It's not a spill; it's a volcano. And as each day passes, our hearts break a bit more. It is not only the ongoing horror of millions of gallons of crude poisoning the waters and killing every living thing in their vicinity; it is the knowledge that this is just another accident based on greed and shortsightedness and that those in power do not seem to learn the necessary lessons, no matter how great the tragedy, so we can expect many more "accidents" to come and many more deadly responses, such as pouring poisonous chemicals into the already toxic brew. We are in a race between ignorance and survival. The Horizon Deepwater event and the simpering response to it by the oil industry and the government put ignorance in the lead.
I propose that we create a worldwide network called Boycott Power (a double entendre) that would implement immediate boycotts of companies that put life at risk, and that includes wildlife. Of course, we would have to use this system for special cases; otherwise we would be boycotting most corporations all the time, which would not sustain. It would be fairly easy to organize as a community committed to viral communication. We could start with BP and also include a couple of the top advertising companies on Fox News for good measure. It takes very little to scare corporations when profit is at stake. And a boycott that represents even 7% of a population is a large leverage tool. As a longtime student of Gandhian strategy, I can imagine it is what Gandhi might have done.
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A Gandian boycott is a splendid idea.
Thank you,
Burnie
See What to Do at http://www.aesopinstitute.org The subtitle is now: The Gulf Geyser and Human Survival - 350 or Else!
400 parts per million of carbon has recently been found to be the Arctic Tipping Point, which could conceivably endanger all of humanity. We are presently approaching 390 ppm. The safe limit is 350 ppm. See www.350.org
Ironically, confronting the surprising dimensions of the problem might generate a huge number of jobs.
A very thin film on the surface of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans threatens to raise temperatures toward the catastrophic Tipping Point.
Consider the possibility that a massive mobilization is needed to combat what might be looming - if substantial oil is coming from fissures in the sea floor and the leak cannot be capped.
Little known and hard to believe breakthroughs involving radically new energy technologies appear capable of helping to supersede oil much more rapidly than might be easily understood.
See Moving Beyond Oil on the same Aesop Institute website.
Cars and trucks could begin to cost-competitively leave behind gasoline and oil.
We need far more robust and sensible steps to massively attack the problems in the Gulf and prevent as much oil as possible from reaching the Atlantic ocean.
Sustainability and independence from oil is possible. Making it happen rapidly may require a greater effort that was required to respond to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gZmDBhw7R0