Sadly,
I'm not sure we do--but we must try.
Look
at photos of the oil spill's victims and allow yourself to be
sickened by the sights.
Recognize that 300,000 fishermen are
facing a precarious future and that 30 percent of U.S. seafood
production, a $2.4 billion enterprise, comes from the Gulf region.
Where will these people go? What will they do? What will seafood cost
with these decreasing supplies?
Hear the response of Louisianans like
Mary Richert who grew up in Sulphur, LA, not far from the Gulf of
Mexico. As blasphemous as it sounds, she is now committed to reducing
her use of oil.
Listen
to Gisele Perez, a native New Orleanian who proudly defends and
celebrates her city for its vibrant culture, lively music, wonderful
cuisine, deeply rooted religious tradition, language, customs and values
that place family and community above anything else.
Read
Kathy Riodan's essay. Proud daughter of a oil roughneck, she
acknowledges the need for change from "our dependence on oil, our
dependence on foreign oil, our responsibility for the resource, our
responsibility for the environment, our regulation of the industry, our
stewardship of the planet."
Today, preserving the environment is
really the only relevant issue before us. Given the damage we have
done, we are called to change our lives completely to respond to the
unspoken and unrecognized reality that the industrial age is over
because the costs of obtaining cheap resources to run it are too great.
This
oil spill is a tragedy of ecology and culture that will surely mark
this second decade of the 21st century. It also represents the
consequences of our belief that we have no limits to growth and that
consumerism is good. This is a hangover of 20th century
industrialization that led us not only to build one of the world's great
civilizations but now to oversee its very dismantling.
I'm not sure we do--but we must try.
Look
at photos of the oil spill's victims and allow yourself to be
sickened by the sights.
Recognize that 300,000 fishermen are
facing a precarious future and that 30 percent of U.S. seafood
production, a $2.4 billion enterprise, comes from the Gulf region.
Where will these people go? What will they do? What will seafood cost
with these decreasing supplies?
Hear the response of Louisianans like
Mary Richert who grew up in Sulphur, LA, not far from the Gulf of
Mexico. As blasphemous as it sounds, she is now committed to reducing
her use of oil.
to Gisele Perez, a native New Orleanian who proudly defends and
celebrates her city for its vibrant culture, lively music, wonderful
cuisine, deeply rooted religious tradition, language, customs and values
that place family and community above anything else.
Read
Kathy Riodan's essay. Proud daughter of a oil roughneck, she
acknowledges the need for change from "our dependence on oil, our
dependence on foreign oil, our responsibility for the resource, our
responsibility for the environment, our regulation of the industry, our
stewardship of the planet."
Today, preserving the environment is
really the only relevant issue before us. Given the damage we have
done, we are called to change our lives completely to respond to the
unspoken and unrecognized reality that the industrial age is over
because the costs of obtaining cheap resources to run it are too great.
This
oil spill is a tragedy of ecology and culture that will surely mark
this second decade of the 21st century. It also represents the
consequences of our belief that we have no limits to growth and that
consumerism is good. This is a hangover of 20th century
industrialization that led us not only to build one of the world's great
civilizations but now to oversee its very dismantling.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
