This letter is in response to “Oil spills and the big picture,” by William Murchison in last Saturday’s The Citizen.
Mr. Murchison assumes that the news of the oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico is the “small picture,” as related to this country’s “need” for the “black, yucky stuff from way below the seabed,” which he describes as the “big picture,” and that our “need” for this black, yucky stuff, is “nonnegotiable.”
Last night on Fox News’ Geraldo Show, Michael Brown, former FEMA director, via telephone call to Geraldo, stated that “there are 4,000 oil wells in the Gulf.”
I can visualize that greedy, big oil supporters reading the previous statement might be thinking: “That’s 4,000 wells, with one failure out of 4,000, which is not bad at all.” I would then suggest that even one spill is too many, especially in the Gulf.
It is hard for me to understand how ANYONE, after this oil spill in the Gulf, could still be in favor of “Drill, Baby, drill,”, which has resulted in “kill, baby, kill” — Fish, wildlife, environment, economy, and jobs. I understand that 11 oil rig workers lost their lives in this accident.
I presently own a low speed motor vehicle, which is a battery-powered vehicle that can be driven on streets where the speed limit does not exceed 35 mph. It is the same width as a regular golf cart, and can also be driven on the Peachtree City golf cart paths, with the speed control switch in the low speed position. The maximum speed of this vehicle is 25 mph. For any driving I do on a daily basis, that is related only to Peachtree City, I always use my LSMV.
If you have ever driven past McIntosh High School on a school day, you have seen the row upon row of battery-powered golf carts that the students are using to go to and from school.
If other cities would follow the directions taken during the many years of Peachtree City’s growth, they, too, could contribute to ways of needing less and less of that “black yucky stuff”.
This is the biggest “picture” of all; To decrease our “need” for oil, by thinking “green”; (solar, wind, etc). But Mr Murchison states that going “green” would be too expensive.
No one knows the expense that will be tied to this oil spill in the Gulf. And for damages that cannot be undone, there can be no known price. Get the picture, Mr. Murchison?
Hugh Buchanan
Peachtree City, Ga.
