Spill Baby Spill
This is day 66 in our historic oil spill here in the Gulf of Mexico, and I’d like to clarify this word we so freely bandy about for a remarkable, and terribly sad, ecological, man-made event unfolding in my back yard. Following please read the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition for “spill”, I was surprised by the fact that it is being used so accurately to describe what is happening here in south Louisiana and along the eastward shores of our fragile coast line:
1 a archaic : kill, destroy b : to cause (blood) to be lost by wounding
2 : to cause or allow especially accidentally or unintentionally to fall, flow, or run out so as to be lost or wasted… —http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/spill
Please keep in mind that this is not the first, nor will likely be the last such catastrophic wound we inflict on our gentle environment. Here is a link to a portion of the portfolio of images from a local, environmental activist photographer who just quite covering the spill because her soul was hurt too deeply to work more with the devestating imagery of whats happening here.
Write your senator, the president, your state representitive and stop deep water drilling because the oil companies—such as British Petroleum—have no plan for dealing with accidents. And, unplanned for accidents are inevitable.
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4 Comments
Naomi Klein called the spill “a hole in the world”.
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It’s hard for me to invision a Houston without drilling in the Gulf as angry as I am about all this. We are a city that thrives off of the business. Every person in Houston would be negatively effected if the drilling stopped (from restaurants to schools to corporations). I agree that regulations need to be made to force companies to have plans in place for accidents. I agree that the accident has not been handled correctly and BP continues to dissappoint, but the truth is ten years ago everyone on the rig would have been lost. So there have been some advances, but not enough. Thank you for the post and the inspiration to write my senator.
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Hi Jackie,
Louisiana is also dependent on oil for its economy and livelihood of my neighbors, friends and peers. However, it is an unhealthy relationship of co-dependence and enablement on which we have, thus far thrived.
I yet depend on my car to go to and return from everything I do (even to access the Rails-to-Trails path on which I walk daily, tragically, I must drive to it because the roads are dangerous to walk on because they have zero shoulder.) Recently I was researching petroleum products in over the counter remedies and potions, you know, cosmetics and ointments and lotions; so many of the products we consume and with which we live are made with some form of petroleum, and, it is bad for us. Applying mineral oil can stimulate estrogen and estrogen levels impact cancer growth, especially estrogen receptor positive breast cancer which I have had.
Thank you for writing your senator, we need to change and, over time—what it takes in a rational, sensible manner—update the oil dependent industry to thrive on an alternative form of creating and selling energy.
P.S. My house is on the market so I will no longer need to drive to get my exercise, know anyone in the market for a home in the country?
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Bless you for being a survivor, first of all!
I completely agree about our dependency! Someone needs to write a post about alternative resources that aren’t impacted by the “biz.”
Side note: At the beginning of this tidal wave, and even now, I hear people say they have banned going to BP stations, but like you said oil impacts more than our vehicles. So even if everyone did ban their stations, they would also need to ban purchasing many items in their house and daily life that have probably been touched by BP somewhere down the line.
Thanks again and good luck with the sale!
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