Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

By W.B. Dunne

The NP was going to lead with a clever quip such as, “You want oil? Well give ya oil!” in an attempt to conjure in the mind of the reader some adage which reminds us to be careful what we pray for. Now we have so much oil that the main occupation of anyone that once walked the sugar sand beaches of west Florida will be cleaning up the treasure disgorged from a hole in the ocean floor. Now the energy policy of the Cheney White House will need to be brought out into the light, so the blame of a generation of lost property values in the gulf states will have a place to lie. Now we have so much oil that the pond south of Texas will become a giant stinking flammable reservoir, filled with the carcasses of the fish, birds, and men in unfortunate proximity. The once-prized beachfront acreage will now be home to the birth defects caused by the residual environmental poisoning.

Mother Nature has sent a strong undeniable message here peopleBig Oil bit off more than they could chew, and the defacto nationalization of the energy industry has just taken place. Big Oils first move when the reality of this event set in was to try to get as many people in the gulf states as possible to sign away their rights to sue for a payment of $5 grand! Of course, the industry cannot begin to effect a solution to the problem they have lobbied their asses off to create so who is in fact doing so? The Federal Government, thats who.

The NP groans at the idea of the contortions needed to take on the logical leap necessary for the polarized factions in this country to take this message and do the right thing with it. Unemployed? Cleanup. Vacation? Cleanup. We should provide free housing, food, laundry, and transportation to anyone willing to spend time assisting in the CLEANUP. We need an unprecedented level of action to deal with the immediate and to design the new model that will replace this outmoded, irresponsible, planet wrecking, corporate mess. The entire board of British Petroleum should be out there in hip waders trying to save the turtles that theyve poisoned. To see the CEO untarring the feathers of an endangered brown pelican would squelch somewhat my urge to tar and feather HIM.

When the NP thinks about the reality of the fact that the budget for one commercial touting the image of the energy giants as responsible partners would have covered the expense for the device that would have prevented this disasterhe contemplates the peaceful manatee to regain a grip on his composure.

All the NP is saying is that what has happened here falls far beyond the need for regulation of corrupt rich men that will do anything to get richer. What has been demonstrated in very high relief is that these companies cannot act like citizens; they are incapable, beyond putting out a few ads, of performing the basic civil functions. They have proven disastrously again and again that they lie, and when theyre caught, they lie again. Anything short of total takeover by people that understand what responsibility means, in the face of such a large-scale example of this, is nothing less than surrender to these sociopathic corporations. There is nothing to the idea that one can insulate oneself from the death of the planet with money and position, as there is nothing to the idea that we can continue to live with this large-scale criminal enterprise we call global corporatism.

When we starve because the earth is so poisoned that it wont sustain us because of the behavior of a few very greedy men, will there be a castle strong enough to protect them?

The meek shall inherit the earth, indeed.

2010 WB Dunne. All Rights Reserved.

By OEN

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Ana Grarian
13 years ago

Do you think people will ever get the idea that we can’t keep burning fuel to make our lives easier by having such necessary devices as electric can openers, tanning beds, and inflatable lawn decorations? Do you think we’ll ever get smart enough to recognize that technology has not protected us from pollution and accidents?
It’s very discouraging. I listened to one legislator talk about how often we have oil spills in the Gulf. Do we really understand that?
We all need to wake up and smell the petrochemicals burning.

RS Janes
13 years ago

Excellent article, WB.

Ana, it’s also a shame we don’t take more advantage of the kinetic energy wasted by the products we already run. The technology exists, it’s just not being applied. There is a new type of wind generator that’s been invented as well — the fan is smaller and much more efficient and works at lower wind speeds than the old type, and can easily be installed on small buildings and houses, yet I keep hearing in the media that the drawback on wind power is that the fans are too big and need too much wind and land to be practical in an urban/suburban environment. (Same thing with the emerging solar technologies, BTW.) The govt. should be all over these latest innovations, but there’s bupkis so far.

And who really needs a tanning bed anyway, except for that vampire Boehner?

Ana Grarian
13 years ago

There is a small, portable windmill that can be used by RV’s or for folks who occasionally use a vacation cabin. In the northeast there are so many options for water power. Mostly there are so many options for all of us to reduce the demand for oil/gas/electricity.

RS Janes
13 years ago

True, water power is abundant in various parts of the country. I read about a ‘roller bar’ which can be set in a stream or river with rushing water that can collect and save to a storage battery the energy of the water flowing over the rollers without harming the environment the way a conventional dam does. The roller bar can collect enough energy to power the average home, yet I don’t see it on sale anywhere.

Ken Carman
Admin
13 years ago

Ana… do have a link to that small portable windmill by chance? Depending on cost I may be interested.

Ken Carman
Admin
13 years ago

I was listening to NPR today and they were talking about a chemical BP is using to make the oil slick sink and be less visible to cameras. No solve it by any means. And, to top it off, whatever this chemical is it’s related to the frackin issue.

So hiding the problem is all they need to be concerned about? Why isn’t Hell being raised by the administration? Or did I miss it somehow?

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