When I wrote my book WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE? I didn’t go into the dangers of oil spills. I wanted to focus on the immediate subject, which was how petroleum particulates from burning gasoline and coal harm the environment. The book, illustrated by Paul Meisel, is a simple one meant for young children and I didn’t want it to suffer from information overkill. But after the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I’m sure plenty of hastily put together books on the subject are in the works.

I was in China when the well burst, but even from such a distance it was personally heartbreaking for me. I saw my first ocean, when I was about two years old in Biloxi Mississippi on the Gulf. Later I lived in New Orleans for a short time, and loved that exotic city—and still do. As an adult I have vacationed many times on the west coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. It sort of feels like home to me.

The recent well burst has dramatically called the world’s attention to the dangers of deep-water drilling—shortly after our current president had just called for more. And right after this one, a pipeline burst in China. It didn’t apparently cause the damage the Gulf one did, but BP and the US government may not be alone in whitewashing the problem. And the trouble is, we don’t know how extensive the damage is.

Estuaries are amazing. The Louisiana marshlands are nurseries to more species of fish and shellfish than we can imagine. Polluting these fragile grasses may do damage to fish and other wildlife that we will not see for many years. And yet, oil company and government PR tells us now that all is well, that we have nothing to worry about, even though marine scientists question that optimistic take on the situation.

Perhaps it is because Americans have always been rich in land and natural resources that we expect we can destroy something, and move on to the next frontier, wherever that is. That’s why our children need a stronger education in science than they get, They need to grow up asking questions about how this fragile planet works.

But I’m not optimistic that this will happen. Are you?