Priorities

A good friend of mine posted a quote by Margaret Meade on Facebook a few days ago, and it has been resonating with me since, "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." I must confess that upon my return to the Midwest, I've been a bit shell shocked by the lack of concern expressed by people in general about the disaster unfolding in the GOM. Ok, so we are thousands of miles from the actual disaster, and I get the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality to a degree. What I don't understand is that when I try to talk to people about it, I get a general sense of defeat. Is it true that most Americans feel they don't have a voice in what happens in our government and with companies like BP? Have we succumbed to indifference instead of fighting for what is right?

And surprise, surprise, the news today was that BP was a bit "overly optimistic" about the time frame for stopping the leak. The fed ended up slowing the operation, and Kent Wells, BP Senior VP, agreed that delaying the tests and ultimately the capping of the well was the prudent thing to do. Thad Allen, National incident commander said, "This has been a substantial impact on our environment, this has been a substantial impact on the Gulf Coast, the people, the culture. What we didn't want to do is compound that problem by making an irreversible mistake." Heavens no, irreversible mistakes in the Gulf? And so we wait, and watch more pointless video of oil gushing into the GOM, and it makes us feel more helpless and angry (or at least me anyway).

And while our fellow American citizens in the South are faced with decimated lives, while we watch our economy slide further into the abyss with property values declining from Florida to Texas along the coastline, and while the planet is being systematically wiped out by this egregious gaffe, our friends at Shell and BP are making plans with our elected representatives and elected officials to begin a new venture that is in an even riskier and more dangerous environment. Even though the President has put the kibosh on deep offshore drilling in places like Virginia and Florida, it seems that the oil companies are going to march right ahead with their plans to start the process of drilling in the remote corners of the Arctic. If you haven't had a chance to read Tim Dickinson's article in the June issue of Rolling Stone, you can find it here.
Dickinson goes on to explain that although the Obama administration has every legal ability to STOP the planned drilling (and by the way my fellow readers, these procedures have never been tested, and they take place in some of the most volatile seas on earth), they are not doing it. Please, be part of the small group of thoughtful people that Margaret Meade described and contact your elected representatives and President Obama and tell them that we want risky deep offshore drilling stopped. You could even suggest that if they don't, you'll vote for someone who can make that happen.

What does it mean for us to live without these crazy, deep water drilling rigs? We all joke about riding our bikes more, driving less, flying less, living a more simple lifestyle, but it seems to me that we get what we deserve (including the government officials for whom we cast our votes). It's not like we have to completely stop driving cars, right? How about the Nissan LEAF, and Chevy VOLT? What about investing more in alternative energy sources and cleaner, more efficient forms of public transportation? We have been told that "Easy Oil" era is over. Sure we can get more from the Middle East, but that's not playing out so well for any of us, is it? I believe that this country can emerge from these crazy times a better, less oil dependent nation. We just have to know where our priorities are.

Last week, when I was on vacation, I was enjoying some live entertainment at The Hangout in Orange Beach, Alabama. The band was playing a cover of the popular song by Zach Brown, "Chicken Fried". It was at the end of my first day of seeing some pretty horrific scenes of oil stained beach, my first fish kill, and countless tar balls & oil coated garbage. I had just ordered some cajun style shrimp, was chatting up the bartender and soaking in the pleasure of being on vacation (and really enjoying the music, these kids were good!). As I listened to the music and felt the warm breeze tickling my sunburnt skin, the last verse of the song took on a new, somber, and almost macabre meaning. Eleven people lost their lives in this disaster, in this conspicuous display of consumption. This process which fuels our current lifestlye. Are these 11 not also heroes?

"I thank god for my life, And for the stars and stripes, May freedom forever fly, let it ring. Salute the ones who died, And the ones that gave their lives, so we don`t have to sacrifice, All the things we love" God Bless the 11 souls who died on the Deepwater Horizon and their families who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

Peace.