What a struggling nation can learn from historic disasters 

Coverage in the media wanes over time as stories are picked up by what editors deem newsworthy or timely, but historically, rebuilding and cleaning up disasters has taken much time, energy and human effort. 

By Elissa Blankenship

Between the last few months of media coverage and living under expensive energy prices, there is much to be discussed online and amongst one another, especially on issues like major disasters and American energy. 

While the media continues to cover fires in California, political news or other events that can begin to feel like unwanted distractions, I argue that it’s best to ground ourselves in fact and history, that way we can address problems together. 

The wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in September, the fires in Maui and Lahaina, Hawaii in 2023 and now the Pacific Palisades, Eaton and Hughes fires in California have left thousands of people without homes, towns and even entire city districts. Many homes and schools have burnt to the ground, while others have been washed away by excessive flooding, with people completely uprooted from their once-functioning society.  

Tens or sometimes hundreds of people have tragically passed, losing their lives in the various disasters that plague the regions. My heart goes out to the victims of these terrible events, many of whom I follow on social media to keep myself updated on the ground efforts happening there. 

One such group is Mountain River Family Campground on Facebook, affected by Helene, while organizations like World Central Kitchen in Southern California are distributing free hot meals to the public in wildfire areas near Los Angeles.  

“I’ve seen some of these videos of people where, you know, folks who’ve lived in those homes for 25, 30, 35 years and everything is gone— and whatever your political affiliation it’s hard not to see those images and just be heartbroken for our fellow Americans,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News on Jan. 12. 

When asked if President Trump would visit California in that same interview, as there have been concerns amongst Democrats and the party that Trump wouldn’t assist in funding California’s fire relief, Vance assured Americans that the President would like to visit the state and that he is going to make sure all Americans in need everywhere receive the help they deserve. 

The media has portrayed a privileged buzz about not politicizing disasters, whether fueled by the uncontrollable natural winds, in addition to man’s creations, a lack of underbrush and forest management, a lack of water in fire hydrants and a crucial reservoir being dry and offline for repairs, according to CBS News. 

Due to what I see as failed leadership decisions throughout his governance, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to the fires and helplessness of the people in his state feels disingenuous. 

It’s important to remember that disasters worthy of our attention as Americans are not only natural disasters like wildfires, but those that were man-made, like the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010. This occurred on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico which killed 11 workers and released millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf Coast. 

President Biden banned offshore drilling in 625 million acres on Jan. 6, just more than two weeks before President Trump took office. I understand offshore drilling is a complex and often dirty topic, as the last thing America needs is another oil spill.  

The worst oil spill in U.S. history to this date, it blackened much of the Gulf in 2010, occurring under President Obama’s Administration, which prompted him to respond. He addressed people for the first time in the Oval Office, calling it the “worst environmental disaster America has ever faced.” 

“The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years,” Obama said, according to the White House archives.  

In other words, this means that the effects of this disaster, caused by British oil company BP Oil, haven’t gone away. It took over a decade for the oil spill to be cleaned up, with much of the oil disappearing into the waters of the ocean, wreaking havoc on wildlife, primarily sea turtles and birds, plankton, and commercial and recreational fish, which the native peoples of Mexico also rely on for food. 

This event taught the U.S. that such drilling must be done correctly and without the problematic nature of companies conducting their own safety inspections or lobbying against common sense regulation efforts that protect Americans and native peoples alike. I first learned about lobbyists after taking Pollution and Public Policy here at UW Tacoma, which I believe was a valuable class for my journalism career and my knowledge of environmental issues. 

Ultimately, I agree with Obama in his immediate response, which left a six month moratorium on deepwater drilling at the time, as well as the deployment of 30,000 personnel working to contain and clean up the oil, alongside thousands of ships and other vessels. President Obama also deployed over 17,000 members of the National Guard along the coast to help clean beaches and train response workers. 

However, it would be foolish to use this event as an excuse to ban all offshore oil drilling forever.  

Biden issued an Executive Order under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 to attempt a permanent ban on offshore drilling along the East and West Coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea, according to the Associated Press. 

President Trump has vowed to undo it to unleash American energy production and create more jobs, though this will require an act of Congress. 

Today there are gas leaks from the California fires, along with a mix of smoke and carbon dioxide, dust and flaming debris still being carried by the Santa Anna winds. Certain fires are still growing without containment, while new fires pop up, causing more work for the firefighters. Washington state and East Pierce County has even sent some of its firefighters to California. 

We should be much more worried about saving our American people in the short term, because this will set them up for success in the future to rebuild, lessening further potential environmental damage to untouched acreage or vegetation. More to that point, this country is going to need American energy to rebuild California, along with places like Asheville and Chimney Rock, North Carolina and every other town affected by a major disaster. 

At least 42 people died in Buncombe County, with the death toll rising over 100 for North Carolina. Greg Biffle, a private helicopter pilot flew over the area days after the floods came through, presenting the total devastation to the social media world. 

We should look at all of the problems in this world equally, responding to all of them with the utmost care and bipartisan support, or more simply put, Americans supporting fellow Americans in times of need. 

Following the election, it’s safe to assume that most Americans don’t want too much regulation or a lack thereof, which would also be disastrous— they want safe drilling. I don’t believe we can fully eliminate fossil fuels, especially not until our government and the American people decide to work together to find common sense solutions to their differences of opinion.  

Historically, there was Bhopal, a 1984 pesticide plant gas leak in India that released more than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas into the atmosphere, killing at least 3,800 people and causing significant morbidity and premature death for many thousands more. The Chernobyl nuclear accident also occurred in 1986 under the Soviet Union. It was deemed the worst accident in nuclear power plant history. 

That’s not to discourage the U.S. from picking back up nuclear energy if done safely and efficiently under proper regulation, as it’s one of the cleanest and most sustainable forms of energy out there, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. 

China produces 12.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, while U.S. emissions currently sit at 5.9 billion tons annually, according to the New York Times. As the author writes, even though these numbers don’t tell the whole story, I would rather China and India be forced to slash their emissions of industrial carbon dioxide and other noxious gases than the U.S. and Americans have to continually suffer.  

India is close behind China, while the AP reports that there was a decrease of 154 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. in 2023, which was almost entirely in coal emissions with slight increases in oil and gas. 

Yes, Chinese people use less than half of the energy Americans do, but not mentioned in this article is that American Artificial Intelligence and various industries use far more power than the average American, two things that should be regulated carefully. This is not to prevent economic growth but to protect the environment. In China, air pollution is responsible for 2 million deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization. When it comes to industries like manufacturing, I agree with Obama about setting high standards for vehicle manufacturers for low emissions, and the same goes for updating building and factory standards throughout the country.  

I see the need for regulation, especially with the $500 billion promised investment in building American AI data centers by partners Open AI, Softbank and Oracle with the creation of Stargate, a brand new American high-tech company I’m quite skeptical of. 

When it comes to the media coverage, I worry we’ve completely lost sight of reality, willfully ignoring the fact that most people, especially university and college students, can’t even afford a new vehicle. I especially couldn’t purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle in the current economy. 

With many people having lost their homes, entire farms and everything they’ve built from the ground up, I can imagine the number of new vehicle sales would continue to drop, as we’ve all seen and felt with inflation following the pandemic.  

Americans need an annual income of at least $100,000 to afford a car, meaning that based on Census data, more than 60 percent of Americans can’t afford to buy a new car, according to Newsweek. This has also increased the price of used vehicles, which primarily run on gasoline. 

I choose to live on farmland with an airspace free of city smog and hills with green forests, like many who are following their path towards the American Dream. I’m not here to deny anyone their differences in lifestyle, unlike what this country seems to want for young people, who aren’t able to move out before the age of 25 in many cases, mine likely included. 

Aside from high energy prices throughout the U.S. contributing to my frustrations, I am disappointed that good American families living like the country people I know aren’t getting the continued coverage they deserve from the mainstream media. North Carolina alone experienced a tragedy totaling over $60 billion in damage from the floods following Helene. 

These hurricane victims are people, and to see them freezing in negative ten-degree temperatures and snow, with certain commenters on social media praising their suffering in tents, is not only unnerving but is unacceptable in this country. America must protect them, just as we must protect the people of Idaho, Hawaii, California and many other states affected by natural disasters. The country, and therefore American taxpayers, must pay for everyone to recover equally, not favoring one group over another. 

Farmers and country folk are the backbone of this country, as they keep multiple industries running, especially the logging industry in Washington, or the coal miners in North Carolina. That’s aside from my disgruntled feelings about the world’s use of coal as a primary source of energy, or the thought of more deforestation in this state, though necessary it may be to adhere to the needs of further economic growth and housing development. 

President Trump issued an Executive Order declaring a National Energy Emergency on his Inauguration on Jan. 20, during which he said “We need a reliable, diversified, and affordable supply of energy to drive our Nation’s manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and defense industries, and to sustain the basics of modern life and military preparedness. Caused by the harmful and shortsighted policies of the previous administration, our Nation’s inadequate energy supply and infrastructure causes and makes worse the high energy prices that devastate Americans, particularly those living on low- and fixed-incomes.” 

It’s an unfortunate sin I and many Americans can’t afford to get away from, as the country’s infrastructure was built on fossil fuels. 

As if our new technology the media talks so highly about from all angles couldn’t possibly guide us into that slow transition away from fossil fuels that Obama once spoke about, something which I know came much too fast for many Americans like me, being a commuter. 

We certainly need to think more about those who live in rural areas and those who work multiple jobs just to get by through delivering goods or contributing to rideshare industries. Not to mention those in service jobs with trucks and trailers that run on diesel fuel, as they are the service people keeping this country alive, placing food in your grocery stores. 

Looking back in media history, Obama loses me in his speech about how for the everyday American, this doesn’t matter, because the country can’t afford to continue down a path that he labels a negative addiction to fossil fuels, but it’s one that I argue is a necessity.  

I was a child when the oil spill happened, but I can appreciate Obama’s immediate effort to provide relief to the people of the Gulf Region in 2010. However, I wouldn’t exactly define my future as having a part to play in the total elimination of fossil fuels, as gas is something we realistically need to survive in this economy.