Category: Environment

Weeping for the World

Weeping for the World

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Music to Read By

This morning I sat weeping for the birds, oysters, shrimp, crabs….for us all. As I breathed in the stillness of the dawn I felt sadness that we have collectively created such imbalance on this beautiful planet. Inhaling, exhaling…pausing to touch the grief within me….how did it get so messed up?

We have become so dependent on practices that destroy our world, there is no easy way to stop them. The oil industry is woven into the fabric of life in Louisiana along with the Gulf’s bounty. Maybe the problem began when we considered only what could be produced from the Gulf.

But it goes beyond the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis–way beyond to the collective intention to consume, to conquer without regard for what it does to the planet that, quite literally, gives us life. Where did this short-sighted way of thinking begin?

I weep for our ignorance and the destruction it keeps in motion. I weep for political polarization that puts power on a pedestal over compassion and caring. We are lost in fighting battles that pull us apart and weaken us.

When will we stop and breathe together in silence? When we will awaken from our slumber and join hands to work to save our planet, to save ourselves?

The Picture Gets Clearer

The Picture Gets Clearer

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This morning came in with force and grabbed me by my tee shirt and shook me awake. Two things happened that really made me engage with the day. First, BP’s oil that magically disappeared is washing up at Gulf State Park pier again and second, Senator Burr’s office called me and we had a down-home chat about energy.

Oil is washing ashore again in Alabama in the form of the slimy crude. Not just tar balls (BP and Thad Allen said just this week tar balls were only in Louisiana–which is false…I documented them last week in every area I visited in Alabama–Ft. Morgan, Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Gulf State Park and Romar Beach, and Florida–Gulf Islands National Seashore at Johnson Beach). Nope…the nasty, brown-water crude is coating beaches at Gulf State Park possibly due to the tropical storm in the Gulf churning things up. Perhaps nature is helping us by showing BP and our government that the oil really has NOT disappeared, evaporated, or magically been consumed by an oil-eating gulf spirit. And where is BP? Nowhere to be seen. Elvis has left the building folks!

A couple weeks ago I wrote Senator Richard Burr’s office stating my disappointment in the Senate not moving forward with an energy bill, even as watered-down as it was. Kyle, from Senator Burr’s office, called me this morning. He started reading his statement about how Senator Burr supports domestic production of energy. I interrupted Kyle and said, “Oh, you mean he supports oil and gas drilling.” Kyle replied that we have to wean ourselves off of foreign oil. I guess Senator Burr hasn’t studied the oil map of the world’s oil reserves. We don’t have the oil reserves/resources in the USA to come close to weaning (his word) us off our foreign oil need given our current consumption rate.

Our conversation progressed….Kyle continued by saying, “The cap and trade scheme…” WHOA Kyle…”Scheme?” I said. I didn’t realize it was a scheme. Then he got totally lost in his statement having not guessed that I’d answer the phone much less interrupt his well-practiced speech. After recovering he went on to say that the current “regime wanted to implement…” REGIME? Oh, so that’s the game…Senator Burr and his associates are indulging in word war in the media and with citizens by referring to our current Commander in Chief as leading a regime. I didn’t realize they were trying to promote the current administration as communist. Seriously?

I had about enough by then so I said, “Could we just stop with the political jargon and talk about the real issue? Our planet needs us to stop being polarized with politics. I am sick and tired of all politicians struggling for power and not even focusing on the issues at hand. Please tell Senator Burr that’s what I want him to hear from me.” Kyle referred me to Senate bill S. 3535 and said that’s Senator Burr’s answer to the regime’s scheme.

I researched S. 3535 and it has three major components. First, it gives a tremendous boost to natural gas production. Heard of hydraulic fracturing? The folks who have been victimized by Haliburton and others using this process might tell us a thing or two about what this very dangerous procedure does to the environment and to people. The second part of this bill pushes nuclear energy. Yes, it’s clean but who inherits the mess left behind by it? To me it’s just a short-term fix for energy that leaves our grandkids with a toxic environment. The third part of the bill addresses renewable energy to which it basically continues the tax credits already in place and calls for a DOR, EPA and DOT study (another government study???).

The energy picture is becoming clearer to me in two ways. First, the BP oil that magically disappeared never really went away….it sank. Thank goodness for citizens and scientists who know better than to believe BP and the government and to tropical storms and other forms of nature that divulge the truth. Second, we must stop deferring the messes we create to our grandchildren. NOW is the time to take responsibility for the way we use energy, how we can create a better way and leave a better world for our heirs. Do we want to be remembered as the generation that had an opportunity to make a difference and chose not to because it was too difficult?

Where is CNN now?

Where is CNN now?

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Today I walked through the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge so that I could access the beach there. “They” still have the road closed and the parking lot at the beach closed so I braved 90 degree heat at 8am this morning and walked through the interior of the refuge to see what was happening on the beach.

A month ago I was here and heavy machinery was removing truckloads of sand from the shoreline (shown in photo). Today, the first thing I noticed when approaching the beach from the interior of the refuge was the lack of clanging metal and loud engines. It was blissful to hear birds and waves.

Unfortunately, my peace was interrupted by endless tar balls in the water and on the sand and tidal pools filled with oily sludge. My first thought, upon finding these pools, was–Where is CNN now? BP laid off about 450 employees…out of 550 in Alabama, last week. I believe their promise was to leave the beaches cleaner than before the spill and that they were committed to being here as long as it takes. What happened to those promises?

As I walked along the beach I found myself thinking–Oh, these are only small tar balls, it’s just to be expected to have oily pools on the beach. WAIT A MINUTE! NO! We are being hypnotized into believing whatever they want us to believe. We should not let up in our push to have them held accountable until the beaches are really clean. It is unacceptable to abandon beaches when the work is not completed. But I’m one voice. We will only see them act if we join together as one BIG voice and demand they follow through with their promises. On this eve of the static kill attempt, let us remind them that it is not enough to simply stop the oil. That’s the FIRST step.

On the Surface

On the Surface

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Today I visited Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Alabama. This site was heavily oiled a few weeks ago and I wanted to revisit it to see the status of this shoreline.

On first view, the beach appeared clean and the water clear. I wanted to investigate a little closer to see what I could tell using my five senses.

There are tar balls on the beach and in the surf zone. The sand is sticky where it was oiled.

Crustaceans I saw appeared lethargic. Tiny coquina shells, that usually burrow quickly into the tidal sand, only sat on the sand, half covered. They usually dig into the sand ferociously as the surf washes over them.

There were lots of tiny fish swimming near the shore and some larger fish being driven by predators close to shore.

On the surface, it looked good–much, much better than the last time I was here. Yet upon closer investigation there were things that were not great. Of course we’ll see tar balls for many years and they were abundant in the surf zone. The part of the beach that was inundated with oil and oily sludge a month ago still smelled of diesel fuel and there were millions and millions of tiny tar balls mixed in the sand. But right now I’m more interested in what is happening in the water.

Barnacles on the pilings of the pier appeared dead yet there were tiny fish, that make their home among the crustaceans, living there watching my video housing with interest. Crabs at the base of the pilings were definitely lethargic.

My intention is simply to record what I see and form an opinion using my senses and intuition. My conclusion today? The beach there is much better than the last time I saw it; however, the beach still contains obvious hydrocarbons and oil-related products that are invisible but evident due to their smell. The water had suspended particles of unknown origin and had small tar balls rolling in the surf. Some animals looked okay while others appeared dead (barnacles) or sluggish. Bottom line: It’s an unhealthy ecosystem trying to recover.

These are images from a month ago and today of Gulf State Park Pier and condos that border the park boundary.

Humanity–Definitions to Ponder

Humanity–Definitions to Ponder

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When I was growing up I was proud to be a part of humanity because I felt like it truly was an honor to be able to express the quality of being humane, kind or benevolent (Random House definition #3). It made me warm and fuzzy inside as a teenager to think that the goal of humans was to express these wonderful qualities to each other, the earth and wildlife. I wrapped these idyllic qualities around myself and went out into the world, as a young state park naturalist, to make a difference.

Upon reaching the half-century mark, I observe the way we collectively mistreat ourselves, each other, the earth, and animals, and I cannot help but wonder, What happened? The #2 definition of humanity is: the quality or condition of being human. It seems we have changed what used to be a positive reality of humanity into something that, quite honestly, I am ashamed to be a part of many times.

As I was downstairs lifting weights this morning a wild turkey hen and two juveniles arrived at the glass door leading to the deck and invited me to watch them. I quickly bolted up two flights of stairs to get my video camera and returned to have a very close interaction with these wondrous creatures. My husband and I have been interacting with them on our walks around the mountain and have marveled at the intelligence and beauty of these wild birds.

Anxious to complete my workout and walk, I rushed through the workout and set out with camera in-hand to see if we could see them again.

We walked up and down and all around and only in the last few minutes of the walk did we see the turkeys. But this time trespassers to the mountain had their dog off leash and allowed her to chase this family of regal birds, to the point of encouraging Lucy to “get it.” The two hens and seven juveniles that call our mountain home scattered as best they could into trees, squawking and cackling as this large dog terrorized them.

I admit I’ve been a bit on edge covering the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I’ve been deeply disappointed in humans…in humanity (#1 definition–all beings collectively in the human race). In BP, our government agencies, tourism boards who put dollars above tourist’s health…yes, I’ve been on edge. Today I snapped. I looked at the guy, holding the empty leash in-hand and said, “I am PISSED off! We have a leash law for animals and I just told you baby turkeys were in this area.”

When did humans stop caring? When did we become so selfish? When did we put everyone and everything else aside to satisfy our own jolly’s? When did we, as a collective group of beings, redefine the word humanity to be a negative thing? We have reduced the quality of who we are…although there are kind and benevolent people on the planet (thank God!)…but as a whole we are failing. All we have to do is look around and see the fruits of our actions and behaviors…the oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria, China and the continued drilling on sensitive land and waters…laws that protect corporations at the expense of our environment and our own health….blasting mountain tops for coal and destroying communities downslope….egocentric behaviors that are beyond belief. If we could only rise above our own deception and view what we’ve created from a higher perspective…..

Through this rant I have come to a point of realization. In order for there to be change, we must see the darkness we have created. Presented to us is a huge opportunity to change and grow into beings that are humane, kind and benevolent. It takes effort, sacrifice, and commitment but in the end, we can restore our ability to create a better world and to be proud to count ourselves among a collective of good people.