The tragic oil “spill” in the Gulf of Mexico continues. BP CEO Tony Hayward’s congressional hearing this week was a disappointment. I wanted him to tell Congress that BP takes every precaution to prevent accidents like this. I wanted to hear that safety and protecting the environment is as important to him as profits. After all, Mr. Hayward was appointed in 2007 to “clean up” BP after the Texas City refinery fire of 2005 and the Prudhoe Bay pipeline spills that occured the following year. But instead of changing the penny-pinching corporate culture of BP, he cut expenses and eliminated 7,500 jobs.
Does America’s rightous indignation make you feel uncomfortable? It does me. Two months ago, we were angry at Goldman Sachs. BP is just the villain du jour. The underlying problem is we– as a society– tolerate expediency over having to make difficult choices. Too many of us think it’s ok to use torture as a tool in the war against terrorism. Why do Republicans and Democrats point fingers at each other rather than fix the health care system or Social Security? Where is the indignation over having 300,000 homeless children in California?
Doing the right thing proactively is always less costly and painful than damage control after something bad happens.
Far From Gulf, a Spill Scourge 5 Decades Old (The New York Times) “The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years.”
Be inspired by: The Excitement is Building (on Habitat for Humanity) “Everyone is pretty ordinary. No divas or superstars. But together we make a very big difference.”
and pain killers go with pain, but how do we kill this kind of pain? when the earth screams, we hurt, what do we we do with that kind of hurt? it’s too big for us, this oil spill is going to make alot of people sick…
yes i’m worried about us too, even tho NATURALLY we are supposed to heal just as well as the earth does, as we are just as natural, but we are also super natural and often our own worst enemies, the guilt we feel about this could be PHYSICALLY devastating
well i think we naturally tend toward healing, always, but our big brains can be self destructive, i’m convinced that our big brains are that way for protective reasons tho… have a good sleep darlin’
You’ve said it Sera….what is not respected will rebel, no doubt about it…How can we hurt our beautiful water ways and our earth this way and our children, this way
Your points are all well made. We have a society that allows greed to flourish. Indeed it is seen as admirable for people to make as much money as possible. This attitude leads to the thoughtless plunder of the planet’s natural wealth for short term gain, that is of benefit to the few at the expense of the many and the generations after them. Look at what is being done in Canada with the highly polluting extraction of oil from tar sands in Alberta as an example.
So well said and presented, i have bene posting shots in protest of BP and this spill, along with all the other big corporations who show no regard for the plant or the people only for the mighty dollar, we as individuals have to start being more active in doing what we can to protect our planet, not as so many people think for the planet, but for ourselves and our children and grandchildren to enjoy
To put it another way: We always have time to do it right the second time.
i was at a local art show opening for a friend last night…. and sat through a monologue by a man with more money than sense. … waxing eloquent on how they’ll never sell environmentally friendly cars till they make them sexy. my prayers that he would choke on his Shiraz were not answered. and every time i opened my mouth he shouted me down. sigh. i seemed to be the only person around the table who didn’t share his values.
Looks like the first picture was taken at university!
I couldn’t agree more with you. BP makes me so angry… I doubt people realize how big of a disaster it is. It looks like the CEO is barely even trying to do damage control — how selfish and money-driven can people get???
Right on, right on, right on, and we’re all complicit and will remain that way until oil hits $15 a gallon. Can’t come too soon. The anti-regulation forces are all in the pockets of the pirates.
Very well put. Big oil has done much the same thing in Ecuador too. We watched ‘Collapse’ a few nights ago and Michael Ruppert covered the subject clearly but not dispassionately.
Below are some links: will have to copy and paste! there have been so many spills world wide!! WAKE UP TIME FOR HUMANITY!!
also in the links ,petitions, and new companies are looking at alternatives to Oil and Fossil fuels: there answers are here, once humanity Wakes up!!
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/recent-oil-spills/
http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/index.php/Tidal-Energy-News/OpenHydro-Connects-Tidal-Turbine-to-UK-Grid.html
http://www.openhydro.com/news/OpenHydroPR-051009.pdf
http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenpeaceusa_blog/2010/06/09/how-to-stop-oil-spills-kickstart-an-ener
Yes..yes..yes. You’ve said it all..and so much more. When will ‘we’ learn? What will it take??
The problem in the US has many facets. One of them is, that there is only a two party system. A king and a queen. Sometimes those are a king, sometimes these are a queen. And as it goes with “couples”…. oh forget it, I am not going to say it.
The other thing about US Americans is, that they look for profit only in the present. It is this old cowboy strain, capturing the western frontiers mentality. There is no sensitivity around to invest into future (generations).
The oil spill is a good example of instant greed. Nobody inspected BP in its endeavors consciously, they took the word of the corporation for plain truth instead.
As for torturing terrorists – I don’t even know anymore who the terrorists are. A sheik from an Arab country, a Muslim extremist or a company like BP – I don’t know?! Or is it our own government that continuously feed us that there is “danger out there”?
I am sick of it all and move to Alaska to be with sexy Sarah Palen.
Thank you for remembering Africa!
While we lament our own disasters, it is easy to forget the disasters that the industrialized world inflicts upon the others.
I think it’s human nature to skip preventative measures and hope the big accident never happens. Or that you’ll be retired and it will be the next person’s problem.
Both the Coke and the Pepsi parties produce villains du jour to keep the public’s attention off the real problems, like soaring deficits, laughably underfunded entitlement programs, etc.
aaaaah my husband IS a prince!!! AND a sleeping beauty lol he won’t let me kiss him awake, he says he has morning breath, not very princely but there it is
Great composition and message! Shame that people will not learn from mistakes! Excellent work Sera!
SAD..sordid…criminal…there ought to be some accountability…but sadly, tragically life goes on..while the earth slowly dies…a mother, murdered by her children……
I was just about to rant on the oil companies in the Niger Delta but you included a bit on that. Good one. The Greed of all big companies whatever their product has made me sick for years. I mean really, when is enough enough. Billions in profits are somehow not enough? It’s just ridiculous.
Well spoken. After you’ve finished up those classes, you should considering running for office. Why not?
Amen. Well, Tony flew back to England to attend the Yacht Races. His came in 4th.
I got an oil change at Brakes Plus once, and they didn’t put the plug back in tight. The next day I had a big oil spill in the garage, but cat litter cleaned it up pretty good. Brakes Plus apologized and comped the oil change plus a new one, so it was ok I guess.