Mothers of all ages delight in their children, but I don't know that, if I were younger, I would feel as acutely, profoundly, preciously grateful for every smile, squeal, and - yes - diaper blowout.

Today 80 percent of all the oil that comes out of the Gulf is from 1 000 feet or more and today almost a third of it is more than 5 000 feet below the surface. What hasn't happened is the safety and the ability to respond to a negative event such as this blowout has been far outrun by the technology of drilling itself. We need to close that gap.