"The chant is Drill, Baby, Drill ..." vs "The answer is blowing in the wind ..."
The contrasts are stark.
The week when Deepwater Horizon blew was also the week in which Interior Secretary released the (hopefully) decisive decision to give the go-ahead to Cape Wind. Stark choice: do we want to drill aggressively, increasing the risks of massive oil damages to our oceans and costs or do we want to seed the oceans with the reality of a clean energy future?
The 2008 election (and beyond) occurred amid a chorus of calls to "Drill, Baby, Drill". Well, the Gulf Coast is seeing today, tomorrow, and for decades to come the quite serious implications of these calls.
We recognize the contrast ... can we help others see it?
Will the stink from oil across the Gulf Coast turn citizens toward even stronger support for a clean energy future?
Will America's political leaders turn aside in their decision-making from the massive contributions that they've received from fossil foolish interests to represent faithfully their constituents' desires for emphasizing clean energy and energy efficiency over the maximization of oil, natural gas, and coal industry profits?
The gap between what the American people want and what Congress enacts when it comes to clean energy and environmental protection is striking.
The contrasts are stark.
And, these contrasts require laying out strongly and forcefully to the American public.
A choice existed in 2008 ... it was taken. A choice exists in 2010 and the stark contrasts in those choices need to be made apparent to all.
Thank you to Young Turks for reminding U.S. how Sarah Palin asserted that offshore drilling is entirely safe.
From The Conservatives Lie is this montage contrasting the 2008 Republican National Convention with oil "spill" impacts.
"Safe to drill and we need to do more of that" ... vs "the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history" ...
...
The contrast is stark ... if we make lay it out clearly.
The choices are clear ... if we speak with clarity.
We have a choice between continually increasing risks of massive environmental, economic, and social havoc from unconstrained efforts to feed our oil addiction or to set ourselves on a path toward ever lower risks of such damage and a path of reduced health impacts from fossil fuel pollution and a path of improved economic performance and a path of improved natural security and a path of reducing the risks of catastrophic climate chaos and ...
We have a choice ... between insanity and sanity, between destruction and creation, between destroying our future and creating a better one.
The contrasts are stark ... and if we make them clear, the choice becomes clear.
We must turn toward a Five Percent Solution.
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NOTE / UPDATE: Too many in the comments are playing off the wind turbine / oil slick to state 'wonder how a wind turbine will look on my car' and the like as if I do not recognize the bifurcation between the electrical and transportation system. We have many paths to be cutting our oil addiction and cutting our coal addiction, while still moving ourselves around the nation and around the globe and feeding ourselves. For some thoughts, see:
NOTE / UPDATE: Thank you Ed in Montana ... from comments:
Number of offshore windfarms that have blown up and sank in the ocean this year: ZERO
Number of solar energy workers trapped and killed underground by mine gas explosions this year; ZERO
Number of Americans killed in foreign wars fought over access to the Sun: ZERO
NOTE / UPDATE: Thank you Britehorn (new diary) for this: