Water or Wind?
As we watch from the comfort of our homes the death and devastation in Japan, our thoughts are quickly reminded of the same devastation here. Tornadoes continue to clear acres of the Midwest, debris scattered and piled, like pictures of the tsunami or much of New Orleans, still. The Gulf Coast oil spill continues to sicken and pollute, but it seems all but forgotten to many Americans. We simply have moved on. How much did BP pay their executives recently for a job well done? Look it up. I don’t want to waste the type on that many zeros. The money, not the men.
Not unlike our thoughts on the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and now Libya. We have forgotten when they started, or who was President at the time, or who is the enemy or who is actually making money on the whole operation. Those tax dollars are going into corporate coffers and quarterly earnings. You can’t build the largest embassy complex on the planet without hiring it out. Build it in the desert. There is oil there. That was the plan and it worked. We ain’t leaving. Period.
Some fight for oil while some fight for water. We must choose our battles, after all. Global water shortages are not our problem. Just ask the folks in Phoenix and Las Vegas, or the victims of fracting. These folks that used to have water coming out of their taps. They currently have noxious flammable gas, not fit to drink, but the the gas companies haven’t managed to sue for lost revenue yet so they are safe for now. Home sweet home. Waiting for more activist judge appointments.
Our dams and bridges are old and tired. The infrastructure is in a state of disrepair and paint over rust is not a long term fix. In every state, disrepair. The recent huge earthquake in Japan that caused the tsunami also caused a dam failure, but so much else was happening at the time it got little mention on the news, with the wave and radiation and all. Minnesota experienced bridge failure not long ago. That earthquake was nothing more than as jack hammer, and look what happened. That wave was cars falling into the river. What would a 9.0 earthquake look like here?
The bee die-off had me worried already, but add to that the birds falling out of the sky and the fish dying in mass and I am simply at a loss. Red tide? Toxic algae blooms? And how does this have anything to do with the rising sea levels, or global climate changes and the disease bringing vector insects that come with it. Did I mention the floods that come with it. Minnesota knows. I hope those Vikings still have their ships.
I fear it will continue to get worse, and we will continue to be numbed to the facts. Until we are numbed by the reality of surviving through what we can’t imagine yet and have no way to prepare for. Until then, we stay tuned from the comfort of our homes.