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Today's Top News
Published on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 by YES! Magazine
Six Things to Do About the BP Gulf Disaster
Instead of sitting helplessly on the sidelines, here are six things every American can do.
BP has failed repeatedly to stop the gushing oil disaster
in the Gulf. It's trying again—using a technique that risks making
matters
worse—and saying that there may be no repair until August, when it
finishes
drilling relief wells.
The media, meanwhile, is treating much of the news from the Gulf like it's a contest between the "Drill Baby Drill" crowd and the Obama administration. It's not. It's a national disaster.
While those of us outside the world of deep-sea engineering have limited knowledge, there are some things we can and should demand:
- The federal government needs to take charge and put BP under
temporary receivership as recommended
by
former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. BP was dishonest about the
quantities of oil flowing into the Gulf, and their
initial repair efforts have failed. The federal government is
accountable to the American people, and it needs to decide what
to do to protect our nation's water, wildlife, and shorelines of the
Gulf (and wherever
else the oil travels). As Reich argues,
receivership would allow the government
to act with full authority and accountability, and to call on all the
expertise available (not just BP's) to help make the difficult calls.
- The
cleaning and protection of coastlines needs to be ramped up.
Whether that means hiring more local fishers, bringing in National Guard
troops, or deploying citizen brigades on the beaches, the response needs
to be
aggressive and sustained. Even if the oil stopped flowing today, the
contamination would continue washing up in sensitive coastal regions for
months
or longer. All workers should have training, equipment, and protective
gear to
keep them from being sickened by the oil and the toxic dispersants.
- There
should be generous pay for the armies of bird-rescuers and beach
cleaners, and those out protecting shorelines with boats and booms.
Families who are the immediate victims of the disaster
should get first crack at the jobs, and their wages will help sustain
the region through this economic storm. Charge BP (and any
other companies responsible for the disaster) the full costs for as long
as it
takes to get this region clean, whether it's months or years.
- Use
the least toxic chemical dispersants and insist
on full
disclosure of the makeup of all the dispersants being dumped into
the
Gulf. The U.S. EPA should determine which dispersants, if any, are used
based
on the long-term health of the Gulf and its shorelines and estuaries,
not based
on which companies have
ties with BP or which chemicals will be most likely to hide the
effects and protect BP from
embarrassing images of oil slicks. Use emergency powers, if necessary,
to get a full disclosure of the makeup of the dispersants from BP or
whoever is refusing to release it.
Without this information, there's no way to keep the emergency
responders safe,
to properly treat stricken birds and sea life, and to assess the
long-term
damage.
- Boycott
BP, but also other oil companies. They are all
spilling oil (see what Shell
is doing in Nigeria, for example),
and causing direct environmental damage. But using oil, no matter what
company pumps it, is putting our entire planet at risk through disruption
of
the climate. Melting ice caps, changing rainfall patterns,
mega-storms and
failing crops are already happening, but that is only the beginning if
we start
hitting climate
tipping points. We must kick our fossil fuel addiction.
This is our part of the solution.
- Begin a massive conversion to energy efficiency and renewable energy. There is a lot of blame to go around for this disaster, from the practice of putting cronies in charge of regulation to the corporate culture of putting profits above all else. But this disaster is above all happening because the oil that is easy to get to is already taken. Now oil companies are trying to get the oil that's hard to reach, from deep under the oceans, from hostile regions of the world, and from dirty and destructive sources like tar sands. We've entered a time that analyst and author Michael Klare calls "The Age of Tough Oil," and the costs—human, environmental, economic, and strategic—are rising with each new barrel. Making our economy more energy efficient and building a renewable energy infrastructure offer immediate benefits in terms of jobs and economic stimulus and will sustain generations to come.
- Posted in
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94 Comments so far
Show AllAs FDR said, 'the financial elements in the large centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson'.
Only solution is public financing of elections.
This is an excellent list. Now watch for the deluge of hand waving nihilists who will decry that boycotts are useless. Ya think they are holding BP stock?
I agree that this is a great list of positive steps, but it is inane to label everybody who expresses skeptism over a BP Boycott as a BP stockholder. I don't hold any BP stock or any stock at all. And I am boycotting BP. But I recognize it is mostly a gesture meant to make me feel good in a vengeful kind of way. This could have been ANY oil company. Shell is currently creating the exact same kind of ecological crisis in Nigeria--as a CD reader, you might be one of about 2% of Americans who actually even knows that.
BP should be held criminally responsible and should forced to pay very high wages to tens of thousands of clean up workers, along with spending the necessary money to make sure they are all adequately protected. I am largely opposed to the death penalty, but would be willing to personally flip the switch on Tony Hayward's electric chair (or, in order to save on fossil fuels, perhaps the bastard should swing from a rope). However, there is a serious danger to focusing too much intention and anger soley on BP. It is creating a scapegoat mentality that too many people in this country are using to escape thinking about the truly hard reality of our current situation.
Briggs Seekins
briggsseekins.wordpress.com
I understand your anger with Hayward and BP. He is an ignorant greed monger. That's what it takes to be head a large corporation.
And yes, they do conspire to take our money.
But we give it to them. We pay for their goods. We empower them to do the things they do by buying their products.
I've typed these words perhaps a 100 times now on CD. (probably exaggerating but it seems like 100 times) Do you drive an electric car? Or do you burn gasoline? Do you consume other petroleum products?
I'm not trying to blame you personally. Or anyone else. I'm simply trying to point out that "we" have the power, the means and ideed, the responsibility to stop the flow of money that supports the flow of oil.
The government isn't going to do this for us. We can all scream, jump up and down, type outrageous comments.....they aren't going to do it. We have to do it. You and me.
As I sit here watching a young mother unload her 4 kids from a Suburban and a middle aged guy jump out of his shiny new diesel powered F-350 (I'm sure it doesn't haul anything but his fat ass) and the other large pickups and SUVs on the road and a cattle hauling truck stopped at the light and the trash collecting truck on it's way to the dump........wow.......is it ignorance? Denial? Am I crazy?
What you fail to realize is that these criminals hold vast amounts of money and power and they make many decisions for us. Take for instance the electric automobile. I would be driving one today but they aren't available to the mass market. I can't afford one because our business and political leaders have prevented the mass production and sale of them. The decision was made for me. Same goes for shelf space at Wal-Mart where foreign made goods were forced upon us by our political and business leaders. The majority of us don't have unlimited sources of income and therefore we are unable to fully fight this battle. I am not fond of people waving their finger in my face in regards to this issue. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
As for the SUV's, F-350's and the likes, Fox News is the number one news station. Ignorance and rationalization are all the rage. Would you expect anything less from a disconnected and alienated society?
It is truly crazy making to stop and look around and SEE what we do and how we live. It is difficult for me to feel sorry for a country that took total paradise and turned it into a parking lot. I have loved my country and my world, and I have walked over a goodly portion of it, and sailed over other portions. I cry to see it being made uninhabitable by utter insanity. Apparently, the majority of humans are not intelligent enough to understand complex problems. Anything more than 5 or 6 variables leaves most humans swimming in confusion. At the same time, a few of us can create fantastic works of beauty and fantastic works of ugliness. We can create a technology that is wondrous and then use it to destroy the very planet we need to live. Homo sapiens, indeed. Homo insapiens is closer to the truth.
Excellent comments. I know many people believe that if Ralph Nader were elected, the world would change. I believe the only solution lies in people refusing to feed the corporate machine. Without us they are nothing.
Every year corporations become more powerful, in the last 20 years, especially. It really got out of hand during the Clinton years.
What I fear is that we will soon be at the point where we no longer can stop them.
We can stop using oil, but we are losing control of health care, Monsanto is scheming to control our food supply and the military is unrecognizable--a strange Halliburton, private contractor blend.
Our urbanized populations are ill-suited to challenge the beast. All the while, lands continue to be snapped up by the beast. Remaining rural cultures and populations are being forcefully displaced on a daily basis. Privatized education and water system schemes are knocking on the door. I suspect they are indeed unstoppable at this point in time.
"I know many people believe that if Ralph Nader were elected, the world would change."
I, for one, being a Nader supporter, believe no such thing. What I do believe, however, is that if people were really serious about WANTING change, voting for him would be right up there on the to-do list.
"the only solution lies in people refusing to feed the corporate machine."
Yes, and some of the products of that machine are the "major" political candidates. So, every time you support them, for whatever reason, you feed the machine ....
"we are losing control of health care, Monsanto is scheming to control our food supply ..."
Yup, all the result of the political decisions we made and keep making ...
Hi Briggs,
I have been boycotting Shell for a long time. In fact, I buy my gasoline almost exclusively at Citgo stations. I don't do it out of vengeance. When you give these criminals money, it is what they crave most and it really does empower them. While trying to watch where I spend my dollars is difficult at times, it is something that I need to do and hopefully more people will do it. I really would like to see BP bankrupted at this point. I feel that forcing these criminals through the inconvenience of lean times and the process of restructuring under a different logo is a punishment that is better than no punishment at all. The government really should seize BP at this point in time although I doubt this will come to pass.
I am opposed to capital punishment in our legal system. At the same time, I feel that execution for people who represent a clear danger to humanity is a suitable societal response. The mere fact that some people breath represents a danger to the world at large. I submit the Nuremberg executions as cases in point. Given Tony Hayward's comments over the last month, it is clear that this man represents a danger to all the world's people. He should be hung from his neck. How many more of his ilk are currently manning the levers of power that are plunging this world into environmental and political disaster? That said, I doubt this will come to pass in the foreseeable future. I suspect many more peace activists will have to be gunned down in cold blood, more species made extinct, many more people forced to starvation and many more hectares of land seized by big AG/big oil/big business before people will rise up. I doubt that America will be at the forefront of this movement.
Thank you Sarah... I especially like your suggestion # 6... and I agree, It's time to replace carbon fuels with a better idea.
Fortunately, several game-changing inventions (which are more significant than solar & wind) have existed for over a hundred years. They have been severely and successfully suppressed by the same folks who are profiting from carbon-based fuel production.
What we need now is a shift in consciousness. I think that the internet might be the new invention we were looking for... we can now educate ourselves and share with others on a scale that the suppressors will be unable to keep up with.
Here are a few links to help you learn more:
http://www.theorionproject.org/en/index.html
http://changingpower.net/articles/free-energy-documentary-producer-pitches-tv-series/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgQXYBRYwbg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh_-DUKQ4Uw&feature=related
Do you feed your Kids plastic before driving yourself to your Real Job?
The main point of the article is to stop BUYING JUNK, especially PLASTIC.
How about just buying USED? So simple. So much crap in the world that we don't need anyway. How about keeping that perfectly good cell phone, computer, television, etc. instead of buying the latest, most fabulous, must-have, up-to-date, top-of-the-heap model?
And you know that liberal/conservative paradigm? Well...it's a paradigm. One thought up to keep EVERYONE arguing and bickering while the elite go about their business of reaping fortunes through destruction. We are all on this planet together, sir, and your ad hominem attacks are as dead as the Gulf of Mexico.
That didn't make much sense. You will have to use a few more words and explain. buying used works very well for many, many people. when the surplus is used up we can maybe thinking about returning to an economy less dependent on oil.
True. But at this point all strategies to reduce dependence upon oil must be used, from the personal to the global.
The truth is, a sustainable economy that doesn't kill us and the planet is going to look VERY different from what we are used to. It will be small, local, maybe involved barter and a local currency, and many fewer people will have "jobs", although a lot more of us will do more work. We can move towards this on a personal level- by transitioning our communities- its happening many places already.(the global Transition movement is a great model) At the same time, pressuring our law makers to change is just as important- they should be spending money on building a low energy transportation infrastructure, for example, instead of throwing our dwindling public monies away on roads.
And while we're having all these discussions, we might as well continue using up everything in sight, right? After all, the system "makes" us do it.
Sorry, in the meantime, while we are remaking our entire system, not buying, fixing, and buying used makes a great deal of sense. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, and, in fact are mutually reinforcing ....
Sorry, you haven't EXPLAINED why it's a complete waste of time, only stated it. I stand by my comment, there is no reason not to engage in resource sparing activities while thinking "systemically".
If you can't spare resources AND think systemically at the same time, please don't denigrate the efforts of those of us who can.
Every recycled can, every product that is fixed or reused instead of replaced, is one less drain on natural resources, you cannot deny that. And when done often enough and by enough people it becomes significant. Given enough teaspoons, even an ocean can be impacted. The only reason I can think of to use your argument is if you want to "feel better" about continuing to consume at a profligate rate ....
Oh, so that's what participatory economics is all about ...
Think I'll pass ...
Capitalism is a very unique system in the history of human societies. It is the first system that converted human beings into becoming simply consumers. Capitalism demanded that in order to continue to turn surplus value into capital, it must continue to manufacture and sell new commodities.
Human beings, like any other organism has specific basic needs. Technological advances made it easy to satisfy these basic needs for everyone on the planet. In order to maintain the continuation of capital production the capitalist MUST continue to build and sell new commodities. He then needs to create a demand for his products which society doesn't necessarily demand above it basic needs. The age of monopoly capitalism has witnessed an astronomical growth in the marketing segment in an effort to make people believe they must have the newest and greatest products. These same products must be carefully constructed to give only a limited lifespan (usually just beyond the warranty periods) so that the consumer will need to replace them as frequently as possible. All of this of course contributes to environmental suicide and wasteful use of energy and resources.
To enable this constant rush for higher and higher consumption of commodities that the capitalists are so capable of producing due to advanced technologies of manufacture, people have to be dehumanized and turned from being citizens into being consumers. A man's "worth" and "success" must be measured not in moral or social terms but by how much he is able to accumulate. What size is his home(s) or how expensive is the car he drives or the watch he wears? All aspects of societal relationships are now turned into sellers/marketers and consumeers, even the political system. Politicians are rated like commodities are rated and sold to the voting public like any other commodity. Politics becomes only a system of limited choices, like buying Brand X or Brand Y.
Marx referred to this whole process of detaching individuals from the collective commons of society to the alienation of the working class. Competition reigns supreme. Workers compete for jobs, workers compete for status within the existing social order and sell their labour power as any other commodity.
The continuous class struggle between the capitalist class and the working class, has resulted in a deteriating standard of living for most workers. It has forced two or more members of a nuclear family to go to work to sustain their standard of living. The result has been dysfunctional families and all that this entails.
One could go on and on about just how fucked up capitalism has made the world. Our highest priority, above all else, must be to end this rotten unsustainable system and build a new socialist alternative.
Cheers.
You have a point. That has been an observation of mine as well. The "professional" class has made a mistake in identifying itself with the ownership class. Too often ego gets in the way of our seeing that, in fact, we are "labor" as well. We, at least in the case of the medical profession, are beginning to notice that in a painful way, but too many of us still refuse to acknowledge the truth, failing to see that if we would engage in solidarity with the rest of the "working class", we would ALL be better off ....
O.K., so what's your theory?
.....Simply put, as long as we have capitalism, we will have overconsumption.....
***
How about just ignoring the capitalist matrix?
Where is it written that any of us are OBLIGATED to fork our lives over to this or that dominant paradigm?
Seriously.
Every single one of us is free to simply stop supporting the bullshit insofar as we are able to do so.
We are not helpless.
Um....perhaps the "market economy" should be re-thought? It's amazing that people will cling to the chains that bind them.
Although, it really doesn't matter now; this system is going to fail. There will be no complete green re-tooling (meaning dig up some more of Mother Earth so we can BUY GREEN) of the system in its present incarnation. And all the pipe-dreams and "Technology will save us!" in the universe isn't going to change that.
How about we stop buying $h!T? That would be the best thing anyone could do. We could stop manufacturing just about everything right now, and we'd have enough for the world to live comfortably for the next century or so. Ever walked through a thrift store? Looked at all the "storage units?" Thought about where all the junk in all of the malls goes at the end of the season? How about all of the antique stores? Pawn shops? Consignment stores? Garages that have no room for cars? Second hand shops?
We just need to STOP.
Oh, and bring up the technology Barney suggested. It's been around since ancient times. But I do have to wonder what humans would do with unlimited energy? Would we use it to finally mine the last diamond? Cut down the last tree for new kitchen cupboards? Temper steel for the newest model of car?
About that buying problem we have....
It's okay to say "shit" on this site. I do it all the time. And you're right--nearly all the products out there, pushed into our phyches as "needs" by armies of psychologists and marketers, consist of plastic. Most of them? We don't need...
Good post, Louise. It always amazes me that people rent buildings to stgore the stuff they own and can't use. Talk about bizarre .....
these stored, unused things ~ the lamp, the sofa, the broken car, the boxes of old magazines, etc. ~ become a person's identity, their life recorded and reserved for reliving...
in a world where we have no purpose but consumption, and neither title nor authority but over trinkets, small wonder we primarily identify with our purchases and possessions...
Steve Martin captured this beautifully at the end of 'The Jerk'...
let's remember bush the war criminal(still waiting for THAT to be investigated) gave out tax credits for cars that weighed OVER 6,000 lbs....only the biggest gas guzzlers weighed that....
and still waiting for the "GREEN ENERGY" plan from the newest war criminal obama to get spent....on something otehr than "clean" nukles and "green" coal....
but hey why invest in true green energy when we still give ten's of billions in direct payments and tax credits to the oil companies - companies that are the most profitable on the planet and helped usher in the economic freefall we are now in the middle of.....
remember the 4.50 a gal that basically drove the economy over the cliff?
we could have 10,000 wind turbines in montana, the dakotas, oklahoma and the texas panhandle where the winds NEVER stop blowing - THAT should be where the billions are spent -
NOT ON FUCKING OIL!
but even the wind turbines going up are usually being built by a foreign company.....
because the leaders of America are too god damn stupid and corrupt to EVER DO THE RIGHT THING..........
Who do I blame? I'll start with the DEMOCRATS as they control the House, the Senate and the White House and we've seen SHIT from them so far except handouts to the same corporate entities that would gladly blow up the world for a nickel in profits.....
and people like thom hartmann make me sick with their "obama wants to do the right thing, any day now he'll magically turn into FDR"
FDR did MANY MANY of the new deal policies on the state level as the new york governor BEFORE he was president and then just moved those same people into the federal level.....from francis perkins to my favorite new dealer Harry Hopkins.....
where's harry hopkins now when we need him?
I was thinking of these steps early on. Thought is was insane to leave BP completely in charge.
Other things that you personally might want to organize or do:
7. Find out if the rapid, unusual heating of the northern Gulf of Mexico is in any way connected to the sheen of oil on its surface (recently seen at 84 degrees F on the Louisiana coast). Find out if this alarming trend can be extrapolated through the beginning of August, when the oil shuts off. Report on the impending disaster. Find out if the government can then take extraordinary hurricane preparedness steps to prevent a few lives from being lost.
8. Hold an inventors' online conclave to solve BP's immediate problem. What's wrong with more minds solving the problem?
Perhaps it is a little clearer to, some Americans at least, why they should have voted Green or for one of the other parties that aren't on BP's payroll. Expecting Obama or McCain, Democrats and Republicans, to bite the hand that pays their way to power is not very well thought out, is it?
Elections are won by the amount of money spent on the candidates. Green, Orange or Pink, you are still left with the 55% of Americans who get all of their 'information' from the fascist Rupert Murdoch and his Fox Network. End of story.
-"Elections are won by the amount of money spent on the candidates...End of story"
For your sakes, I hope not. You are talking about how things are. I'm talking about how things could be.
How could things become that way given the logistics of raising billions of dollars in order to effectively compete. Don't you think that raising all that money will make your green candidates as beholden to big money interests as the Republicans and Democrats. His second point is that the majority of the country's population is fully programmed in corporate fascist talking points. Whether it is Fox, CNN or ABC news, the underlying message is the same. These are big corporations doing the broadcasting. How do you propose we deprogram the hundreds of millions of people who support this corporate fascist empire?
You may think it could be that way but I can assure you, a snow ball has a better chance in hell. You need to start thinking about more realistic solutions. While a pipe dream COULD come to pass, you are expending precious energy.
-"Don't you think that raising all that money will make your green candidates as beholden to big money interests as the Republicans and Democrats"
No I'm not suggesting that "my" Greens raise corporate money. That would be a waste of time. If you like doing that, join the Democrats, by all means.
-"His second point is that the majority of the country's population is fully programmed in corporate fascist talking points"
He's right then, it is. If it wasn't, Bush and Obama wouldn't gain power, and America would be be getting universal healthcare, the permanent wars would end, etc. I'm assuming most Americans would like to have peace and the ability to see a doctor, am I wrong? Yes, most Americans are badly misinformed, but that is a challenge to parties like the Greens, not an excuse to join the people who are part of the problem.
Let's summarize. You think that you'll be able to compete on "clean" money against a media propaganda machine that stands in your way. It isn't feasible and it becomes less feasible as each day passes. People who prop up the status quo with pipe dreams are the real problem in this country today. That said, I would suspend my voting boycott if I ever had the opportunity to vote for a serious green candidate for a significant position within the federal government. Make it happen.
-You think that you'll be able to compete on "clean" money against a media propaganda
Well, yeah, that is how other countries do it, Lefty. that is why we have universal healthcare and peace, and Americans don't. Clean government, government that is paid by regular people, not corporations, gives people what they want, and we wanted doctors and peace. I'm sure I could find a corrupt party like the US Dems to vote for, but that would cost me my healthcare and divert money to war, neither of which I want.
Maybe you are overestimating the superhuman abilities of media propaganda people? You know how when someone tells a lie, they have to then tell more lies to maintain the web of falsehoods? Eventually one slips up, and is revealed. That is the pressure point to focus on. Take the myths surrounding the Gaza seige for example, all it takes is a few boats to force Israeli propaganda into high gear. If you want to give people like Glenn Greenwald more airtime with the uninformed American people, then there are more boats where those came from. If what progressives, people who are concerned with the environment, have something to say that is true, that gives them an advantage, and it may seem to you, inside the cocoon of the official American press that they can manufacture reality, but take a step outside America and you will see just how isolated the companies running the US are.
Where are you? Canada? That's a nice job you're doing on the tar sands for us. Maybe you're from Greece. Pretty sweet how Goldman-Sachs brought you down a notch. There isn't a corner of the world that isn't under the siege from this global corporate juggernaut. What about Gaza? They slaughtered people en masse with white phosphorous and other weapon they could get their hands on. I watched it live on TV. What were the repercussions? What will the repercussions be for slaughtering peace activists? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They'll go on their merry way, more secure knowing the flotillas will be harder to populate.
These "unpopular" corporate fascists are all over the planet. One only look at China and India and realize this paradigm of consumption and greed has overrun the planet like a nasty plague or virus. These corporate fascists sure are isolated. How is it that their schemes of privatization and conquest are cropping up in every corner of the planet. Are you seriously that out of touch with world events? They don't have to manufacture anything anymore. They brazenly take what they want and someday we'll stop them in non-violent form.
Lefty, by continually proclaiming "it isn't feasible", you are buying into the favorite BS line of the 2 majors. Don't you see that? Your belief that "it isn't feasible" is what keeps you from supporting an Indy, which is precisely the result the 2 majors want. Once enough people believe it is possible, it becomes possible. If I don't want you to do something, the simplest, cheapest and often most effective argument I can make to talk you out of it is, "it isn't feasible". I don't even have to explain why it's not a good idea, which is especially useful if it is a good idea, all I have to do is say "it's not feasible" and throw in a few other phrases like "impossible", "not gonna happen", "can't happen", "can't win" etc., etc, and if I do it often enough, you will get discouraged and not even try. And if enough folks don't even try, I win by default.
I don't continually say it isn't feasible. I pointed out the ugly realities that we are faced with. I've voted for countless indies in my life, a few of them were actually elected. Get a candidate in a federal race that I can vote for and I'll suspend my voting boycott. Until then, I'm from Missouri. Show me.
Participation in these elections is really your acceptance and support of this corrupt and unconstitutional government. It borders on treasonous. The SCOTUS even backed me up on this point recently.
Is it the entire government of the US that is unconstit.? If so, what gov't would be const. under our const.?
If not the entire gov't, what parts? Is an executive branch or a legis. branch, per se, unconst. or is it a specific incarnation of these that are?
I do not support the current occupants of said leg. and exec. branches.
"Get a candidate in a federal race that I can vote for"
What would such a candidate have to be to gain your support?
I'll pose the question to you. What part of the Constitution hasn't been trampled on? From habeaus corpus to illegal search and seizure to forced purchase of private goods and services, there isn't any aspect of the Constitution that hasn't been crapped on. Now corporations have rights of free speech yet what responsibilities do they hold in this Republic?
I have maintained that the Greens or any other third party who truly wishes to take on the big boys should focus their efforts on selected high profile federal elections. Surely you folks could target a handful of federal senate or congressional races for breaking the ice.
9) immediately place a permanent ban on all offshore oil drilling, on all drilling, period.
10) ban importation of oil from tar sands.
This would help to kickstart a green economy, don't you think? After all necessity has always been the mother of invention.
Certainly a cretinous post ....
I'm sure the radioactive fish at Vermont Yankee will love some more company ....
Where is my anti-gravity car?!?!
My above grade personal transit system (like a ski gondola, you feel like you're flying in your personal car, plus there are pretty much no freeway problems) is mothballed. There is no money whatsoever for developing the system, probably in my lifetime. Why would the government want to damage BP's and GM's business model? Don't you realize who rents out the government?
Boycott all oil- great idea. However, the fantasy that some alternative energy sources can allow us to maintain our current level of consumption is truly magical thinking. Might I remind our nuclear proponents- there are MANY reasons why that is not a good idea- not the least of which is a highly toxic waste that no-one yet knows how to dispose of permanently.
I have one SIMPLE SOLUTION: We have to stop buying most of the crap and services we spend money on, and that means our economy WILL crash, and most of us will be out of jobs, and it means a whole lot of misery. However, the alternative is worse, so either we do it willingly and plan it out in our communities and build resiliency, or we get caught at the end with our pants down and the environmental damage and the social chaos will be intense.
Yup.