I recently received a reader response from the July Editor's Desk, in which I discussed the industry back when pollution control was a much smaller business priority. Back then, the job was considered just a part-time effort, often handed out to some staffer able to handle the technical paperwork. Today, most large companies have an entire team comprising their environmental staff.

The reader, whose name is not Sean, commented about my observation on how much this industry has grown the past 30 years. However, not-Sean also mentioned his concern that with all of the apparent growth, it appears that we are still floundering with environmental problems such as the oil spill in the Gulf and China, the impending doom of global warming, ocean trash, etc.

I am guessing that I am older than not-Sean. I was a teenager during the 1960s as the music changed from yearnings for love to social commentary. Our waters were dirty and our air smelled. I did not like going to grandma's house because there was an oil refinery a few miles away that made it difficult to breathe at times. Yet today, we argue about (oft naturally occurring) gases we cannot see nor smell. Our rivers no longer catch fire. And we discuss cleaning to levels that could not possibly be measured in the '60s. Today, refinery odors don't invade grandmothers' homes; they're not even allowed past the fence.

Sometimes it is only a matter of perspective. Take the BP spill for example. In my opinion, the company totally failed to properly consider risk. However, we also have a regulatory body (actually, many bodies) that were supposed to make certain the company properly planned for risk. One perspective is to see those failures and cry foul. Another way to look at this is an opportunity to try all sorts of environmental technologies – those sitting on a shelf or database waiting to be thoroughly tested – under real field conditions.

Recently, four major oil companies announced a plan to share resources to develop future technologies that should be able to handle this type and other potential leaks at depths twice that of the Deepwater Horizon.

To the not-Seans out there, when the environmental challenges of today seem too daunting, I find it helpful to take a step back and realize how much has already been accomplished. When we get so involved in the day-to-day activities, I think we lose perspective on how much we have done. Remember though, as much as we accomplish, there will always be more to do and improvements that can be made. We just have to make intelligent choices, and have a little faith that what we can't figure out, future generations will. PE