Re: [Paddlewise] BP & oil rig

    I would propose a Theorem:  There is no limit to the greed and stupidity
of human beings. Proof: Just look at the bodies of the dead porpoises 
washing
ashore along the coast of Louisianna. Just look at the anguished faces of 
the
fisherman and boat people who will be wiped out by this fiasco. Just look at
the faces of the BP executives who have more money than they could ever
spend. Just watch the coal companies in West Virginia shear off entire
mountain tops and dump the spoils into the nearest streams and valleys.
Where the hell is our esteemed government?

    Where does the blame lie? We have met the enemy, and he is us. Every 
morning
I ride my bike to work, and home again in the evening. I have to compete for 
space
on the roadways with a constant stream of commuters in SUV's and 4-wheel 
drive
rigs, even though it's 70 F outside. Most people don't seem to know, or 
don't care,
that they are happily burning up the planet's supply of oil, and pumping 
exhaust
fumes into the air. There may even be people who don't care about the Gulf 
oil
spill, because they don't live near the Gulf, and it's not their problem.

     What is the solution to our current situation? We have two choices. 
Either we
can take corrective action and conduct massive education, or we can blithely 
procede
forward and wait for Mother Nature to drop the hammer, hard. One thing seems
certain. It doesn't pay to mess with Mother Nature.

Brad




Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] BP & oil rig


> On Sun, May 9, 2010 at 10:46 AM, Mark White <kayakmark_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> It's not just BP skimping on safety.  We've had (too many?) years of
>> hands-off government oversight of the oil industry and overly-cozy
>> relationships between industry and government.
>>
>
> It's abundantly clear to me that "deregulation" doesn't work. Not only 
> that,
> it never worked. Yet whenever someone seriously proposes more regulation
> (over any industry) six someone else's jump up and yell "big government".
>
> Maybe not even regulation works. How do you regulate a coal industry that
> can seemingly ignore regulatory laws with impunity? How do you regulate 
> any
> industry unless a vast majority of the public is paying attention?
>
> How stupid do you have to be to complain about gasoline that costs $3 a
> gallon while paying $4 a gallon for bottled water at the same place:?
>
> Where in the Constitution of the United States of America does it give the
> same rights to corporations as it does to individuals?
>
> How did we get into this mess, anyway?
>
>
> Craig Jungers
> Moses Lake, WA
> www.nwkayaking.net
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