We are standing at the precipitous edge of an abyss. Wealthy and powerful forces have pushed and shoved us dangerously close to the tipping point beyond which there is no recovery. When we were young, it seemed that there would be no way on Earth to burn through all the fossil fuel, many oil wells at first were gushers, their underground pressure was enough to help it squirt to the surface while the only thing we humans had to do was to drill a hole down into the pocket of oil. When that boom was over, we developed technologies to pump the oil out, using more energy of course, but still spending more energy to keep the flow going. At this juncture, we are spending more and more energy for every BTU that we collect. Drilling deeper, further into ever more dangerous areas. Often with unproven technologies.
As we try to keep up with demand, we are running out of refinery capacity and we are reliant on aging infrastructure that breaks down more and more often. The U.S. has become a net exporter of fossil fuel, shipping off energy that was supposedly patriotic to dig up in the first place. Jobs, jobs, jobs our oligarchs chanted, hoping that we would look the other way when impoundments and holding tanks failed, pipelines leaked and rail disasters took out whole towns. The continuing protests that are taking place in an attempt to stop new pipelines from being placed across our nation are a clarion call for more involvement from others. True patriots do not seek to despoil the land on which they owe their allegiance. The corporate outlaws that continue to poison the planet, injecting steam and toxic chemicals into the crust of our planet to wrest fewer and fewer resources from marginal deposits of oil and natural gas are doing so at great risk to our future and they know it.
Today, tomorrow and every day after...
When I was a child, I envisioned a time that the general population would rise up in protest to the inhumane way we have treated our planet. The public is becoming more and more aware of the fact that corporate welfare whores have stolen our birthright of clean air, clean water and uncontaminated soil.
Business as usual is impossible in this day and age. The techniques and technologies that continue to sprout up are not proven by any stretch of the imagination. The people who now have natural gas issuing from their faucets instead of water, or the billions of gallons of contaminated groundwater that we are expected to deal with because of the latest round of fossil fuel exploitation are very real costs that we can't possibly estimate. Especially in areas that have limited water resources, like the high plains or anywhere atop the Great Ogallala Aquifer.
The time has come for us to all stand together or all hang separately.
As we try to keep up with demand, we are running out of refinery capacity and we are reliant on aging infrastructure that breaks down more and more often. The U.S. has become a net exporter of fossil fuel, shipping off energy that was supposedly patriotic to dig up in the first place. Jobs, jobs, jobs our oligarchs chanted, hoping that we would look the other way when impoundments and holding tanks failed, pipelines leaked and rail disasters took out whole towns. The continuing protests that are taking place in an attempt to stop new pipelines from being placed across our nation are a clarion call for more involvement from others. True patriots do not seek to despoil the land on which they owe their allegiance. The corporate outlaws that continue to poison the planet, injecting steam and toxic chemicals into the crust of our planet to wrest fewer and fewer resources from marginal deposits of oil and natural gas are doing so at great risk to our future and they know it.
Today, tomorrow and every day after...
When I was a child, I envisioned a time that the general population would rise up in protest to the inhumane way we have treated our planet. The public is becoming more and more aware of the fact that corporate welfare whores have stolen our birthright of clean air, clean water and uncontaminated soil.
Business as usual is impossible in this day and age. The techniques and technologies that continue to sprout up are not proven by any stretch of the imagination. The people who now have natural gas issuing from their faucets instead of water, or the billions of gallons of contaminated groundwater that we are expected to deal with because of the latest round of fossil fuel exploitation are very real costs that we can't possibly estimate. Especially in areas that have limited water resources, like the high plains or anywhere atop the Great Ogallala Aquifer.
The time has come for us to all stand together or all hang separately.
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