Crude awaking? A call for real change.

A gas pipeline in rural TX exploded in spectacular fashion today, killing at least 3 and severely burning and injuring numerous others.  Click HERE for story.  So why am I posting a Texas explosion on a blog devoted to natural gas drilling in PA?  Because PA has had their share of explosions already --see the post from this past weekend and previous posts on Dimock.

And yes, this is a blog on natural gas but the fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico has huge repercussions for the gas industry.  Now that there is at least a temporary moratorium on new offshore drilling permits, guess where the oil companies have set their sights?  On natural gas.  In all honesty, I wasn't sure how the Gulf oil spill would effect what's going on in our backyards. Would the "D" word become anathema and things slow down until the newscasts were no longer dominated by the Gulf story?  Or would people finally get the message, realize the full breadth of what ONE accident could do to our world and decide to transition over to renewable energy sources? Granted, Exxon had already purchased XTO last year.  But last week Shell Oil announced it was buying East Resources.  I've heard financial wizards placing their bets on natural gas as the next big ticket for investors.  And today I read how oil companies and their subsidiaries are making campaign donations in record numbers.  Was I idealistic?  I guess I was.  No one could have foreseen the nightmare now playing out before our eyes on the evening news.  But now that it has, the Powers-That-Be still don't get it.

Admittedly and thankfully, spills and explosions aren't the norm but guess what?

It only takes ONE.

The Gulf oil spill is going to get a lot worse before it ever gets any better. All it takes is ONE accident and in this case, the ocean, marshes, beaches, wildlife, entire ecosystems and foodchains, and the livelihoods of a large portion of Louisiana's residents are irreparably damaged or changed.  But wait, it gets better.  Just this ONE accident and this catastrophe has already started to play itself out in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and who knows how far up the east coast.

So am I missing something?  If the pictures of birds choking in oily goop; the images of dead dolphins washed up on shores; the hundreds of thousands of people who will no longer enjoy their livelihoods or life as they knew it--if all of this is not enough to cause a change--then what is?

We have the brightest minds in the world. We can put a man on the moon, but we can't figure out how to transition to renewable energy?  I'm sorry but I refuse to believe that.  Renewable sources like wind and solar power don't pollute wells; they don't explode; they don't kill people; they don't pollute entire oceans.  In fact, they don't pollute at all.  You want REAL clean energy?  We have endless supplies of it and it's just waiting to be harnessed.

We once led the entire world with an Industrial Revolution; why can't we do the same with a Green Revolution?  The Industrial Revolution helped make this country the superpower it once was, but I fear no longer is.  We have the opportunity to effect real, meaningful change here.  It would take an enormous amount of effort, ingenuity, and inspiration. It would not come without great difficulties as not only energy sources but entire workforces are transitioned.  We can do this.  Didn't someone once say, "Yes We Can?"