Click the header link to read the LA Times story By Dean Kuipers
Of Why Lying is Called a Sin in the Bible…
Beware of the pro-oil histrionics you hear and believe. In the history of the obstruction of clean energy development in the USA, hundreds of scare tactics have been used.
Today’s big news, for example, is this little tidbit: that resusable shopping bags COULD make people sick by MAYBE spreading germs (if you don’t wash them regularly, duh)…
…And well yeah, MAYBE, kinda like the way using public transportation or hanging out at the park or shopping or eating out at a restaurant COULD MAYBE make people sick by spreading germs…
…As if the petroleum industry did NOT just make people sick in an entire coastal region and has not been doing the same all over the world for almost a century…???
Even though viable, and cleaner fuel alternatives to gasoline have been available since the invention of the automobile, and even though other green energy technologies have been available since the 70s, here we are, stuck in the oily muck of our new millenium, all because scare tactics like the above have been used, over and over and over again, to smother the real truth like the dinosaur goo the petroleum industry exploits is smothering the Gulf of Mexico.
Of Free Choice…
My mother, who has resided in the Florida panhandle for about four decades, remarked today, in response to news that oil gobs are washing up on the pristine and pure white beaches of Panama City, Florida, that she might not live long enough to see the Gulf of Mexico restored to its pre-BP-disaster state.
She also told me about her friend’s 80-something parents. They live in a community along the Alabama coastline. They recently bought a stockpile of shrimp to store in their freezer because they figured that once the oil reaches shore, they won’t live long enough to enjoy fresh Gulf shrimp ever again.
Reality checks like these , along with the many other, much grimmer reality checks related to the BP well explosion that many of us have been watching day after day on television, put the perpetual back-and-forth gripe-fest between the ultra left and the ultra right about who’s at fault, who’s in charge, and who is, or is not doing what, into ugly perspective (the air of victimhood that infects these arguments is particularly disconcerting and shameful, by the way).
“Actions speak louder than words,” as the old karmic mantra states, and as far as I’m concerned, political blather and blame is meaningless in respect to this particular disaster. Only three oily truths really matter:
1) That the corporate entities tied to the deep-water disaster acted with a reprehensible degree of deception, irresponsibility, recklessness, sloppiness, incompetence and arrogance both before and after the well exploded.
2) That oil continues to pour and pour out of the ground, up into the ocean. Until the gusher is stopped, all efforts to clean up the mess are only effective for moments in time. The volume of oil spewed to date is huge and it’s still oncoming.
3) Until we the people are off oil for good, we can’t expect much better than what we see happening now. As we’ve learned, oil disasters like ours in the Gulf of Mexico have been happening for years in other regions of the world, and such disasters are very likely to happen again. The planet-wide seismic activity that preceded the Gulf well explosion should be minded in this respect - the earth’s forces are far more powerful than anything mankind has cooked up. We risk a lot when we drill down into those ancient pockets of dinosaur goo.
So folks, think about all this, and I will, too (I’m no less guilty of oil usage than anyone else), next time you’re offered “paper or plastic” at the grocery store, or must choose between a gas guzzling or fuel efficient vehicle, or must decide how to vote between the candidate who vows to “drill, baby, drill,” or the one who vows to support clean energy legislation.
Think about the out of work roustabouts in the Gulf region… what if… what if those hard workers redirected their energy, work ethic and experience into wind power, solar power, white-shell highway repaving, geo-thermal construction, electric and hydrogen car manufacturing, etc, etc, etc.
Those of us of a certain age, like our parents, grew up with the romance of oil wealth. From the glorious James Dean and gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor in the movie “Giant,” to the “Beverly Hillbillies” and “Dallas” folk on television, we’ve been taught that oil and great prosperity are interlinked; oil is rich, even joyful.
In this current reality check, however, we’ve seen the other side of that coin, so to speak: oil is filthy, and the oilers who have floated to the top echelons of their industry are as greedy and insensitive to the needs of the “little people” as the worst dictators in human history.
But we are Americans. We don’t have squires and monarchs here. We have free choice, and breaking our dependence on oil, and on this new form of feudalism is as much a matter of personal choice as it is about policy change at the corporate and government levels.
Choose freedom from oil, and it will happen. Our conversion to clean energy will start with a trickle, maybe including the few who read this piece all the way through, and just like that opening scene in “The Beverly Hillbillies,” it will turn into a gusher. Anyone who knows diddly-squat about capitalism can tell us that.
- by Laura Mauney
Of Really Helping A Lot
… with Our Mutual Dinosaur Goo Problem, Part 1
Once upon a time, just a few decades ago, there was no such thing as a plastic grocery bag, plastic milk carton, or plastic water bottle.
Did you know that most plastic products are made of petroleum (oil) derivatives, and that many cosmetic products contain petroleum, too?
These uses evolved from a master plan hatched back in the 1980s by a bunch of oily people who simply wanted to find a way to sell more oil. Yes, children, it’s true, and we’ve clearly been played.
Anyway, if, like me, you cannot get yourself down to the Gulf of Mexico to help clean petroleum from this latest oil disaster off of bird feathers, or clean the goo up out of the sea, you can do these things:
1) Stop accepting plastic bags at the store. Insist on paper, or better yet, bring your own bags.
2) Stop buying water in plastic bottles. Instead, buy a reusable bottle and fill it with filtered tap water. Buy milk in cardboard cartons, and if you can deal with it, buy concentrated juice and mix it up yourself. Better yet, if you are so inclined, get a juicer and make your own.
3) Start using disposable items made only of recycled paper or cardboard, recycled or biodegradable plastic, and cornstarch. We all know about paper plates, knapkins, cups and towels. You can also buy trash bags made of recycled plastic or, better yet, biodegradable plastic. Disposable forks, knives and spoons made of cornstarch are also out there now. If you can’t find this stuff locally, order it online. Seek and ye will find, believe me. It’s all pretty cheap, too. There are even doggy pick up bags made of biodegradable plastic.
4) Check lotions, shampoos, and makeup before you buy to make sure they do not contain petroleum. You will be surprised to discover how many top selling beauty products use petroleum for thickening. You will also be surprised to discover how many great beauty products do not contain petroleum at all.
5) If you drive, try really hard to drive a little less… carpool, combine errands, walk, bicycle, or use mass transit whenever you can. Additionally, keep up with car maintenance and oil changes, and keep your tires properly inflated. All of these measures add up to a lot of oil-not-used over a period of time, and when you multiply the amount of oil saved times the bazillions who drive … well, you get the picture.
6) When / if you can afford to do so, buy a more fuel efficient car. A couple of new, plug in electric models will be on the market in late 2010. Owners will be able to recharge these in their home garages.
7) Finally, when / if you can afford to do so, start researching ways to implement renewable energy sources in your home … solar, thermal, wind… whatever works for you. For my part, since I rent, I opted into 100% green power from my local utility.
I’ve been a Mom for about 25 years now, and alive a lot longer. I know how hard it is to do all of the above, but I also know, since I’ve done most of this stuff, that it can be done, and that once you get into the groove, it’s not hard at all.
by Laura M Mauney
