"GULFPORT, Miss. - Scientists say the Gulf oil spill could get into the what's called the Loop Current within a day, eventually carrying oil south along the Florida coast and into the Florida Keys. "
A few articles back, I spoke of ripples. Basically it is the following of the affects of our decisions and the affect it has on other people and things. Now, we have a prime example of those ripples. Our continued dependence on fossil fuels and the profits that can be made by those companies who harvest those resources have led us to something that could end up being one of the worst disasters known to man.
From Seal on the Raw Wisdom group on Tribe.net, "If we can't cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this? "
When the gas prices hit $4 a gallon, everyone was all behind new energy. Then when the prices backed down to below $3, the fervor for new energy resources backed off. Our appetite for oil has not abated. And now, it seems we are going to pay for that. Or rather, people on the gulf coast are going to pay. If some of the other things I have read come to pass and it gets worse and cannot be capped, then the headline I quoted at the beginning of this may just come to pass. Only, it may not stop there as it then will travel around the Keys and into the Gulf Stream. Imagine if this gets into the Everglades and kills off the wildlife there. No more Manatees. No more Egrets, Pelicans. Our desire for low cost gas and oil and continued dependence may very well destroy the lives of many other species.
The implications do not end there as according to one report I saw, Louisiana provides 21% of all the seafood for the South. Did you like that shrimp dip at your last party? What do you think will happen to the price of shrimp when you lose all the Gulf Coast production? Ripples. We demanded low cost oil to the point that even the President caved into the demands to "Drill, baby, Drill!". He was close to authorizing opening more wells off the east coast. That, fortunately, has been put on hold due to this disaster.
As to the cleanup, BP is supposedly offering a whopping $10 an hour to people to help. However, you also have to sign a non-disclosure. Same with the crane operators and off-shore workers. Plus they have to sign a release against any after effects from exposure to the oil. If this is true, they should talk to those who helped with the Exxon Valdez spill about the health issues they are having now. These oil companies have been making billions and when stuff happens, they just want to walk away.
Yet, if the demand dried up. If we all pressed for new energy sources that were clean, safe, and not harmful to the environment or people. Maybe, just maybe, things like this would not happen. Maybe it is time to have a new mindset. All those roofs that face the sun every day, and yet, where are the solar panels? All those big cornfields, could they not also harbor a few wind turbines? We have to stop depending on the government to do the right thing. We have to take responsibility for this. Every one of us who drives a car, heats our house, turns on a light. We have to come together now and pray with all our heart that the Creator can mitigate the damage done. We have to vow to look at ourselves and the way we live and how we can change. Can we find a way to put solar panels on our roofs? Do we have room on our property for a wind turbine? Can we demand that any new construction include designs to take advantage of solar power or any other power that can lessen our demand on fossil fuels? We are destroying this planet fast. Stop listening to the naysayers regarding global warming. Even if global warming is a myth, the idea of reducing CO2 emissions and cleaning the air, the water, and cleaning up the land is not a myth. It is time to stop thinking it is someone else's problem. We are all to blame for what happened in the Gulf. The affects of that could go far beyond the Gulf. It may hit the Keys and ruin their tourist trade for decades. If it gets beyond there and into the Gulf stream, well, get a map and see just how far it can go. It could very well affect every beach on the East Coast. How is that with summer coming on? Sorry, you can't swim in the water today, beach closed due to oil.
Forgive me, if I have gone on a tirade. It is just so frustrating because in our hearts, we all know that we should have done something a long time ago. How long ago did Earth Day start? Yet we continue to ignore the warnings. We continue to drive big SUVs. We continue to use old boilers to heat our homes. We continue to devote our precious dollars on the latest gizmos and gadgets but nothing to trying to utilize the sun to provide electricity or heat our hot water even. The thing is, I know that a lot of this stuff is expensive. Cindy and I have looked at it and unfortunately where we live we can't get any credits so we would bear the whole cost. So for now, we research and plan until we find a way to pay. But there are others of you that can afford it now. Look at what happened to big screen HD TVs. The price of those things were upwards to $6,o00 when they first came out. Now you can get one at Walmart for under a $1,000. If more people got on board, manufacturers would eventually be able to lower prices so that everyone could afford them. The thing is, we have to change our focus. Instead of having people ooohing and ahhing over our new I-Pad, how about showing them that new solar array and show them how your meter spins backwards as you could potentially sell power back to the grid. If we could generate more electricity that way, then maybe that would make electric cars and motorcycles more viable.
The point is we have to decide which is more important? All these material goods or our planet?
Please take a few moments out of your day and really look at the implications of what that oil spill can do.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.
