Information has been dispersed, forces are in play; decisions are being made by whomever makes a particular decision; and you wait and keep the faith. You wonder:
Who will be elected governor of Texas? What will Congress conclude in its investigation of gas drilling? (Thank God they're investigating.) Will EPA step to the forefront in Texas and overrule TCEQ for failing to protect our environment and people? Will Halliburton totally come clean about fracking with diesel and bribing Nigerians?
And let's not forget: Will Dallas and TCEQ allow the Navy to walk away from Dallas NWIRP without promised groundwater clean up? Appalling but likely.
These are simmering questions I'm pondering this week.
And, on a positive note, I'm elated about EPA's promise to oversee drilling in Texas with citizens and the environment in mind. Hopefully, what's in the mind will translate over to ACTION.
I also note SO MANY of our states (NY,OK, NM, Penn, CO, LA) having the same problems with drilling and water contamination. What does this mean to the energy future of the US as we all agree we must free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil? When Congress investigates, they will have plenty of sad, slimy, scenarios across the republic to evaluate.
Lastly, I'm attempting to put our environmental problems in some kind of historical and political-even global-perspective (in my own admittedly simple way).
Today, driving home from work, I passed the familiar rock/cement business along the Trinity River in Coppell with its tall smokestack/burner projection onto which someone had affixed an American flag.
The flag looked quite bright and beautiful waving in the breeze...BUT!
Do these people know flag etiquette? I wondered. The flag will be BLACKENED by smoke - and I'll be watching to see if it's illumined at night on it high-rise pedestal. Highly unlikely.
When one ties a flag onto a tower of industrial equipment, WHAT IS ONE TRYING TO SAY?
I'll do whatever I please with my emissions? America shall be forever made out of cement? God bless the USA?
This country was built with raw materials and man made materials undergoing chemical changes that bled out into the air. Our ancestors probably had a reduced lifespan because of it. Our water and aquifers hold traumatic memories, too-of construction, cleaning, drilling, fueling, bombing...Is that something to be proud of?
I am proud of my country-very proud. But as I've gotten older, I've realized that the bright, shiny-clean side of our national goodness, has a dark, smokey side, too. Everything comes with a cost. Few things are purely righteous. Yes, we have made mistakes with dire consequences, but we have learned lessons, and have opportunity to change our ways and repair some damage to the earth.
We are making progress in solving our energy needs in safer, healthier way.
But, we must not turn to other poorer lands and ruin their water, soil, and air for our own needs.
A few articles on the Internet indicate this "exploration" and leasing has already happened-but that is another Congressional investigation. May corporations resist the temptation to plant their logo-flag all over Africa or Russia to ravage resources (then having their hands slapped in US courts, begging to be bailed out by the government when they crash and burn). Oh, that could never happen, could it?
Long may Old Glory wave over a land free of poison and the poison of greed...
Some say the glory of our land is freedom, and that's true. But never forget, free people, that we
need a sustaining land to call home.
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