British Petroleum's oil was 9 miles from Pensacola, Florida when I got up yesterday...
Last night it was in a wildlife refuge just a few miles outside New Orleans, 2/3 of the way through the wetlands lying between the city and the ocean.
When those wetlands die (and they will die from this poisoning) that means the next hurricane the sets her sights on the city that Katrina couldn't kill will have miles of a head start.
And like that iceberg that sunk the Titanic, what we can see is only an "nth" of what lies beneath...though British Petroleum would like to deny that their dispersant agents are causing the oil to "suspend" beneath the surface, the Jean-Michel Cousteau has posted footage of it and much more since.
If you'd like to read more or see more footage, here is a link.
I've mentioned before my Grandmother passing along the belief she learned from the Native Americans when she and my Grandfather were on the reservations; the one that says before you decide anything you should consider how it will affect not just your generation, or your children's, but the next 7 generations who will live with the consequences of what you decide right now.
I fear more than 7 generations will be dealing with the decisions that led to this and the ones being made in their wake! This afternoon I was watching footage as a reporter turned over the rocks at Prince William Sound, Alaska and the tarred rock still lying there was exposed so many years later...Exxon has plowed right on, but they sank the lives of an entire ecosystem as they fed their greed. I don't believe, in the end, British Petroleum will be any different.
May the week be kind to each of you!
alan
6 comments:
Reminded of the UB40 song 'Burden of Shame'.... 'I'm a British subject, not proud of it...'
Good post; it's a shame you had to write it. I'm so disgusted, saddened, and angered by this--it's never very far from my mind. Yet that BP CEO has the nerve to dine in New Orleans restaurants (I hope everything's served to him blackened and oily; I'm gonna stop just short of adding "poisoned") and talk about how he "wants his life back" after his company's actions have destroyed so many lives, human and otherwise. And some people still want more offshore drilling! It feels like everyone's getting angry, wants to help, and wants to avoid new tragedies...except the people who really need to.
We've watched balls of tar come into our beach in the past - though it was nowhere near as bad as this will be. It's dangerous to clear and store too.
Our thirst for oil is endless. Politicians are laughed at when they raise the idea of alternative fuels. We have an over-populated planet that is fueled by the very stuff that is poisoning the gulf. We all bear some responsibility, although BP and the others should ultimately be held accountable.
What we have done to this planet is truly unconscionable.
I feel so sorry for the wildlife that is suffering. They need to fix this crap!
The whole situation is just maddening -- BP's irresponsibility and incompetence, the contribution of our own hunger for oil and plastics, effect on the wildlife and the environment, and indeed on the generations to come. Your grandmother had it right; it's tragic that more people don't think the way she did.
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