why all of this wringing of hands? part of your frustration is this desire to freeze-frame the composition of ecosystems and biological assemblages as if these can be rendered unaffected by the inexorable forces of adaptive pressures. as unpalatable as the adaptive pressures resulting from human activity may be they are nonetheless adaptive pressures in response to which some species will be made stronger and others weaker if not (locally) extinct. even in tidal pools with subsurface substances that are toxic to some life forms including cuddly vertebrates, it is certain that whole new biological communities (most likely microbial) will colonize, fully exploit what to them is a rich abundance of a novel resource and thrive! among other human activities, oil consumption is a behavioral phenotype of some human races that we understand creates dire consequences for the environment as we know it. but you can’t have your crumpets and eat them too. if you must bring to the surface gluttonous quantities of fossil fuel from their rightful places deep in the sediment then you must accept the resultant changes in biodiversity without angst or quibbling. in fact, every time you start the engine of your SUV, you have implicitly agreed to this ecological cost. but, you may find peace in knowing that destroying the extant earth environment only creates a different canvas onto which nature is sure to paint an equally appealing biological masterpiece!

evolutionarily yours,

charles

Are these the Actions of Our US Lady Justice?
Tipping Scales?
Peeking for Corporate Interest?
Accepting Bribes?
Knee Deep in Exxon Oil?
Allowing Human Life as Exxon’s Collateral Damage?

To view Lady Justice click on the site below.
http://www.silenceinthesound.com/ valdez-oil-spill-workers-vs-exxon.shtml

An investigative study is being conducted into the thousands of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) workers’ health issues, and acknowledged as Exxon’s Criminal actions; not just as Exxon’s Collateral Damage.

Here is the rest of the story: In 1989, while media and public attention focused on the thousands of oil-coated dead seabirds, otters, and other wildlife, little attention was given to the harm done to the EVOS cleanup workers. As workers blasted oiled beaches, with hot seawater from high pressure hoses, they were engulfed in toxic fumes containing aerosolized crude oil—benzene and other volatile compounds, oil mist, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. View photos at: http://www.silenceinthesound.com/gallery.shtml

It is a major concern that the cleanup workers from the 1989 EVOS are suffering from long-term health problems resulting from toxic chemical exposures. A significant number of the workers have died. Some of the illnesses include neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood diseases. View stories at: http://www.silenceinthesound.com/stories.shtml

Dr. Riki Ott has written two books; Sound Truth & Corporate Myth$ and Not One Drop. Dr. Ott has investigated, and studied the oil spill spraying, and quotes numerous reports in her books, on the toxic chemicals that were used during the 1989 Prince William Sound oily beach cleanup.

The Black Wave, http://www.blackwavethefilm.com (filmed by a Canadian company) is the name of the film that tells the story about Dr. Ott’s investigations and the interviews of sick workers suffering from the toxic chemicals used during the cleanup. The BBC was in Alaska in December 2008 filming for the 20th Anniversary of the oil spill, and interviewed many people.

Submitted by: Merle Savage, General Foreman during the (EVOS) cleanup attempt of 1989; http://www.silenceinthesound.com email: msavage12@yahoo.com

As long as we let society pay the cost of many of these problems, and only (if ever) impose a cost on the companies involved in the form of a law suit after the fact, fossil fuels will continue to have a ridiculous cost advantage over wind, solar, wave, tidal, hydro, and geothermal.

coming hot on the heels of the global warming announcements i remember thinking the reckless days were ending. the expansion of fossil fuel use that followed was a heavyweight gut punch: we’re hype, and our top people are just stupid with self-love.

nothing since has offered different evidence. they’re just not worth the power we give them.

Nonetheless, my thoughts are nothing has changed much at all since. Except maybe we are fatter and dumber overall. No, we are certainly dumber since we broke our treasure and army to go to war over oil.

Best,

D

Unfortunately, I have a hard time disagreeing…