Save Our Shores
Since the catastrophic BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, millions of gallons of toxic poison have spewed into our precious internationally shared waterway. Controversy seems never-ending between fishermen, locals, BP, and government officials, and justifiably so. Not to mention the rest of us are pretty raging pissed about it, too. You can view its seeping path of destruction on CNN's website, here.
Debating control and blame on the spill has been both exhausting and unavailing. I have done my best at avoiding much of the news coverage on the progression of the "spill". Blame the sprawling catastrophe on inaccurate leakage statistics from BP or their failure to implement appropriate safety precautions in the first place; blame the government for "not doing enough", or whatever righteous argument you feel the first amendment has appointed to you. There is truth in saying that talking gets you somewhere, but sometimes talk alone may be cheap and unmotivational when there is not action to back up our opinions.
After too many moving episodes of oil saturated sea creatures, or lifeless sea turtles unrighteously laid to rest in household black garbage bags, I decided there were things I could be doing besides crying in front of the mute television screen at the gym. I am not helpless. And as I was making slow headway on my move to Miami, FL in a few weeks for Marine Biology, I began to feel almost insincere for not doing something good. So I had a yard sale, and all of you came. And guess what? Together we donated $400 to this absolutely terrible, heart-wrenching story that is being lived daily by the people whose livelihoods rely on a semi-clean ocean, and a healthy crop of marine life; the story of choked out sea grass, oil slicked pelicans, and innocently poisoned marine spirits. But it's not enough. It's really not. And who really knows where all of that money will go beyond the blue postal box where it was dropped. There is always more to be done. And there are times that our actions haven't been enough. But instead of becoming defeated by these political arguments, I encourage you to do something. I challenge you to become one of these people that doesn't just care through words, but personal undertaking.
Debating control and blame on the spill has been both exhausting and unavailing. I have done my best at avoiding much of the news coverage on the progression of the "spill". Blame the sprawling catastrophe on inaccurate leakage statistics from BP or their failure to implement appropriate safety precautions in the first place; blame the government for "not doing enough", or whatever righteous argument you feel the first amendment has appointed to you. There is truth in saying that talking gets you somewhere, but sometimes talk alone may be cheap and unmotivational when there is not action to back up our opinions.
After too many moving episodes of oil saturated sea creatures, or lifeless sea turtles unrighteously laid to rest in household black garbage bags, I decided there were things I could be doing besides crying in front of the mute television screen at the gym. I am not helpless. And as I was making slow headway on my move to Miami, FL in a few weeks for Marine Biology, I began to feel almost insincere for not doing something good. So I had a yard sale, and all of you came. And guess what? Together we donated $400 to this absolutely terrible, heart-wrenching story that is being lived daily by the people whose livelihoods rely on a semi-clean ocean, and a healthy crop of marine life; the story of choked out sea grass, oil slicked pelicans, and innocently poisoned marine spirits. But it's not enough. It's really not. And who really knows where all of that money will go beyond the blue postal box where it was dropped. There is always more to be done. And there are times that our actions haven't been enough. But instead of becoming defeated by these political arguments, I encourage you to do something. I challenge you to become one of these people that doesn't just care through words, but personal undertaking.
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