Matter of Trust

(Image credit:  Oceanic Defense)

Are we going to see another rich corporation get away from 100% liability?  It seems that it may happen with BP and the Deep Horizon oil spill.

U.S. Law Limits Oil Company Liability

While there is a push to amend this law, BP will only be liable for up to $75 million, not including costs of the clean up. Remember, the costs are always passed on to us consumers.  It's never the corporation who has to make sacrifices, it's us.

Where will that leave the people along the gulf states who rely on tourism, etc. for their livelihood?

I'm truly baffled that with all the so-called state of the art and ever improving & changing technology out there, and given that there are thousands of oil spills taking place every year of varying sizes, that there is yet to be anything anywhere that either prevents these spills from happening or to not have a way to immediately clean things up with as little eco-damage as is possible.  If they have the technology to drill deep into the ocean, why don't they have the technology to prevent such a disaster? Maybe I'm being judgmental, but it just seems to me that they should be smart enough to have contingencies in place that have been tested and to have back ups for all their back ups.  The environment is such a fragile thing.  Are people really that blind to not consider all the variables before proceeding with something that has such potential to cause not just local damage, but global?

Skimming over safety protocols in the interest of short term profits will always come to bite one in the ass.  It never ever fails.

We are deeply mired in our dependency on oil.  So many areas of our lives are touched or impacted, in big and small ways, by oil.  70% of our oil dependency goes to transportation methods.  According to this article: Do Americans Make the Connection Between Transportation, Oil Use, and Environmental Impact, there are three ways we can dramatically reduce our dependency on this resource.  (1) More efficient vehicles, (2) renewable or diversified fuel sources, and (3) spending less time driving around.

Obviously #3 is not feasible for some people for a variety of legitimate reasons.

On the flip side, according to this article:  With Hybrids & Electric Vehicles, U.S. Risks Switching Dependency from One Foreign Commodity - Crude Oil - to Another - the Rare Earths  going green is not necessarily really going green.

Obviously, there are no easy answers.  But obviously, there IS technology out there to REDUCE our dependency.  There are also alternatives and choices and sacrifices and and and etc etc etc that we can each make that can and does make an environmental impact.

Here's one place that has gotten creative about cleaning up oil spills:  Matter of Trust

They collect human and animal hair from people all over and then they turn around and make materials and booms out of them to help with oil spill clean ups. I wonder what would happen if everyone shaved their heads, groomed their dogs, got their dog groomers and local hair salons involved, and gave all of that hairy stuff to this organization?

Check out their YouTube video on this and how they are making a difference:  Hair Boom

Check out the 7 Stupidest Statements Made About the BP Gulf Oil Spill

Another link:  Track the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Movement

Marine mammals being held in captivity is still being debated.  DC lawmakers are currently welcoming public comments on the captive mammal industry until this Friday, May 7th.  Please go to the following link and take a couple of minutes to send a comment to your representatives.   Oceanic Preservation Society Needs Your Voices TODAY

Want some inspiration on making a difference?

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~Anne Frank

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.  ~Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Live simply that others might simply live.  ~Elizabeth Seaton

It seems to me that any full grown, mature adult would have a desire to be responsible, to help where he can in a world that needs so very much, that threatens us so very much.  ~Norman Lear

I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.  ~Edward Everett Hale

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.  ~Robert F. Kennedy

Never doubt that a small group of individuals can change the world, indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead

Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Gandhi

 :-)