A long time ago there was a young girl who found everything about the ocean magical. The more she learned the more she wanted to learn. She played in tidal pools with hermit crabs, searched for starfish on the jetty rocks and swam underwater with her eyes open until they stung from the saltwater.
Eventually, she learned about the wetlands and estuaries from a marine science camp and fell in love all over again. She learned how the wetlands act as nurseries for many of the aquatic creatures she'd come to love and how they protect the mainland from bad weather coming in from the ocean. It thrilled her to see how all of a sudden the grassy salt marsh hay stopped and the longer, beach grass started. Watching fiddler crabs scurry from hole to hole dragging their big claw was comical and always brought a smile to her face.
She went to college for Marine Biology and learned more and more. While there though she realized that this love could not be translated into a job. Many of the professors turned her off to the program and she found other interests. She sill loved the ocean, the wetlands and all it had to teach her but she wanted to learn about it on her terms.
Today, she stares at the pictures from the oil spill and watches it kill everything the wetlands she loves. She feels a murderous rage for the people that allowed this to happen. She is even more angry at the people that try to play it off as some sort of natural occurrence. Watching the oil creep towards the shore and spread out in the currants reminds her of 'The Nothing' that was consuming Fantastica in 'The Neverending Story'. When she thinks of the death that will cover the wetlands for years to come tears spring to her eyes and her heart feels as if it is being squeezed by a horrible meaty fist.
That girl is me. I am heartbroken at the knowledge that not only will so much death blanket the area but that it will continue to do so for years and years. The ecosystems will be changed forever and while amazingly resilient, their recovery will not satisfy the instant gratification this world craves. I worry that after a year, people will look at the area and decide that it is then ok to further poach the wetlands for MORE oil. They will not give the area the time it needs to heal and it will be lost and dead forever. I am very scared for what this means for all the wetlands and oceans. This is what 'drill baby drill' has gotten us.
4 comments:
I've been really upset & pissed about it too... along with that totally helpless feeling. It's like watching a glass fall to the floor & not being able to catch it times 1,000,000,000.
Since my hubby was in the oil business for most of our marriage (he was a landman who checks records and acquires leases for oil companies) I asked him, "Why do we even allow anyone at all to conduct off-shore drilling?" His answer stunned me.
He said that more than 30% of the oil produced in this country comes from the gulf. Without that 30% of oil & gas, we are screwed. It will shut this country down quicker than you can say Boo! Without that oil (which is what this country runs on), we would have to be 70% dependent on foreign oil (probably less when you account for dry land drilling). So when you add that with our billions of dollars of debt to China, what have you got? Total chaos & turmoil.
Having said that, I will add that I think BP should be banned from ever drilling anywhere near this country. They are crooks & liars who only hire the cheapest engineers, drillers, roughnecks,etc., which all of us in the oil business have known for years.
So, if you don't mind riding a bicycle everywhere for the rest of your life, I suppose you would be fine. However, so many of the people protesting against drilling in the Gulf are typical Americans who love their cars.
Oil & Gas is our country's life source, the way coal is. Why do you think they let the mines get away with all they do, even in the face of many deaths? Because the politicians know that we need it, however much it sucks the big one. Several years ago when BP's refinery in Texas City, Texas exploded into a gazillion pieces, BP lied through their teeth to everyone. They should have been banned from drilling anywhere near this country back then, but they weren’t. Why? Because the government and politicians KNEW we needed it.
I have one friend whose hubby is a driller & was asked to do the well that exploded in the gulf but refused because he knew what idiots the guys at BP are. They hire geologists & engineers straight out of college who have NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE. Any seasoned engineer, geologist or driller would have never let it come to that. BP is basically hiring kids the age of my own children and throwing them out there, thinking book smarts is all they need. Oh contraire. They were very wrong but we get to pay the price. It scares the living hell out of me.
Additionally, the Gulf is where we get more than half of our seafood here in Texas. That's history for a long time to come, in addition to the killing of the wetlands & all that represents. I consider this to be one of the most horrific incidents of my 57 years. I mean, it's right up there with 9/11.
Don't think for one minute that BP cares, because they don't. All they care about is the almighty buck.
Will Obama do anything? Hell no! He knows we need the off shore drilling because without it, this country will will tumble & roll until there is nothing left of us...
It's a hopelessly sad situation & there is NOTHING we can do aside from going down there to the Gulf and pitching in to help.
I wish I had better news about this, but there is no better news about this.
Heartbroken here too.
I hope you'll stop by my blog. I am hosting a giveaway for a darling French tote.
Also heartbroken. Captain Keith was on Larry King tonight talking about the impact on crabbing and fishing.
It's sick. And I don't think everyone understands the magnitude of how devastating this is.
Post a Comment