Hot Air Will Not Save The Gulf
Tonight, President Obama gave a speech from the solemn setting of the oval office. He supposedly laid out his plan on how we can limit our dependence on foreign oil and how we can help the situation in the Gulf.
What I heard was alot of hot air.
The president evoked prayer. The president evoked faith. The president evoked our resilience as a nation. The president stated that we are working hard in the Gulf to reclaim the water, stop the well, and clean the beaches.
It was aimed to be a politically safe speech, when there is no such thing in this political climate. No matter what the president says, the right will find fault, pick it to pieces, and play arm-chair quarterback to express their disgust (cough cough….. hate) with whatever he chooses to say or do.
So, why play it as you did, Mr. President?
Honestly, I liken this speech, as harsh as it might sound, to President Bush in the wake of 9/11 saying, “Go shopping.” This is not what we need. We do not need the eloquence that was meant to appeal to our hopes.
We need a leader.
We need someone to say enough of the talk and red tape, time for action.
We need someone to tell us that we must make sacrifices and changes in our lives to move us towards getting off oil.
We need someone to tell us that we need to pitch in and help in this crisis and how we can do that.
We need someone with strong words and even stronger actions.
We need someone with a little gnash behind their teeth.
The time for environmental reform and regulation is now. You cannot look at the tragedy in the Gulf, get angry, and then say you will not change your habits. You cannot sit by with your cynicism, tossing up your hands and saying, “Oh well. Nothing is going to change.” Because cynicism, while it protects you from the possibility of failure and gives you the ability to say, “I told you so” in the end, is pure laziness. It clears you of all culpability. It limits you, limits the country, entrenches you in a deep ditch where you cannot see above the bank. Aim for the pinnacle. Take a “risk”, and change your habits. Step up with ideas instead of tearing down those around you. This is not a crisis to sit back and point fingers. There will be plenty of time for that later. We need more than hot air. We need direction and action.
And there are plenty of us willing to jump in and provide just that.
I agree, lady. I agree.
Maria´s last blog ..
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Kim @ Beautiful Wreck Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
AMEN!
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I hesitate to comment here because I work in the oil industry. But I’m going to anyway.
No matter what combinations of alternative energy are in the mix, oil is not something we will get “off” of in the foreseeable future. People can stomp and shout and call oil companies evil for giving the world the energy it needs, but that’s not very honest if you ask me. We are not going back to the days of horse and buggy, and candlelight. The population of the world is not getting smaller.
So while everyone is all in a mad rage because of the oil spill, the company *I* work for is planning 50 years into the future. We know that oil is not the fuel of the future, and we’re working toward other solutions. We see a lot further ahead than the next election cycle or media soundbite calling for the head of BP to kill himself. Oil companies, whether you believe it or not, will be some of the largest contributors to alternative energy. They are some of the only companies that have the ability to bring any new form of energy to market, because they have the resources. It takes BILLIONS of dollars to develop anything energy related that can be deployed in any meaningful way, do people really not know this? I think they don’t, just like they don’t seem to know what it takes to get the gasoline that they put in their cars to the pump.
We’ll carry on, working on NOT ONLY oil (because you don’t just yank your main fuel source out of the economy without devastating consequences that are so far reaching I think people don’t want to consider them realistically), but on all those viable alternatives that can be found. It’s what we do.
And before anyone crucifies me, I’m devastated by what’s happening in the Gulf, too. Everyone in my industry is. We don’t all have the horrid safety record of BP, we are not all the same. We care about the environment.
So, what can you do to help get us off oil? Stop using plastic as much as you can. Recycle what you do use. Those are two things that we do that I think make a difference. Drive a car with better gas mileage if you can. If most of us did just those things, it would probably make a huge difference, cumulatively.
Kat1124´s last blog ..Just Being Honest
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Corina Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Please don’t hesitate to comment. Ever. And I see your point. I don’t want to just gloss over the statement as “get off oil”, as being this easy thing. You are right in saying that this is a difficult endeavor, one that will take time and money, no doubt. And as an earth scientist, I understand what it takes to get it from the ground to the pump. I do not intend to crucify you in any manner whatsoever for working for an oil company. It provides a valuable service and it is necessary. Hell, my home is 120 years old. It has an oil furnace. An efficient model, but oil nonetheless. I understand the dependence and the need for oil here. But we need to move towards change and we need to put our money and actions behind it with fervor.
I do want to say, however, that there are many out there that throw up there hands and say that we are not ready for the change. So instead, they do nothing. And I mean NOTHING. There are people not willing to make any sort of change or sacrifice or even think about how things get from place A to B or how they can conserve. “get off” completely, no. You are correct. It isn’t realistic or honest. But, we need someone to make a start. We need people to make changes in their lives to get us going in the right direction. There are those that say that no amount of conservation or work on alternative energy will make any bit of difference are not being honest either. Of course it will. As you said, we need to limit plastic, walk more, drive more efficient cars. Eat local. We need Congress and investors to start investing heavily in these new technologies and stop fighting the change. These things cumulatively make a difference. I want my leader to push for these things. I want my leader to push us towards these changes.
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Kat1124 Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Corina, I so agree with you that there are many people who do nothing, and use the excuse of “What difference does it make what I do, I’m just one person?”. That is unacceptable to me. Canvas grocery bags cost a dollar or two, and think of all the plastic we all bring home from stores just from that alone. What a huge difference it makes if just 25% or 50% of people stop using them, let alone almost everyone!
I got into kind of an argument the other night with my husband about the environment, and I told him that I didn’t believe that we (humans) were put on the planet to destroy it, but that is what we’re doing. There are so many ways we pollute our planet thoughtlessly. How can anyone not believe that we are having a negative, cumulative effect on the planet?
We have to wise up and stop destroying the planet. Teach our kids that the earth is ours to take care of, not squander her resources and fill with toxic trash. We are an industrial world but that doesn’t mean we can’t minimize our impact and even use technology to fix things.
Kat1124´s last blog ..Just Being Honest
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I could not agree more. I want the leader I thought I had. Do what it takes Mr. President and do not delay. The clock will not stop and we must start now.
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Thinking of this further, it is often excuses of it costing billions, far away, that limit the progress. It is the very excuses that lead to inaction. We are making strides, but we can do so much more. I don’t buy the excuses. I know that reality is that it will take time. But the excuses are designed to pass the buck and deny culpability. We are all culpable. We need to own up and put our money and resources where needed.
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What you said! I was thinking the same thing. I couldn’t believe how tepid it was — it’s almost like he’s afraid to lead.
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