The old cliche "out of sight, out of mind" is the best way to summarize most of the world's perspective on the environment. It is most unfortunate that almost all of the people on earth cannot see first hand the rapid destruction of the homes of countless species. People do not and cannot see the holes in the ozone layer or the pollution in the water. Most people have never seen in person the trees of an entire valley cut down or the coastline blackened by spilled oil. Since the Industrial Revolution the earth's ecosystem has experienced a rapid decline. People are using vast amounts of resources at rates that will be nearly impossible to neither maintain nor replenish. There is also the cost of using and refining these resources, which is the lower quality of air, water, and earth, the extinction of various species, and the continued drastic decrease of finite resources of that we have come to depend our whole economy on. Every year more forests are cut down, more chemicals pollute the air, and more toxins fill the waters. This trend has continued for more than a century and a half and continues even today. The degradation of the environment continues and we have endangered it.
             One of the most prized and coveted resources on earth is oil. It is often referred to as "black gold" since oil is shipped to and consumed all over the world. It is the greatest source of energy that people have. It is used as fuel for cars, trucks, airplanes, and many other vehicles as well as a major generator of electricity in many areas. Nevertheless, it is used in vast quantities and must also be shipped in vast quantities. The most economically efficient way to do this is by using what are known as "supertankers." Supertankers are huge, ocean faring vessels that transport in the tens of millions of gallons of oil, and when these supertankers have accidents, they can be environmentally catastrophic...