The United States is making a considerable fuss about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. President Barack Obama and the coastal states seem determined to hold the oil company responsible and seek financial recompense for the damage to property and businesses, and to a lesser extent the spoiled landscape and decimated wildlife.

The ‘polluter pays’ tag is alive and well in this instance, and insurance and legal firms are queuing up to get involved in what is an almost-theatrical episode that is being played out to fulfil an unexpected political opportunity. It’s not often that the national interest can be so served without involving the armed forces.

Despite this, the response quite rightly points out the enormity of the damage inflicted on the natural environment and the local economy. It certainly underlines the difficulties of extracting oil from extreme situations, particularly in deep water, now that the production from the well-established oil fields has peaked.

Disappointingly, there has been hardly a murmur internationally about the vastly more serious damage in the oil field that produces 40 per cent of the United States imports – the Niger delta. Records show 2,000 major oil spillage sites, many decades old, and the development of drilling offshore now threatens even worse pollution.

The multinational companies, including BP and Shell, have turned the natural rain forest and mangrove swamps of the cassava-growing and fishing communities into a nightmare of polluted waterways, dying vegetation and despoiled fisheries, all lit by a backdrop of flaring gas that pumps more CO2 into the air than the whole of Africa south of the Equator.

However, the real irony of the United States approach is that, until recently, they have almost completely ignored a far greater spillage than the one caused by BP, and one for which they have significant responsibility. They have enthusiastically promoted CO2 production for years, and until recently were responsible for 30 per cent of all the man-made carbon dioxide produced world-wide, despite having only four per cent of the population.

The American way of life has embraced rampant consumerism allied to cheap energy, all against a background of open expanses of land. The result has been a car-dependent society, with widely-spaced suburban housing, every electrical gadget available, oil-based central heating, electricity-gobbling air conditioning and illuminated advertising.

Add to this a meat-based diet supported by industrial agriculture, and it is no wonder that coal and oil companies have such political influence, and downplay the dangers of climate change.

The real concern should be that while the spilled oil will stay mainly in the Gulf of Mexico, the carbon dioxide is changing the climate world-wide.