BP Oil Spill, so Why all the fuss
Since the oil spill in the gulf began, I have been a bit worried. How can we stop this, this could be a nation killer are a couple of the thoughts that ran through my mind.
Recently, I saw a clip of the Rachael Maddow show on which she played a clip of a “similar” spill in the gulf that spewed 30000 barrels of oil into the gulf per day. The only real difference was that the spill she was speaking of occurred in 1979.
I have lived in Florida for quite a few years and have been to many of the beaches here and as the tourism board will tell you the are gorgeous and pristine. I know that Texas, Louisiana and other Gulf states say the same of their beaches.
So it begs the question, if we survived the 1979 spill and rebounded to have the pristine beaches of today, why is everyone freaking out about this spill?
The answer, I believe, is ignorance, I was ignorant as well and the play in the media has steered us that way.
Generating fear works to the advantage of a particular party at this time which wants to pass expansive legislation governing energy in the us. This spill provides an “emergency” under which they hope to pressure lawmakers to pass this reform.
Here is a clip from a Texas A&M describing the ’79 spill and comparing it to the current one.
You can also find Maddows’ piece, and not the racist/sexist tone she uses just before playing the clip of the ’79 spill.
In emergencies, cool heads win the day. This is not a time to pass ‘comprehensive energy reform/cap and trade’ or anything else. Now is the time to take care of the problem.
There are those who would like nothing more than to freak out the population to accomplish their goals.
