BP “oil in the environment” joke’s on US!

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Sat, 06/05/2010 - 11:21.

 Weil McLain oil fired cast iron boiler image jeff buster

All those people from the Gulf states that approved off shore oil drilling leases and ran their government bureaucracies ( in part)  on the oil excise revenues  - while at the same time these states had no contingency preparation for the eventual coastal oil soaking  - are  now wailing about soft shelled crab and shrimp livelihoods gone away.
 
But liquid oil on the beach and on  bird’s feathers is just one manifestation of the massive environmental damage caused by oil – we are wailing now because while we can see tarballs on the beach, and dead pelicans – we haven’t been able to see the century of poisonous gases released from the burning of oil.  
 
The oil fired boiler in your basement (image above),  the engine in your car, (and all  fossil fuel)  produce   poisonous combustion gases – poisonous and invisible to the naked eye.
 
But the joke’s on us.    We have all been willing co-conspirators with BP. While the Gulf can see their oil pollution, all the rest of us have, for decades, allowed  Dilution to be the Solution for Pollution. 
 
  The “Dispersant” used in the Gulf by BP  to make oil miscible in sea water is a dilution “solution”. Mix the oil with sea water and pretend it has gone away. 
 
Mix the combustion gases with our atmosphere – and pretend they have gone away.
 
Not really very funny though…

 

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Capacity to fool ourselves....

Submitted by lmcshane on Sat, 06/05/2010 - 12:15.

  Thanks Jeff--it's obvious that Americans have an almost unlimited ability to fool ourselves. 

Where is Mark Twain when we need him??

Yikes!

Submitted by ralphnadir on Sat, 06/05/2010 - 13:33.

Scary stuff there, Jeff. Next time I fill 'er up and grab my 12 pack-- it will be at Speedway.

complicity

Submitted by westward on Sat, 06/05/2010 - 15:12.

 Thanks, JBuster. Debra posted the other day about the head in the sand syndrome, and that is where I am trying to be because this is too big, too bad, and so still happening. It will be for the rest of our lives.

It is reminiscent of Katrina, where we saw live broadcast of people without food and water, dead bodies, and suffering, and the government just was "working on getting there". The media was able to get there, but Bush was...where?

Your point is a good one, the obvious oil on the surface, and the poisoning of our planet by our long term use of fossil fuels.

For complicity on BP and "environmentalist", here is an article from the Nation. It is a worthy read.