Exercise #4: Documentary Reflection

April 24, 2023 By: Philip Thrum

In the documentary film “How to Change the World: The Revolution Will Not Be Organized”, Bob Duncan states, “if you don’t know your history, you’re destined to repeat it”. I find this a powerful statement as reminds us that humans often neglect the past and continue with actions which are known to cause harm to the environment.

In January of 2023 a container ship spilled fuel/oil into English Bay. Threatening the marine wildlife in the bay. I find that the quote from the documentary above is quite insightful regarding this topic. Oil spills have been a problem for many decades, from offshore oil rigs to cargo ships. Though unfortunately we still see them happening more often than they should. In 1969 the Santa Barbara oil spill occurred which spilt 21,000 gallons into the coast of Santa Barbara. The documentary “How to Change the World: The Revolution Will Not Be Organized” touches on the oil spill in 1969, and I began to wonder why, over 50 years later we still face oil spills in our environment. One would think that the effects of the Santa Barbara oil spill would spark a movement for change. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Since the spill of 1969 44 spills have occurred in US waters not to mention the spill of pipelines on land and those of other countries.

Oil spills are a form of pollution which have a long-lasting negative effect on our environment. In addition, they disrupt our ecosystems and sea life. I find it frustrating that after 50 years of an oil spill that unfortunately had the potential to shift a change it appears as if many neglect the fact that it happened and that now oil spills are just a regular occurrence. Transporting oil at high velocities through pipes or extruding it from a floating platform in the ocean or an oil spill from a cargo ship are not normal. Clearly the safety precautions that are in place only work to a certain extent. If we are to extract, transport and use oil on this planet safety measures should never come close to failure.

References:

Media link:

  • Ruttle, J. (2023). Container ship in English Bay has spilled fuel: Canadian Coast Guard … Vancouver Sun. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/container-ship-mv-europe-fuel-spill-vancouver