Drilling for Oil in Georgia vs. Maine
So have you caught wind of Congress rolling back the ban on off-shore drilling? Probably not with the current state of the Economy. Well on Tuesday the House passed legislation, 236-189, to ease the ban on off-shore drilling. I would like to point out that the legislative branch of government in the US is dominated by the Democratic Party. To find out more about the legislative action read the NY Times Article. Write your Congressman and your Senators tell them what you think.
The main point of this is to talk about the atrocity in progress.
I happen to live in Alabama one of those Gulf States that already has off-shore drilling wells. In fact as a kid, growing up in Central, Alabama, I remember playing baseball next to natural gas pumps. So drilling and natural resource exploitation is nothing new to me. In fact the oil and gas industry indirectly put the roof over my head and food in my belly. Many of my friends, family, and neighbors do not agree with me and think I should be burned at the stake. They don’t agree with me for the same reason why America’s wealthiest still think the economy isn’t in a state of turmoil. It isn’t in their best interest!
Tonight on ABC News Nightline. The headline story was talking about Drilling for oil in the Gulf of Maine. In short, and what I got out of the story, drilling shouldn’t apply to Maine and the cost of heating oil is going through the roof.
Look I get it, people are hurting for money, me too. I worked on Wall Street and not many days past the mortgage fall out. But, is drilling really the answer? I can tell you, NO it isn’t. It’s only temporarily fixes the problem for somebody else to fix. Exactly what the people before US said. As a youngster that will be paying for the mistakes of the Ronald Reagan and Cold War Era… Lets Fix the problem! Don’t put a Band-Aid on it.
But again this isn’t my purpose of this post.
My purpose is to address the drilling location issue. Why should we drill in the Southern Coast? Because people in Maine Fish? Lobster? Why should we drill of the coast of Georgia? (I really dont have anything).
I try to be objective about the issue. But, it is hard to be when someone is trying to put an oil rig in your back yard. When I see pictures of Maine I “aww” at the beauty. When I hear the name Georgia I think sweet tea, hospitality, and golf. My images of the south are just as beautiful as anything Maine has to offer! Have you ever seen the fall leaves in the Southern Appalachians? The sunset from Key West, FL? Have you ever had Shrimp?
When the logging industry finally gets to clear cut the last few acres of natural forest to build the houses to pay for the people moving from Maine to the South for work… “There goes the fall leaves”. What will thousands of tourist come to enjoy a romantic sunset on their honeymoon on the piers of Key West think when they find out that the green poof is from the Oil Refinery in Louisiana. Or, how about finishing off the demise of the shrimping industry with toxic waste from oil rigs raising our dependency on Vietnamese seafood?
My interpretation may be a bit extreme… My point isn’t. In fact it is simple. Who wants an oil rig in their back yard?
The people of the south don’t really want the rigs any more than anyone else. The fact is we need them because you tell us we do and American Survival rest upon our shoulders. People from the fishing grounds of Maine to California beaches people are counting on our sacrafice.