Never has this country’s addiction to oil been more profound than now
Everyday millions of gallons of oil pour into the Gulf of Mexico, poisoning it’s wildlife and destroying the economy. Thousands of people are without work and permanently lost their livelihood. The effects are just beginning to ripple to the overall economy. There is no end in site. They can’t stop the 60,000 barrels of oil from rushing into the gulf every day. No matter what they try doesn’t work. The only hope right now is a relief well where they need to hit a spot the size of a dinner plate over 5,000 feet below the sea. And no one is guaranteeing that will stop it. In fact BP calls the relief well “the best hope of stopping the oil.” That’s right “best hope”. No Guarantees. What’s more, safety reports show other deep water wells have the same problems that caused this disaster. Clean up efforts, no matter how heroic, will fall short. Unfortunately, you can’t just take a handi-wipe and clean this up. The oil is saturating and poisoning the water. We are only beginning to see the catastrophic and long lasting changes to this delicate ecosystem.
So what do the Governors of Gulf states want? More deep water drilling! How sad. How myopic. Now is the time to move to a bold new energy policy. It is the time to call for building hundreds of windmills off the gulf coast, not more drilling. Building windmills would generate thousands of new jobs as well as needed power. The only thing that would happen if a windmill failed in the gulf is a splash.
After 9/11 the leaders of this country squandered an opportunity to take this country in a better direction. Now is the time to seize an opportunity when the American people would understand and support a genuine change in our energy policy.
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