For years, I have protested off-shore drilling simply because the idea of an oil rig sitting off in the distance of our eco-sensitive Gulf shores (even 125 miles off shore) never sat well with me and my stance on the issue caused many heated debates with friends. As Sarah Palin, the GOP and their supporters shout “Drill, Baby, Drill!” with our Gulf waters their prime target, the prospect of oil rigs erecting in our coral reefs appeared imminent and the idea continued to make me ill and furious.
My friends would argue about it lessening our dependence of foreign oil and I would discuss the importance of seeking alternate energy sources. Since we had opposing viewpoints, the arguments always seemed moot and only led to me writing my representatives to voice my concerns.
I am the Lorax. I speak for the seas.
I speak for the seas, for the seas have no tongues.
And we simply cannot go drilling
Along as we please.
Then, just weeks before Earth Day, President Obama agreed to explore more off-shore drilling options and my heart sank like a sunken treasure to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. It appeared that I had lost every argument along with every hope of keeping our coral reefs rig free. Now, I sat in the same boat as Al Gore and Flipper , because oil is the thneed which everyone needs.
Then, like an ironic twist of fate, an oil rig exploded off the shores of Louisiana the day before Earth Day. As black sludge and smoke overshadowed our green “Save the Earth” celebrations, we mourned the loss of the 11 men who died in the explosion as well as the loss of our precious wetlands and a fishing economy which thrived from those waters.
With more than 210,000 gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf a day, experts predict that the oil spreading throughout the Gulf will surpass the oil spill created by the Exxon Valdez in approximately two months. Now, like many other Florida residents, I worry and wait to see how the oil spill will affect our wildlife, our beaches, our tourism, our economy and our livelihood.
On Saturday evening, my family and I ate at our favorite waterfront restaurant to soak up our beautiful Gulf view before the oil washes upon our shores.
In the meantime, I’ve stocked up on Dawn dish detergent to help clean up the oil slick Swomee-Swans and the Humming-Fish when they arrive to escape the Gluppity-Glupp and Schloppity-Schlopp.
Excerpts from Dr. Suess’s The Lorax
I am the Lorax,” he coughed and he whiffed.
He sneezed and he snuffled. He snarggled. He sniffed.
“Once-ler!” he cried with a cruffulous croak.
“Once-ler! You’re making such smogulous smoke!
My poor Swomee-Swans… why, they can’t sing a note!
No one can sing who has smog in his throat.
And so,” said the Lorax,
“-please pardon my cough-
they cannot live here.
So I’m sending them off.
“Where will they go?
I don’t hopefully know.
They may have to fly for a month… or a year…
To escape from the smog you’ve smogged up around here.”
“What’s more,” snapped the Lorax. (His dander was up.)
“Let me say a few words about Gluppity-Glupp.
Your machine chugs on, day and night without stop
making Gluppity-Glupp. Also Schloppity-Schlopp.
And what do you do with this leftover goo?
I’ll show you. You dirty old Once-ler man, you!
“You’re glumping the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed!
No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed.
So I’m sending them off. Oh, their future is dreary.
They’ll walk on their fins and get woefully weary
in search of some water that isn’t so smeary.”
“But now,” says the Once-ler,
“Now that you’re here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.
I found out the news while I was pretty happy. I had a good day at work, came home and decided to look on the website for the KFOX radio station that broadcasts San Jose Sharks games live (they´re my team, and had just owned the Avalanche in the playoffs). I scrolled down, saw the news, and was shocked.
I live near a beach, perhaps on a different coast, but the fact that a stupid obsolete fuel can backfire in this way, RIGHT WHEN SEA ANIMALS AND BIRDS ARE IN SPAWNING AND NESTING SEASON, is monstrous. Plus these are states that depend on oysters and fish for a lot of their industry. PLUS we could have spent the money for drilling such deep water rigs on building alternative fuels that can´t backfire on us so terribly. I couldn´t believe it. I still sort of can´t…something as beautiful as the ocean being hurt like this.
🙁 The oceans are all connected…so if you´re donating or volunteering to clean the affected species there, you´re doing us a favor over here too. Thanks. I wish I was close enough to help in some way, myself.
Mankind has to find other eco-friendly and cheaper resources that are not taxing on the over taxed planet. How long do you think Earth will last at this rate ? Earth is our home, live in it wisely.. For one day, it may not be there anymore..
Great blog, thanks for sharing!
OMINOUS RESOUNDING SILENCE IN THE FACE OF CATACLYSMIC DISASTER.
How can the scope of this ecological disaster be met with the silence of prayers- the silence of scientists and political organizations? No celebrity or world leader is willing to call for more action?
It is time to look to our one world and one life force that unites and sustains us…
We face challenges larger than corporate entity- larger than national pride or ego.. our home – this one earth is now facing destruction in a singular silence that is truly a crime against not just humanity- but all life forms.
Where are the voices that could call out for the best minds and resources on the planet to come together and solve a problem that will devastate a huge piece of our planet and ecologies into the future in untold and ways with permanence that we can not yet understand.
It would be an epic movie— saving the planet by working together, using the best and most immediate resources of the planet.. from all countries. Perhaps a script writer could stir a bit of action—but is it that the President is afraid that some other country would have the skills and tools to limit disaster in the American arena?
Where are the religious leaders- that we are not asked to pray for creation and see our common fragility?
God, by whatever the name
Is saddened for sure
And each soul shares the blame
For a silence dishonoring the gift of the earth….
Use your voice and your prayer
How much power have the people of this planet given to a single company- which certainly can not pay the bill and restore the planet—? And how much power to a president who has such a national ego that his administration is selling out our planet’s future rather ask for international and immediate assistance and expertise?
As an avid hiker and, like many, an observer of life, I see any disaster as a wake up call. This man made disaster is a reminder that we need to pay attention to the potential global consequenses of local decisions.
D
On a lighter note you may wish to check out my new site http://www.crazyparking.com a fun photo site.
It will have a negative impact…No doubt!
I. Love. This. Post. Sharing on mine!
http://jenclinton.wordpress.com
There is no other form of energy capable of supplying world demand, unless we want to go back 15o years and live how we did then.
Going back would mean kissing much of the human population goodbye. But it would give the Earth and wild nature a chance to recover.
So we either continue drilling for oil, and face the consequences, or we drop back and face the consequences. Any more coffee, anybody, or perhaps a shot of rum will do ?
i love this. and offshore drilling in my opinion is too risky. oil may be neccassary but i dont think we should be willing to put natural habitats at risk in order to get this oil SHEEEESH!
Good post, and questions/solutions to ponder. Wise, too, that you mention both sides of the political aisle. Sarah Palin’s roaring refrain for drilling was mostly aimed at Alaska and ANWR. In hindsight, a similar accident in ANWR would likely not be as disastrous to life as this one out to sea. So, when it comes to politicians, they are…well, politicians. All of them.
Drilling for oil can have serious consequences, especially when it’s in vulnerable eco-systems. It’s heartbreaking to see so many sea turtles wash ashore. We desperately need a substitute for petroleum. And, unfortunately, we need it yesterday. No one, even those who complain the loudest, want to give up their cars and planes and all the other good stuff that oil provides. There are no easy answers.
Great post. I loved The Lorax. Remember reading it a millenia ago to my son. Time, again, I think to once more take it out. Think my grandchildren would enjoy it.
Good post. This sad spill story will certainly change public opinion.
I’m not from your area but I really appreciate what you are writing about and what you have to go through with all of this stuff. Thanks for sharing and please feel free to come by my blog when you can. You are a great writer and I can’t wait to see you again soon.
It’s so hard every creative solution to any problem goes and creates even more creative problems to be solved. It’s like a continuous circle. We are all connected for sure.
There are so many safer places to drill, so many other energy sources. What a terrible, terrible price to pay for our foolishness. Maybe now, for a while at least, the offshore drilling will stop. Maybe the regulations will be tightened. Maybe, just maybe, a lesson will be learned.
Hi, we’ve had a similar disaster in the seas to the north of Australia a few months ago. It’s amazing how quiet our government went over this spill, and the ocean there is so remote people won’t know for a long time, if ever, the full extent of the damage.
Make BP pay! It’s not enough for them to say they can’t help it. These companies should have emergency contingencies in place for this kind of event, which isn’t uncommon.
I saw a documentary about the aftermath of the Exxon V disaster, and was shocked to realise that some of that sea life will never return. People’s lives have been ruined along and a whole eco-system poisoned for good. So many fish were knocked out that they simply don’t return any more. Very sad.
Wonderfully written post. It brought a tear to my eyes. Thank you reminding me how precious mother earth is.
I love Dr. Suess.
I think it absolute PANTS that Obama would even consider drilling. There are risks with nuclear power too, but it’s the way to go now. Drilling for oil is archaic.
I like this
No easy answers or solutions for this one. I agree- off shore drilling is way too risky and harmful to the environment. But our society depends on oil. Until a viable alternative is found….
Great post, thanks for the important message. We need to protect mother earth.
Great idea to include Seuss’ “Lorax” story to compare it to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico… I really enjoy the “Lorax,” and think that it has a powerful message to be careful with our resources. We’ve had tragic events happen in quick succession, with deaths in West Virginia and Kentucky, and now this Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. Hopefully, renewable resources of energy will continue to gain steam… and we can enjoy the Truffula Trees and other wonders of nature.
It is painful. And more painful when I read that Obama encouraged the drilling when it was Earth day. What a move.
Wonderful post… The problem is that even with the oil spill in the Gulf it’s not going to change many minds. The loss of a few natural resources(in their eyes) means nothing when the gain is $$$… Don’t forget to walk the beach now because once the oil gets into the sand it’s horrid… Been there… seen it
It is sorrowful how little people fully understand the importance of oil to human life today.
Oil drives just about the whole Human Establishment. This computer I write on is partially made of oil, as is the power that drives it, and the food that powers me to write, is shipped and furtilized with the help of oil, and so on, and so on, et al.
Coffee anybody ? Or perhaps a shot of Rum will do.
Yes, we are very dependent on oil. Too dependent. If fact, I would love a bit of that rum you keep offering, but I believe I would need some sort of oil to run the ship that would be bring the rum to me since my sailboat is in the shop. 😉
Will you kindly extract your yacht from the shop, and I’ll bring the rum we could go sailing with.
It would be nice to go sailing again, after owning six yachts through the years, that eventually broke me. I Hope it is a yacht, with mast and canvas. No other yacht would fit the bill, or deserve rum to go with it.
Colin
I truly hope that the oil spill will shed light on our need for alternate energy sources. Not only is the spill damaging our eco-system, but it is also adding the high unemployment rate that our country is facing now. Also, oil is the tie we need to cut to lower terrorist funding in the Middle East.
…I love The Lorax!
Wonderfully written. I admire your passion. Everything you said was on point! If we don’t care for our oceans, who will?
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
Our politicians pay lip service to alternative energy, but they never actually do anything about it. I drive a flex-fuel vehicle and I still can’t find ethanol at a station near me in a suburb of Los Angeles. I made sure my vehicle was flex fuel so I could be environmentally friendlier. The government won’t let me be.
This is wonderful, thank you so much for speaking out, the ties to the Lorax made it that much more persuasive, though you were certainly preaching to the choir on my end.
Thank you, if we could convince everyone to care half as much as you do, our world would be in much better hands.
This is a great post. Thank you.
Wonderful post. Lessen the need for oil, it can no longer be political, it needs to be common sense. Forget the politicians and celebrities, everyone become a member of ONE non-profit activism organization within the next twenty-four hours, campaign to save one life, one square foot of any ecosystem, start purchasing from only cruelty free companies and rally together to make a difference. http://www.parttimevegan.com
When the Valdez spill happened, environmentalists were all over the news saying that Prince William Sound might never recover. I remember watching them say it. But, within two years the populations of many wildlife species in the sound were higher than before the spill, and the sound has been doing very well for many years now. I am not trying to open an argument — I’m just saying that environmental predictions should always be taken with a ton of salt. They prey on emotions and have little regard for facts.
John, John, John….*sigh* I love you, man but the “facts” that I found when researching this piece were quite the opposite. Oil is still being found on the Alaskan shores twenty years later after the Exxon Valdez spill and it has also has taken twenty years to truly understand the impact the Exxon Valdez spill had and still has on the environment. A clean shoreline does not equate to a once pristine shoreline. Yes, some animal populations have slowly rebounded, but other species are barely surviving or not returned at all and many species continue to ingest crude oil. You could argue that the wildlife may slowly rebound in the Gulf, but you could also argue that some wildlife may become extinct as a result of the LA oil rig spill. However, I for one, as a much I love Shrimp Po’ Boys, will not be ingesting shrimp from the Gulf even if the marine life begins ingesting it again decades from now.
Time: Still Digging Up Exxon Valdez Oil, 20 Years Later
CBS News: Exxon Valdez oil still found in Alaskan ducks
Discover: 20 Years After Valdez Spill, Eagles Are Healthy; 7 Other Species Still Hurting
Science Daily: Wildlife Still Exposed to Exxon Valdez Oil 20 Years After Disaster
Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!
Thumbs up, and keep it going!
Cheers,
Keep speaking up!
remember…
Unless!
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