Offshore Oil Drilling: All those in favor, raise your hands

 Deepwater Horizon Leak An oil slick (lower right) in the Gulf  of Mexico threatens wildlife refuges around the Mississippi Delta. NASA

I can’t resist…………………..TOLD YOU SO! The BP oil rig that exploded and crashed in the Gulf of Mexico has been leaking A QUARTER OF A MILLION GALLONS OF OIL FOR OVER 7 DAYS! The slick has already begun reaching the shoreline. Is this finally the wakeup call that our elected leaders needed to make them start acting like responsible adults? Lately, they’ve all acted like lousy parents giving in to the whiny brats and letting them eat M & Ms for dinner because “that’s what they wanted.” The policies of “Give ‘Em What They Want” versus “Give Them What is in Their and the Country’s Best Interests” need to end. Is it possible for the American people to elect a veterbrate (someone with a backbone) instead of an invertebrate (a jellyfish)?

Early in the Presidential primaries, none of the Democrats supported offshore oil drilling and John McCain stood alone on the Republican side against offshore oil drilling. Florida’s Governor, Charlie Crist, was against offshore oil drilling. Fast forward just a bit and Obama, McCain and Crist flipped. Why? Because the political pulse seemed to have changed and some people (maybe those with the deepest pockets and aligned with the oil and gas industries???) pushed for energy independence. We got CLEAN COAL ads, let’s start building CLEAN, SAFE nuclear power plants again and let’s open up America’s coastlines to more drilling for oil because the technology is SAFE. What could go wrong? Apparently only those perennial naysayers, the predictors of Doom – Environmentalists - raised red flags. After all, why should Americans be expected to pay $ 3.00 a gallon for gas or have to downsize to a fuel efficient car? Sacrifice? That’s un-American. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. After all, God is on our side, isn’t He? Why listen to scientists? Everyone knows scientists are just elitist, ivory towered, and grant seeking intellectuals. They can’t be trusted. Instead, many Americans put their trust in those who speak the truth, religious leaders like Pat Robertson or good Christian women like Sarah Palin. DRILL BABY DRILL.

Even though the Earth is about 75% ocean and 25% land mass, the coastal areas are where the majority of sea life exists and is critical for the survival of life, not only in the oceans, but on this planet. Coastal areas serve as rookeries for many species of birds, the seagrasses and mangrove roots offer cover for all kinds of sealife from shrimp to newly hatched fish species, and the beaches are where sea turtles and horseshoe crabs lay their eggs. Coastlines across the world are already seriously damaged by stormwater runoff, dumping of raw sewage, leaking septic tanks, discarded trash from humans, aquaculture and development. Oil spills could be the final straw that decimates our oceans. If our total disregard for the needs of species other than humans continues apace, we will kill our oceans. When, not IF, our oceans die, we humans won’t be far behind.

You can read more about the advancing oil slick here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/louisiana.oil.rig/index.html?hpt=T1

Edited to add:  check out this perspective on the oil spill
http://challengeoppression.com/2010/04/29/quickly-quickly-kill-them-before-they-die/

Adding this too:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575214593564769072.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories  Halliburton strikes again!