Woefully Unprepared
Loki contacted us here at CincyVoices not too long ago, beseeching us to write about the horror that is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. I went back and forth about writing about Peak Oil, or pleading with all of you to stop driving your cars, or writing some blistering tirade aimed at BP and all of the other giants of the Oil Industry. I’ve watched the story unfold in abject disbelief. How is it that we got to this point? How is it that Big Oil hasn’t spent any time or money on research or technology used to clean up spills for decades? They’ve spent plenty on how to drill for it, and plenty on marketing their products. We’ve bought plenty of those products… with nary a thought about the process those products take to get to us.
1st Procession of the Krewe of Dead Pelicans, New Orleans. Reaction to the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil gusher disaster. Stop in front of Gallier Hall for a minute of silence for each of the 11 workers killed in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, the first casualties of the disaster.
We get a little angry when pump prices increase. Not angry enough to stop driving. Not angry enough to stop and think about the items we consume and how much fossil fuel it took to get them to us. Have any of you changed your buying habits in the last month or so, since the disaster started? Have you joined that “Boycott BP” group on Facebook? Do you cry when you see the pictures of oiled pelicans? Do you get furious when you hear that BP has bought key words on the search engines to re-direct queries, and they are doing their damnedest to keep journalists away from fouled beaches? Are you ready to do something about it? I am. I am also terrified at how woefully unprepared I am to take real meaningful steps towards changing my consumer presence, and I am ashamed.
Fact is that we are all addicted to oil, and we aren’t ready to go cold turkey. Unfortunately, disasters like the Gulf, and those that continue in countries like Nigeria (and countless other third-world countries being raped for their fossil fuel wealth) aren’t really going to force the oil industry to change ANYTHING about how they do business. Why not? Because there is still overwhelming demand for their products. As long as they are making money hand-over-fist, why would they dream of changing how they operate?
Woe on us for living in la-la land for so long, for lying to ourselves that Peak Oil would never happen… to us. What would you do, if you couldn’t get gas, if plastics were no longer manufactured, if supermarkets weren’t chock-full of goods trucked or flown in from all over the world, etc., etc.?
For me, I’m doing my best to buy local goods, drive as little as I can (although I spank myself over the fact that I drive AT ALL), I’m consuming less wherever I find the opportunity. It is not enough. I’m farming now, to help get more quality food into my community. It is still not enough. We Americans will soon be faced with a concept that no person in power has ever had the balls to tell us to our faces – WE HAVE TO USE LESS. Right there is the most UN-AMERICAN thing I can think of. I may be labeled a socialist. This isn’t some wartime concept of saving it for the troops, this is us owning up to the fact that there isn’t enough to go around.
Don’t think for a moment that the magical petroleum fairy is going to appear and bless America with a never-ending supply of oil, or that some amazing inland supply is just waiting to be discovered. Don’t be fooled by Big Oil’s PR machine, and think that this tragedy in the Gulf is just a fluke. This is real, it is happening, and it is ultimately up to us, the American Consumers, to speak with our actions and our pocketbooks, to make sure that those responsible for this travesty are held accountable and are not ever allowed into a position to do this again.
Dark Martha
http://www.consciousurbanliving.com | White Fox Farm
Image Credit: Infrogmation on Flickr | CC 2.0
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very well stated… i was remarking to my wife recently that the only thing i can think of to compare to the absolute despair this tragedy has moved me to is 9/11… that’s the last time i’ve felt this empty, sad, and hopeless. you are absolutely right, there’s no way to change how the oil giants work, and how can we possibly tear our leaders away from their evil influence?? once again, we are reduced to making whatever small changes we can in our own consumer habits, as if that will change the addictive habits of the rest of our population… not to mention the rest of the world’s population!
That car addiction thing is a tough one. I have heard people talking about renting cars when needed instead of keeping one full time & that seems like a decent plan. Advocates say it saves money. Aside from purchase & maintenance cost v rental costs, I know I don’t spend as much money on just junk since stopping driving. Having that car just made it that much easier to drive across town for anything. If you have to make an effort, what you buy gets some more serious consideration.
Great article! I am guilty of all of the above. I try to do the little things in my power to conserve and re-use, re-cycle and re-purpose. I do drive less, and combine trips. If everyone did a little, it would save a lot.
“small changes we can in our own consumer habits”? We are the reason for their existence. Together, consumers can change the world.
I agree. I’m about to buy my first car since 1981 because Cincy is such a pain the ass to get around in. Both the public transit and the taxi systems in this city are pathetic, I’ve seen better in cities less than 25% of the size.
Car sharing is a fantastic concept, a lot has been done with it on the West Coast. Here are some links you might find interesting:
http://www.zipcar.com/
http://www.citycarshare.org/
http://www.carsharing.net/
Would love to see something like that actually get up and moving here in CIncy
The problem there is that humans are creatures of ease. Long term consequences don’t register to a lot of people, or least not enough to counterbalance the immediate gratifications of consumer culture.
We can, the question is will we?
See – I agree and disagree with that. Ever since I started this farming gig, I ADORE pushing myself to get more done in a day. I get up with the sun (sometimes before) and work as long as I can without burning myself out because it makes me feel really, really GOOD. I am wondering what the tipping point will be? It’s almost like the nearly grave responsibility of being a parent – no, I didn’t like having to get up at all odd hours of the night when my daughter was an infant, but it was something I HAD to do. We HAVE to do something – I think us city folk will adapt much quicker than those in the suburban outlands, but what do I know. It will be a mixture of HAVING and WANTING to do something, and most of us will go kicking and screaming.
Noeli and I were in the Plain Dealer (Cleveland fish wrap) a number of years ago filling up at a new biodiesel station. The paper did a little article on it, and they quoted me on how I felt that this was the most patriotic thing that I could do during our war over Iraqi oil. I told them I didn’t understand the mothers of soldiers driving around giant SUVs with a little yellow ribbon magnet on the back to support their children rather than changing their habits/car. I remember people pouring French wine out to protest France’s lack of support. However, none of these people protest big oil’s involvement or even this tragedy.
I was listening to AM radio last night (AM stands for A**holes and Ministers) and found that some of these wackos believe that Obama sees the gulf tragedy as an in to take away our freedom to burn fossil fuels.
To these fellow citizens I would like to present the following logic statement.
Renewable Energy is good for our planet.
The US is a part of our planet
Therefor renewable energy is good for the US.