Drill, Spill and Kill

As I age I realize that I am living on a circle of events that repeat themselves.

There was an oil spill off the coast of the U.S. near Santa Barbara in 1969.  That spill was near the Channel Island and killed 10,000 birds. That spill shocked the people living along the beautiful California coastline and it reminded them that oil rigs in the distance more than little twinkling lights in the evening to watch off the coast. 

The same year the notorious Curahoga River that runs Arkon to Cleveland caught on fire in the summer, again.  This river was devoid of fish, had no animal life and it was said that a person did not drown in the river they decay.  I remember seeing pictures of the river of fire in Time magazine and the newspaper.  I could not believe water could burn but of course it wasn't water, it was a ooze of chemicals.   Because of the national attention of this fire of 1969 and the outrage of pollution around the country things changed.   The Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Water Act come to be.

Quietly for years there was a woman that had written books, articles and had radio programs about the sea, the marine biologist, Rachel Carson.  She was born in 1907 on a farm in Pennsylvania, her love of nature evidently lead her to career in research and writing.  Carson was a lone voice for years about the effects of pesticide policy of the U.S. and what DDT that sometimes was mixed with oil fuel  was doing to our environment.   The chemical industry intentionally spreading disinformation and public officials had accepted industry claims uncritically.  Most of her titles were to do with sea life but the book she is remember for is about a spring that no birds sang a song.

Silent Spring was published and it become a best seller.

Today BP was doing what the U.S. self regulating allows.  This accident would not have happened in the North Sea because Scotland and Norway have a difference standard for shut off valves.   Same is true off of Brazil.  Another factor that no media talks about it that their rig platforms are unionized and there is always a safety engineer on site.  Reminds me of a coal mine accident.

At a time when some are talking about government getting out of our lives it is time to realize that some issues are too big for individuals to fix and the corporations are working for profits not the good of our environment, the future of the planet or the health and safety of human beings.   Corporations continue to spread misinformation and lobby politicians but I see the storm clouds have gathered again as they did in the summer of 1969.

Silent Spring needs to be read by a new generation.