Gulf spill jeopardizes ecosystems

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=134545§ionid=3510212


Almost 86 days into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, experts say the crisis is likely to cost BP far more, once damage to the ecosystem is factored in.

The oil which has been pouring unchecked into the sea since the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion is an outstanding example of destroying and neglecting natural habitats.

Baby birds, turtles and fishes are among the many endangered species in the region which have been fouled with the oil, rescuers say.

"There are plenty of oiled babies out there," AP quoted Rebecca Dmytryk of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, one of the groups working to clean oiled animals.

BP has put forward a figure of 20 billion dollars for cleanup and compensation; however experts believe that putting a price tag on the value of affected ecosystems, largely ignored, changes the estimates of the losses to a great degree.

"We cannot manage what we do not measure, and we are not measuring either the value of nature's benefits or the costs of their loss," said Pavan Sukhdev, lead author of the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business report.

Sukhdev believes that if the US government had required a "holistic economic assessment" before drilling was allowed, the potential liability might have pushed BP to take more stringent safety measures.

"But what about the cost to the economy of lost utility -- eco-tourism loss, fisheries stocks that represent future losses to industry, the inability to fish in the area," Sukhdev concluded.