The Gulf Oil Spill: What Good May Come

Gulf front resort hotels are taking an economic hit without one drop of oil soiling their pristine beaches

We’ve all watched in horror as the ever-growing BP oil slick reaches shorelines along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Not only did eleven men lose their lives in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but the spill that resulted from it is now fouling gulf waters in an area the size of some states – water that’s home to sea life including dolphins and sea turtles. It’s destroying precious marshlands that served as safe, healthy nurseries for all kinds of baby birds and fishes, right at the height of nesting and spawning season. It’s also wiping out the livelihoods of fishing families and obliterating the culture of some of the sweetest, hardest working people in America.

And it’s also adversely affecting the hospitality industry. In spite of BP’s multi-million dollar grants to gulf coast states to fund additional tourism advertisement, hoteliers from Texas to the east coast of Florida – many of whom are hundreds of miles from the nearest oil – report that they are dealing with a devastating economic fallout caused by cancellations from nervous travelers.

The director of Mississippi’s lodging association has estimated that beachfront bookings were down 50% with Memorial Day approaching, and the same was reported in the Florida panhandle. This is all in addition to the hit the region took from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the recession that followed right on the storm’s heels.

How much more battering can the hospitality industry take? How much more can any of us take?

If there was ever a wakeup call for America – including those in the hospitality industry – to get on board the energy efficiency and clean energy train, this oil spill is it. At last, it appears that Americans are finally getting the message that we must wean ourselves off foreign oil – and our dependence on fossil fuels in general – and turn our collective attention to developing clean, renewable energy sources for our country as quickly as we possibly can.

Imagine the good we could accomplish if we took all the brain power and resources we’re currently using to try and plug that oil gusher in the Gulf, and applied them to developing cleaner energy!

On a day when we’re all feeling so helpless and frightened at the devastating environmental and economic news we’re hearing today, imagining that kind of good – and vowing to work toward making it our new American reality – may just be the most righteous thing we can do.