"The oil people say it was an act of God, and in the long run there's some truth in that. The undersea formations here are naturally porous, delicate to fool with. You might say the area is blowout-prone. But in the short run the oil people are to blame. They didn't take the danger of a spill fully into account, and they didn't use the right preventative measures for drilling at this depth. The result is what you see." He flung his arm toward the platform which stood against the horizon.
"Why didn't they take the right preventative measures?"
"It costs money," he said. "Oilmen are gamblers, most of them, and they'd rather take a little chance than spend a lot of money. Or wait for technology to catch up." He added after a moment, "They're not the only gamblers. We're all in the game. We all drive cars, and we're all hooked on oil. The question is how we can get unhooked before we drown in the stuff."
Ross Macdonald, Sleeping Beauty, 1973