Our Horizon Looks Darker and Darker---

I have emerged from my self imposed blackout to offer my thoughts about the unfolding ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. All my life, I have seemingly been on the periphery of major catastrophes, never experiencing first hand the traumas that all of us watch on the daily news broadcasts. They always seem to happen to others.

Now suddenly, my little slice of paradise is in the path of this sinister oil spill that won't stop growing. We have not seen any real physical impact yet, although two days after the explosion of the BP 'Deep Water Horizon' oil drilling platform in the Gulf, there was a whiff of petroleum odor over the city for a day or two....just a hint of anxiety in the air. As this disaster continues to grow, it is occupying more space in everyone's consciousness, and the cries of "Drill, baby, drill" seem like a laughable remnant of some bad nightmare.

As I start to think about the impact of this spill on our daily life here in SW Florida, I am fearful. I can visualize a slow death for the West Florida coastal communities as their beaches..the real draw for the billion dollar tourist industry here...are fouled with a sheen of oil that covers everything with an insidious creeping shroud that won't go away. The local paper here reports that hotel reservation desks are starting to get cancellations, just when the tourist business was beginning to revive after the long dark night of the recession gave tourism revenue a black eye last year. If the oil begins to wash up on our beaches a few weeks from now, I wonder if I will smell it all day in my back yard just a mile and a half from the beach. I wonder what will happen to all waterfront related businesses like shrimpers, crabbers, tour guides, fisherman, boat rentals, all marina services, wildlife refuges and sanctuaries, seafood restaurants, et al. What will happen to all the people who make their lives and a living here, not to mention the animals? It is almost too dramatic and horrific to consider how this life style will change. The local price of gasoline has already increased by 7% in the last week and is predicted to increase steadily. The impact of this promises to be so large that we haven't really gotten our heads wrapped around it yet....and the pollution continues to pour forth into the Gulf unabated.

The headline in the local paper this morning is "Does This Kill the Drive to Drill Baby Drill?" A Republican state representative actually proposed last year that we open drilling fields three miles from the Florida coastline. Now he is agreeing with Sen. Bill Nelson that we institute a moratorium on future drilling plans.

In the letters to the editor in the Naples Daily News, there was a terse piece from a man who equated this current spill with water-sprinkler damage in a high rise apartment: "After you replace the drywall, everything will be fine! Is a leaky water pipe a reason to move everyone out of the building? Leaks will happen-get used to it!" Another brilliant writer blamed the whole mess on President Obama:" After working 40 years in the industrial-maintenance field, I find it amazing that this oil platform failure was not backed up with shut-off valves. Isn’t it incredible that under President Barack Obama’s watch we have this huge environmental disaster.  Let’s see if his administration accepts full responsibility for this failure!"

What an idiot! I wonder if people like this know that the shutoff valves for this platform, and (tens of other by the way) were manufactured and installed, along with the cement support pilings by Halliburton--Dick Cheney's company--and that the cement pilings are failing because the standards pushed for and approved by Bush and Cheney were too lax to insure secure shut off valves on these platforms. In fact the inspection on the destroyed platform just prior to the explosion showed that the safety valves and pilings were insufficient in the event of an accident.

We are all waiting here with increasing anxiety as this catastrophe unfolds. I think Floridians are realizing that our lifestyle here is endangered and about to change. There is almost nothing we can do at this point to avoid the approaching storm clouds. All actions now are defensive against this encroaching horror.

This incident is a huge wake up call. The oil nuts need to be silenced. If ever there was a time to wean ourselves off petroleum, this is it. If we don't, you can expect more spills, more environmental catastrophe and more economic disaster. There is no fail-safe technology in oil drilling. All it takes is one mistake, or one greedy politician to eviscerate standards, and the lives of millions are affected.

Right now I am trying to breathe in as much fresh air as possible, before it all goes away!