Gulf Oil Spill …. Responsiblity.

Gulf Oil Spill…Responsibility.

I recently posted this on my personal facebook profile.  There were several very thoughtful repsonses.  However, one stood out and I think it is worth reposting here.  Caroline Corwell (the author of the response) is a friend of mine and I appreciate her passion and commitment.

My Post: I think we all agree, BP’s response sucks. Let’s also consider that our need for oil (and/or the oil lobbyist’s need for oil) helped create this problem. It could have been Texaco or QT or some other company and not BP that we are blaming. Our need for fuel and oil helps drive their drilling. Now our water and much… much more is being destroyed. Water will be the next oil…  And salt marshes are some of the most productive eco systems on earth. Just trying to clean this up is like putting a bandaid on a gushing wound. So, I pose this question… What can we do to clean up this mess AND what can we do that is preventative?

Caroline’s Comment:

Great posts. The problem with boycotting BP ( I am in this area alot and have a business interest there and this is absolutely going to affect my husband’s business and in some ways already is) is that they, BP, is a huge employer in LA. The economy that is based primarily on tourism, fishing, agriculture and oil, will already have been devasted by … See More the loss of fishing and tourism. These feed into all other businesses. So to put a further huge dent in a place that has been devastated makes no sense to me. We can mostly all agree that this was handled abominably and that there alot of anger and down there hurt and fear.

But in the end, we are responsible.
To answer the original question:

1.Build sustainable communities that support walking safely, bike paths, light rails, intelligent planning. I have seen this done … oddly New Orleans is a GREAT walking city and everybody has a bike there it seems.  Also they have the trolley. When I am there I park my car for the week unless I am buying groceries.

2. Support local business growth in communties, such as local grocery stores, local doctors, etc…so that you do not need to drive to the mega store across the city to spend $10 bucks to save $5 on food.

3. Keep the schools local…Atlanta and most definately Dekalb have a big FAIL on this. In California, where we are from, kids all walk to school. they actually ride their bikes, walk, skateboard, etc. they do not have these stupid busing issues that plague this area. ALSO…Dekalb has taken alot of our bus services and moved my school from 2 miles away to 2 cities away…I am spending 2 hours a day in the car to get kids to school…genius planning there…let neighborhoods be neighborhoods that support neighborhoods. you will see more walking, biking, less gas usage. plan intelligently. Become involved in the city planning and hold them responsible.

4. Invest in not only great urban and suburban design, but also in clean technologies that support forward thinking. In San Jose, we had light rail, in San Fransisco we had trolley services and AMAZING train adn bus services that were actually used and didn’t feel dirty or scary. many people don’t even have cars because they walk, bike, train, cab or zip car. they rent cars for weekend trips. (does not work well in Napa though ) so back to great planning and supporting the great plan.

5. Another thing you see out there are stunning wind mills used for energy, solar energy farms, you can burn trash for energy, choose wiser cars, build more thoughtfully, insulate, insulate, insulate, turn our heaters down in the winter and use more blankets – (our forefathers did not have heaters that ran all day : ), this one will hurt but wash dishes by hand – do we really need our dishes heated up for an hour to dry? , make more efficient use of when we drive by planning our trip and getting everything done close by, etc…there are ways to do this.

I think in the end, we can do this and will eventually be forced to do this but sadly for most of us, it will not come until we are forced into it and in the end it is our fault. we work too hard to buy too much and have little time to pay attention to this crazy left wing liberal hippy pinko commie stuff until our pocket books are affected thereby affecting our shopping and playtime. it is all about a seismic value shift.

I think in this matter there is a TON of blame to go around, those puke bastards at BP should have to be forced to move to coastal louisiana with their families and work everyday cleaning this up and be forced to shop locally, eat locally and live with the people there, who are very very hardworking and very very vocal – that’d be fun to watch on tv…new reality show?! I bet when they or their children are threatend with ill health, loss of income, etc. they will find it urgent and make magic happen. I think the federal g’mnt is not responsbile but will bare the brunt of the blame and the burden and does need to come in and make this right now (and quit sleeping with the wolves ~ oldest saying handed down since time immemorial or maybe just the bible…you can’t serve two masters…just sayin congress and senate…just sayin.

But regardless, Rob has a valid point, we play the blame game and think it will all be handled, we watch intently, get outraged and offer nothing but our rage and opinion. Bobby Jindal has had this one right when he said give us the equipment and the tools and the resources and get the hell out of our way. We will take care of our own. Sadly the tools, equipment and resources have not shown up. but the EPA did, to tell them they had to do an impact study first. Sigh.

Sorry for the longest post ever : )

 

Now… there is quite a bit to think about.  Anyone feel like chiming in on their opinion?