Excerpt:
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, based on testimony given to the Coast Guard and interviews with survivors, the rig's chain of command "broke down" and its emergency procedures "made it difficult to respond swiftly" to a very fast-moving chain of events.
Less than 10 minutes after the first sign of trouble, the order was given to abandon the vessel. Many were already leaping into the Gulf to save their skin. In a final desperate act, a button was pressed that should have activated a massive device on the sea floor, the blow-out preventer (BOP). This 450-ton, 50-foot tall hydraulic leviathan was designed to crush the life out of the drill pipe and bottle up the high pressure oil and gas trying to escape from the well.
The BOP, the well's last fail-safe device, failed. Within 2 days, the unrecognizable slag heap formerly known as the Deepwater Horizon slipped beneath the waves. As I write this, oil continues to pour from the wellhead a mile underwater, despite ingenious, round-the-clock efforts to halt the flow by some very bright and motivated engineers.
They admit to being "scared." The leader of the world's most powerful government has been reduced to mouthing meaningless commands to his minions. "Plug the damn hole," he fumed. Not exactly a Churchillian moment.
The risks posed by technological failures are both more common and more spectacular than at any time in history. Amazing achievements in science have fooled us into believing that there is no problem we can't solve, given enough money, human brilliance and hard work. BP's problem was not inadequate technologies, but a disturbing lack of humility in the face of complex and powerful forces.
Continue reading HERE.
My comment there (may still be in moderation mode):
WOW Charlie! What an excellent essay! I learned so much from this post! Previously, I didn't even know about the blow-out preventer malfunction. How terribly sad and irresponsible it was not to have a plan B!
I'm not an engineer, but I read that setting up the oil slick booms and burning the oil immediately would have helped to contain it in a smaller area. But wouldn't it have to burn continually until it was eventually capped? That may have been an environmental hazard to the air, but isn't the oil slick a catastrophic disaster that is far worse?
You are correct about the lack of humility that lives in all people. What makes it really tough is when it's combined with extreme arrogance. That absurd "plug the damn hole" comment must have been an "off the teleprompter" one. As with many terrible comments that Obama has delivered in the past, that one showed his true character. His lack of empathy towards those suffering in the Gulf states showed a stone cold heart, too.
Obama's never-ending government takeover of EVERYTHING is truly arrogant, scary and devastating to WE THE PEOPLE who believe in our Founding Fathers' plan for our Constitutional Republic - not a Marxo-Islamo-Fascist regime that the far-left progressives think will finally create their own dream world of a Garden-of-Eden type of utopia. History has revealed the fact that such ideology has NEVER worked in a positive manner. Instead, the most inhumane and brutal regimes have developed as a result of their evil, power, and misplaced wealth.
Ben Franklin had many words of wisdom. The day he answered the question, "what type of government have you given us, sir?" He replied, "A Republic - if you can keep it."
The humility that you speak of has gradually been taken from our nation by leaders who claim to know "the Word" (like Nancy Pelosi claimed recently). However, those of us who genuinely DO know God's Word, study it, apply it to our own lives, teach it to our children, and share it with others through Christ's Gospel message have the ability to spot a fake instantly.
I am convinced that only Jesus can teach us what you wrote at the end of your essay:
...we're never as great as we think we are. When we live in humility, we allow ourselves to learn from others. When we embrace our limitations, we aren't tempted to charge off recklessly into the unknown. If we hold the reins tightly on our human vanity and pride, we will yield the head of the table to God and find our proper place in the created order.
What a beautiful, beautiful paragraph! And, when we find ourselves outside the "proper place in the created order," such arrogance leads to sin, evil and death.
The Lord's prayer instructs us to pray, "Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Man often does the opposite. He wants his own will to be done on this earth - no matter how much damage it inflicts on this world. Therefore, man ignores God's Will for our lives as it is instructed for us through His Living Word - Jesus Christ, as well as in His Written Word, the Bible.
Ah...went off on a tangent! Thanks again for this great article. I will link to it at my blog today.
God bless you!
In Christ,
Christine
Hat Tip:
Another Think