The 4 Best Things to Have Come Out of BP's Oil Spill

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout. While it's certainly been a trying (and at times absurd) year, we're encouraged by some of the more positive trends the spill has brought around. In particular, we're grateful for:

1. A greater appreciation for the value and fragility of natural ecosystems: The spill devastated wildlife populations and cost thousands of Gulf residents their livelihoods. Such catastrophes bring home the link between environmental health and economic well-being, and we hope that the lesson will resonate in other oil-rich places. 

2. Humor in the face of adversity: No matter how dire the circumstances, laughing helps us cope. Parodies of BP execs as kittens, bumbling corporate drones with terrible hairpieces, and hapless children served as catharsis as the bad news poured out from the Gulf.

3. A reminder that we’re all involved: Nobody likes to take the blame, and certainly people (ahem, Tony Hayward) are more responsible than others, but our country’s ever-growing appetite for oil implicates all of our lifestyle choices in this disaster. 

4. An incredible outpouring of grassroots support for cleanup and restoration: Thousands of volunteers turned out from all over the country to keep oil off the beaches, clean and rehabilitate wildlife, and help get the Gulf coast back on its feet. 

--Zoë J. Sheldon