  She is an expert on Green Living and her new book will soon be published about the Green Life that she has been forced to live for the last decade.