Not just deep water drilling

The gusher in the Gulf may have provided a nightmarish illustration of the hazards of the deep water drilling, but the danger isn't just in the ocean. It's everywhere. In the latest disastrous result of our oil dependence a pipeline leak sent 400 to 500 barrels of oil into a Colorado river on Friday night. But here's the scary part:

Chevron determined the pipeline broke at 10 p.m. Friday, and police and fire crews were notified of it shortly before 7 am. Saturday.

It doesn't appear that Chevron was even aware of it when it happened.

Employees at the Veteran Affairs Hospital first noticed oil in the stream just before 7 a.m. Officials then traced the spill to the pipe near Red Butte Garden. Freitag said the pipeline was shut off about 7:45 a.m.

Suggests to me that there was no warning system on the pipeline to alert Chevron to the leak. Who knows if one is even required, but even it if is, I'm guessing that it's generally cheaper for the oil corps to pay for cleanups and absorb fines than it is to maintain the equipment properly and install appropriate safeguards.

Meanwhile, instead of figuring out how to move us into a clean energy economy, almost half of our Senators spent last week fighting to disempower the EPA. While I believe that government can be the solution, it's equally clear that bought off politicians are a big part of the problem.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]