“Today, we tell Congress that we ‘sacrificed’ ourselves for the national good,” Oliver Houck wrote in the Tulane Environmental Law Journal. “Never has there been such a willing, complicit sacrifice. We made a bundle of money, wasted most of it, and blackballed anyone who questioned what it was doing to the Louisiana coast. About 70 years ago, Louisiana made a deal with the oil and gas industry. The industry would get what it wanted; the state would get a piece of the take.”
Ah yes, you all know the drill–find a writer whose voice, intelligence, and style you enjoy in one book then go out and see if they’re consistent enough writers to work their word magic on your imagination AGAIN. Having enjoyed the horror story that is Fruitless Fall, o yes it is a modern version of a very very scary story, I was game for more of Rowan Jacobsen’s work. I decided to venture to the great ghostly delta of the mighty Mississippi via Shadows On the Gulf, A Journey Through Our Last GreatWetland. If you’re fans of Jacobsen’s A Geography of Oysters don’t fret–the agony and ecstasy of gulf oysters is part of Shadows. It couldn’t be otherwise. Now if you’re looking for an intense screenplay like blow-by-blow of events in slow motion about the Deepwater Horizon go search elsewhere. Jacobsen provides a sequence of such events but, unlike several other slick tomes, this is not the foundation of this book. If you’re looking for where to lay blame for oily events in the Gulf look no further than your mirror. Yes, you read correctly–the nearest mirror. Jacobsen does not flinch at laying blame for the ongoing insanity of the oil industry smack dab on those who fuel the DEMAND for oil every single day. This is a basic principle of supply and demand economics–really. We create the demand for more oil by our lifestyles, especially in the United States, and the oil industry profits, literally, by providing the supply. Face it, in general we are a bunch of hardcore oil addicts with no 12 step program on the boards.
Now don’t get me wrong, Jacobsen raises this very important ethical issue but that’s not all he does as he provides some fundamental history about the Gulf area. We get a history of a prominent oyster supplier, the workings of the huge Mississippi River as the garbage dump of the midwest of America, the levees, the oil industry, the wetlands and the people. Now the element of ‘people’ is the real wild card in play here. Perhaps the major issue here, as in Fruitless Fall, is that people indoctrinated with western European (yes, that is the origin of our mode of thinking in the states) mentality just can’t leave well enough ALONE. People have this nutty idea that humans are capable of improving on the complex perfection of Nature. We do this with every dam we build, every river we divert, every wetland we destroy. Ah the poor Army Corps of Engineers–sorry folks, at least beavers know what the hell they’re really doing when they build dams–and more importantly ‘why’. Guess what we get in return? The destruction of the very system upon which we are dependent for survival of our species. If we just let Nature be itself and operate correctly and lived in accord with how the system works –well, we might not be facing the operating system crisis heading our way like a tsunami of incredible magnitude.
If you don’t have any idea about the BIG picture regarding the Gulf of Mexico–and how the rest of America ties in– then Jacobsen’s book provides a very decent foundation for getting an idea of the interconnectedness of many things–including all the crap chemicals used to scrub toilets every day. The destruction of your environment is not out of sight and out of your mind. It’s just out of mind because we don’t pay any attention to the things in plain sight–such as every petroleum product–and the products that ‘clean’ all that oily stuff down the drain.
The other thing in plain sight is “us” in all our incarnations. You’ll meet a few folks via Jacobsen’s explorations of the gulf area–locals, scientists, fisherman, etc. And it’s a very mixed big of individuals for sure. I don’t know how the likes of Virgil Dardar and Gene Cossey would mix on the same boat. But I do know what a vast swamp of thinking exists that allows for the existence of such men and women – and the mentality of oil executives and politicians all on the lookout for the almighty DOLLAR.
Near the end of the book, “The Most Important River You’ve Never Heard Of,” Jacobsen takes us to a wonderful still functioning wetland area-the Atchafalaya swamp-and leaves us with not the ”if” but the “when” it will be destroyed by us in our infinite ignorance, boundless greed and shortsighted view that humans dominate Nature. We will not have the last laugh in this global drama in which we deny our own role in the web of life on Earth. So read and think about what sort of lifestyle can you imagine that might benefit all living things. Come on, stretch your cranial membranes–if you dare. Imagine Life without Oil.
The first name I gave the land was DREAMLAND, I still get my phone-bills from the PhoneCo-op addressed to DREAMLAND.
It sure was and still is a dream to have this land and to make it into something very special. An example of how nature can go together with culture, no need to choose one or the other but have both.
These videos from Bruce Parry’s Arctic series on the Tar Sands offer a certain perspective on the Tar Sands oil issue for everyone. Some folks may not appreciate some of the content. But people do seem to speak for themselves–including the woman who “hasn’t read the script.” Questions are raised about ethics, responsibility and our relationships to the land and water and the lacks thereof. No solutions are presented. But it’s clear that every person who drives a vehicle plays a role in the oil industry’s continuing existence. We need to get our minds out of the boxes of conventional thinking if we’re really going to save Earth and create a sustainable future worth living on the only planet we have. We need to do more than just stop another Keystone Pipeline from being constructed across America. We need to shut down the Tar Sands completely. We need to implement alternative energy sources and create new means of transportation that are not dependent on oil. This needs to happen today–not 5, 25 or 50 years from now. We have the knowledge. Do we have the will?
Please meet some of the people who form the Black Mesa Water Coalition. Roberto Nutlouis and others attended the Indigenous Environmental Network Conference on the Rights of Mother Earth in April. They’re deep into water issues in Navajo and Hopi Country and creating Green businesses to support their traditional communities working to develop sustainable economies. Since they are a part of these communities they have a vested interest in their future. We are all a part of the community of Earth. So we are all connected. We are all related.
It’s been a strange morning here where spring has apparently sprung right into summer: herons nesting in residential area, magnolia blooms come and gone, rose bushes budding and balmy warm winds. It seems things are just a wee bit out of sync in the natural scheme of things. But one early morning email made it even stranger because of the news it carried regarding environmental activist Tim DeChristopher being placed in solitary confinement via the demand of an unidentifed US congressman. Apparently one of DeChristopher’s emails disturbed the mental health of some congressman because of content regarding some financial matters discussed regarding a contributor to his own legal fund. Now why does a US congressman get to request the solitary confinement of a political prisoner in a minimum security prison based on the content of their email concerning the business practices of a contributor to his defence fund? Why has this elected US congressman remained unidentified? Who is this person? What right do they have to dictate the practices of a prison in California regarding a low risk prisoner? Why does Tim DeChristopher’s concerns about who funds his legal defence concern any US congressman? Who gave any congressman the right to wield political influence in such a manner? Whose money is behind this harassment of DeChristopher? What is the incognito congressperson soo threatened by in Tim DeChristopher’s email? Personally I have no specific answers. But–as this seems to center on a discussion of business practices, values, a legal defence and the only thing respected in the USA aka MONEY– my imagination is having a free-for-all this morning with this news. Btw, this little chess move on the prison political game board was covered by Democracy Now! in headlines for March 28, 2012. I suspect the alternative press may begin racketballing the item as soon as they get their heads out of their symbolic hoodies over the senseless murder of young Trayvon Martin in Florida.
Now, since I’ve been following Tim DeChristopher’s journey ever since learning about his gig as Bidder 70 at an illegal land auction of oil and gas leases—wait–there’s that special special word ‘oil’–oops—yes, DeChristopher upset the oil carts of some oil people by throwing a monkey wrench in their plans to acquire public lands on the cheap during an illegal federal auction. Do I really need to write anything more? Hmm? Do I?
Yes I do. I need to share the request of Peaceful Uprising asking for support for Tim DeChristopher to be removed from solitary confinement. What is going on in America? For more information about Tim DeChrisptopher aka Bidder 70 http://www.peacefuluprising.org/tim-dechristopher
President Obama is earnestly ignoring number 9 on Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone list of “10 things to do for the environment”–”pardon Tim DeChristopher.”
Apparently putting Tim DeChrisptoher in prison for protecting America’s environment from illegal oil development leases is not enough for some people. They want in him in solitary confinement to further restrict his communication with the rest of the world beyond Herlong Prison. Why?
Oh the tea kettle is whistling–time for a chat with George Orwell.
The following is copied directly from Peaceful Uprising:
In response to Tim’s transfer into isolated confinement, we’re asking you to please take a few moments to call the following contacts (or whomever you have time to call from this list) and ask that:
“Tim DeChristopher inmate #16156-081 be immediately removed from the Special Housing Unit (SHU) and placed back in the Minimum Security Camp at FCI Herlong.”
If you’d like to say more, here are a few key talking points we suggest:
Moving Tim DeChristopher to SHU based on the complaint of an unidentified Congressman doesn’t make sense. Why is Congress intervening in one inmates detention status, anyway?
Keeping inmates in isolated confinement for an indefinite amount of time awaiting a hearing is not humane and is not acceptable.
*FOR CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS* If they are your congressperson, tell them about the situation, [read here] and ask them if they know who ordered the transfer, and that you’d like them to take a look into it and get back to you promptly. Ask them why Congress is taking such an interest in the emails of one inmate. Tell them that Tim is a nonviolent offender who was wrongly charged and convicted to begin with, and was placed in a minimum security camp because he posed no threat to anyone. If you have time, mention that an oil and gas company owned by William Koch was recently found to have conspired to defeat a BLM oil and gas lease auction, but was merely fined, while Tim sits in isolated confinement after being charged with two felonies. If you call Jason Chaffetz, ask him to launch an investigation in his oversight committee.
FCI Herlong
530-827-8000
Richard B. Ives, WARDEN
Eloisa DeBruler, Public Information Officer
BOP Central Office
202-307-3198 Director Charles E. Samuels, Jr.
United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and
For many the mention of Ireland conjures thoughts of W.B. Yeats, lush green grass and dark guiness beer freely flowing in crowded pubs. Who thinks of Ireland being the battleground for a war against the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell being waged by young people, fathers, mothers, grandparents. For over 11 years Irish people have taken action against the destruction of their land and communities by Shell. Yes there is much more in Ireland than pubs and poetry.
There are major health and safety issues with the high pressure raw gas pipeline planned so close to people’s homes – regarding an earlier pipeline route Shell admitted that homes would be put within a kill-zone from heat radiation in the event of a pipe failure. The refinery itself is in the catchment area of the local drinking water supply which would be forbidden in most other European countries.
Where there are profits to be made who gives a damn about tourism, fishing, swimming and the safety of the local residents? Clearly not Shell nor the corrupt politicians who made this deal which offers no benefits to the Irish people at large nor in the communities affected by the pipeline or refinery.
Resistance in Mayo 2008
2009
Solidarity from Australia to Ireland–yes, Australia.
Kansas Expo Center, I Expocenter Drive, Topeka, Kansas
Noon – 3:30, 4- 8 pm.
Written comments due by Midnight of October 9, 2011.
Email: keystonexl-nid @ cardno.com
FAX: 206-269-0098
Snail Mail:
Alex Yuan, Keystone XL EIS Project, P.O. Box 96503-98500, Washington, D.C. 20090-6503
This pipeline will destroy 740,000 acres of irreplaceable Boreal Forest.
This dirty oil is intended for Export not domestic use in America.
This dirty oil will not create long term job opportunities.
This dirty oil has damaged the health, water, soil and air of Indigenous communities downstream of the Tar Sands.
The Keystone 1 Pipeline has already leaked 12 times.
Imagine the BP Oil Disaster in the Middle of America.
WRITE NOW!
For more information visit online The Indigenous Environmental Network, Tar Sands Action, 350.org, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Peaceful Uprising
This is a global educational informative effort. It’s not perfect, but it is another step in the right direction. Catch any hour for the general information section. The discussion panels that follow offer more views while introducing scientists, activists and teachers.
Oh those tobacco commercials are great examples of how companies manipulate people while knowingly harming them with their products. Which is precisely what those who have funded the denial agenda have done.
The Indigenous Environmental Network has posted the dates and locations of public hearings regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline. They have a great deal of information regarding the Tar Sands Keystone XL Pipeline on their site. If you don’t know what the fuss is about then learn what the Indigenous communities have been fighting. Their fight to protect the Earth is ours too.
U.S executive approval is needed before the pipeline can be laid in place. The State Department has announced the schedule for a series of public input meetings in States along the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Written comments will be accepted by the State Department until October 9th, 2011.
Public Hearings on Keystone XL Pipeline
Monday, September 26, 2011
Texas: Bob Bowers Civic Center
3401 Cultural Center Dr., Port Arthur, 4:30 – 10 p.m. Kansas: Kansas Expo Center
1 Expocenter Dr., Topeka, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4– 8 p.m.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Montana: Dawson Community College
Toepke Center Auditorium, 300 Community Dr., Glendive, 4:30 – 10 p.m. Nebraska: Pershing Center
226 Centennial Mall, South Lincoln, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4. – 8:00 p.m .
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Texas: University of Texas Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium,
2313 Red River St., Austin, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4 – 8 p.m.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
South Dakota: Best Western Ramkota,
920 West Sioux Ave., Pierre, noon – 3:30 p.m., 4 – 8 p.m. Nebraska: West Holt High School, 100 N. Main St. Atkinson, 4:30 – 10 p.m.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Oklahoma: Reed Center Exhibition Hall,
5800 Will Rogers Rd., Midwest City., noon – 3:30 p.m., 4 – 8 p.m.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Washington, D.C.: To be announced via website and public notice.
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“Today, we tell Congress that we ‘sacrificed’ ourselves for the national good,” Oliver Houck wrote in the Tulane Environmental Law Journal. “Never has there been such a willing, complicit sacrifice. We made a bundle of money, wasted most of it, and blackballed anyone who questioned what it was doing to the Louisiana coast. About 70 years ago, Louisiana made a deal with the oil and gas industry. The industry would get what it wanted; the state would get a piece of the take.”
om mani padme hum jewel in the lotus wahupa qi prana universal life energy
Can’t get to Toto-Land? Exercise your right to write! Take a stand against Dirty Oil from the Tar Sands. Write Now.
September 19, 2011 at 9:18 pm (art, culture, education, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, humor, journalism, life, nature, photography, politics, random, Writing)
Tags: art, black and white photography, business, Economy, email, events, evirnonment, Expo Center, fax, forest, Green, hearing, Indigenous, Kansas, Keystone, mail, nature, network, news, Oil, opinion, people, photography, Pipeline, politics, public, random, rant, snail mail, Tar Sands, Topeka, trees, write, Writing, written comments
"we see you" @ eva
Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!
Save 740,000 Acres of Boreal Forest!
Say NO! to Dirty Oil from the Canadian TAR SANDS!
Public Hearing Sept. 26, 2011:
Kansas Expo Center, I Expocenter Drive, Topeka, Kansas
Noon – 3:30, 4- 8 pm.
Written comments due by Midnight of October 9, 2011.
Email: keystonexl-nid @ cardno.com
FAX: 206-269-0098
Snail Mail:
Alex Yuan, Keystone XL EIS Project, P.O. Box 96503-98500, Washington, D.C. 20090-6503
This pipeline will destroy 740,000 acres of irreplaceable Boreal Forest.
This dirty oil is intended for Export not domestic use in America.
This dirty oil will not create long term job opportunities.
This dirty oil has damaged the health, water, soil and air of Indigenous communities downstream of the Tar Sands.
The Keystone 1 Pipeline has already leaked 12 times.
Imagine the BP Oil Disaster in the Middle of America.
WRITE NOW!
For more information visit online The Indigenous Environmental Network, Tar Sands Action, 350.org, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Peaceful Uprising
Kick our oil addiction!
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