This week signifies the first anniversary of the beginning of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A year ago the explosion that sank the huge rig and ruptured the oil line led to weeks of watching the most harrowing environmental disaster of recent times play out on television. The event led to just under three months of crude oil spewing into the ocean before it was finally capped after many attempts on July 15, 2010. At that point more than 200 million gallons of oil had found their way into the marine ecosystem along the Gulf Coast causing pollution and eco-system damage, extensive deaths to marine life and tragic consequences for the fishing and tourism industries throughout the area affected.

At the time I recall thinking this would be a watershed moment for environmentalism leading to drastic improvements to safety in that industry, more activism in environmental issues in general and a serious rethink about our insatiable quest for oil. Initially it looked as if those outcomes were all possible and gaining momentum, but a year on it sadly looks like business as usual in the region is returning for many concerned. All the while more than 75% of the oil that was discharged is estimated to still remain in the marine ecosystem with the long term impacts still impossible to gauge.

So just how are things beginning to slip back to ‘normal’ in a region that was so severely impacted? The answer is as complex as the question itself, but there are many reasons that the wake up call I anticipated in the Gulf region hasn’t yet taken place. Economics and politics filter deeply into the true answers. While the region was devastated economically and ecologically by the BP disaster, one year later the settlement funding remains largely tied up in claims and lawsuits. The economy remains depressed in the region and the oil industry for all of its inherent (and demonstrated) risks remains a huge employer in the region. Changing the economic fabric of an entire region can’t happen overnight and when the dependence on the oil and gas industry is so deep along the gulf coast those changes become increasingly harder. Most of the environmental activism is coming from outside of the region while many people along the impacted shores are more concerned with tourism returning or the overall faith of the seafood industry from Gulf of Mexico waters being restored.

Political factors also come into play with the affected demographics in the region being mostly conservative and valuing economic stability far ahead of environmental matters, particularly in the present tense with the economy still at best going through a stuttering revival. While it’s easy for me from afar saying that offshore drilling simply needs to end the reality is that without a replacement industry in place to take on those who would then need work an area already struggling to bounce back from the oil disaster would be plunged into deeper calamity. Such transformations in economic infrastructure take planning, investment and time but finding that balance remains one of the key questions that must be answered as we tackle environmental protection collectively as a society.

I noted with concern that a recent survey of Louisiana voters showed that the environment is low on the list of ‘biggest concerns’ at present – placing sixth behind the economy, education, budget, healthcare and crime. Such data shows that even more stringent legislation will be hard to drive home when politicians will be chosen based on their ability to address what are perceived to be greater needs than the environment.

One year on and the damage is done, I’m not convinced that lessons have been learned however.