Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The view from inside the box

A few posts back I shared a link to Greenpeace's website and a chance to tell our government to put an end to drilling. I received a reply from my congressman. Here's a snippet:

"There is no doubt that this is a national tragedy, and I am deeply concerned about the long-term impact of this oil spill. However, I am also concerned that some of my colleagues are attempting to use this oil spill as an opportunity to prevent future drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Our top priority right now should be stopping the spill and figure out what went wrong, not making rash, far-reaching policy decisions based on what we want to believe rather than what we know. As tragic as this spill has been, it hasn't changed our country's growing demand for oil and natural gas. I strongly support a diverse, all-of-the-above energy portfolio that includes wind, solar, hydropower, and nuclear energy, but the reality is that we are now-and will continue to be in the foreseeable future-heavily reliant on carbon-based energy.

Energy production is an inherently risky business, and I am hopeful that what we learn from this incident will make the energy industry safer, rather than setting back our ability to become energy independent for 20 or 30 more years. While we may disagree on this issue, I value knowing your views. As Congress continues to examine what went wrong and how to stop the spill and clean up the oil slick, you can be confident that I will continue to keep your thoughts in mind."

This aggravates me. While it's an oversimplification, in my ever humble opinion this is like a junkie saying, "Well, I'm currently addicted to heroin, and will be for the foreseeable future. Shooting heroin is dangerous, so what I'd like to see is a safer way to get high. In the meantime, I'd like to make sure I can get my fix from a local source, rather than being dependent on foreign heroin. Thanks for your concern."

Um. Okay. 


2 comments:

  1. Oh man this piece is great. I agree completely. I've been reading over many of your posts and love them all. No kidding. I'm not 100% green, but I try. It's hard when the hubby isn't quite on the same page. So when I want to spend $100 on a composter and am a sahm it doesn't fly. Then I volunteer to make one and that doesn't fly either because it's not pretty. Ahh! It's a struggle. I love what you have going here. I'm following from the Green Blog Hop and would love you to stop on by :)

    ~Chelle
    http://www.thenewmommiezblend.blogspot.com

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  2. Thank you so much! You have totally made my day. It is a struggle. I keep thinking, "This will be the thing that my husband balks at." but he's been really supportive. He's really iffy on composting though, the yard is kind of his domain. He also struggles when it looks like the greening up might cost more. But we're getting there.

    Thanks again for your awesome comment. I'm off to check your blog!

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