Rigs, Rigs Everywhere
My family went on a cruise from Mobile, Alabama, to celebrate our mom’s 70th birthday. The route began at the Port of Mobile and went the entire length of Mobile Bay as we began our journey to Mexico. Long before we neared the mouth of the bay that opens into the Gulf of Mexico, gas rigs started to loom on the horizon. I began counting and after I got to 50, I stopped. I was nauseated and it wasn’t from the cruise ship’s movement.
When I was a child I imagined the blue-green waters continuing throughout my life. I never imagined a gulf and bay full of gas and oil rigs. Now….they are everywhere….and with the weeks-ago oil flow that continues to gush oil and gas into the Gulf, the quality of the waters, the wildlife and the lives of all Gulf Coast residents decline. This environmental catastrophe has the potential to destroy a way of life as it now destroys marshes, pelicans, sea turtles, dolphins, and thousands of fish and organisms so tiny and fragile we never realize their significance, their importance, until they are gone.
Perhaps this is a huge wake-up call to re-think our priorities.
One Reply to “Rigs, Rigs Everywhere”
“Wake up call” indeed. I’ll go one step further to ask the question: who are the real terrorists; and to say that the real terrorists threatening the US are not Alquieda and the Taliban, but big oil and coal–who have done more destructive damage to the infrastructure (ie: environment, etc) and caused more loss of life (to humans and other animal species who also have (or should have) rights. So, why isn’t there a ‘war’ on energy companies being waged in DC the way there is a ‘war on terrorism’ and a ‘war on drugs’??? These guys (BP, Peabody Coal, etc.) should be held accountable. Charged with appropriate crimes. Taken to court and to jail if needs be. Come on, America, it’s time to wake up and get to work.
Thanks Simone for being on the job and on the lookout for those of us who can’t get to the coast. Look forward to more messages and photos.
-T. Crowe
Tuckasegee, NC