Gentilly Girl- a part of the 99%

Your decision to block the Department of the Interiors’s moratorium on deep sea drilling is based in fallacy. An accident has occurred on a relatively new technology that has no answers for errors when it comes to their mistakes. There are no real back-up plans. Where are the Real Life solutions to disasters such as the Macondo disaster?They didn’t plan, or maybe they just didn’t care, yet our World, our lives and dreams are in danger.

There aren’t any solutions at this point in time. There are no solutions forthcoming from the industry that has caused this calamity. I find this deeply troubling. It smells  of “Who cares about those people”.

It stinks to the Heavens.

There are no plans for something like this, but your lifting of the deep drilling moratorium opens us to more of what Macondo has gifted us: children cannot wade in the Gulf waters, people cannot fish, many animals will die from either the oil or the chemicals that are supposed to quell the problem. The air stinks of petro chemicals even 100 miles away.

And as far as those who claim that the moratorium will, “put thousands out of work”, and “There are millions of dollars that will not be coming in” are somewhat false.

There are over 3,300+ rigs running in the Gulf near Louisiana. They need to be served, personnel transferred and materials be delivered. This moratorium will not kill the drilling industry, only put on hold on one aspect of it that is proving itself not safe at this point in time.

Don’t let these companies and the chimps they fund as elected officials lead you down the wrong path. These corporations that will attempt to go into risky ventures in order to make more money will do anything, anything, for the dollar, even if it means wiping out the livelihoods and meaning of cultures for their own gain.

What the Hell, they aren’t part of that which is being destroyed.

So I’m going to speak plainly to you Sir:

Your Honor, please don’t believe their lies when it comes to the economic impact of the moratorium on the Gulf states. It will be minimal. They don’t care what happens to us. Look at what they have done to the wetlands of Louisiana over many decades in their unbridled search for money disguised as oil/gas exploration: destruction of wetlands that protected major population centers and the poisoning of our environment. They are “helping” America at the expennse of the Americans who live in the effected areas.

Now they seek to “own ” the Gulf as their private money pit and the people of this region, well… who cares about them? It’s about energy self-reliance (B/S), or it’s about Progress,  it’s all about profit and control. They destroy the Gulf for those who live here and then there is only one option left: turn it into a petrochemical mine.

This is not the notion of a Nation I fought to protect. This not the America I believe in.

Sorry Your Honor, I can’t abide by that decision. This is OUR Coast. These are OUR waters. This region is a treasure for the Nation, and I’m not talking Black Gold or Gas. This is OUR home.

The real treasure for the Nation is our cultures, the natural world, beauty and a sense of harmony with Nature.

We live with the cycles of Nature: spawning seasons, tides. The stock market means little to us as we bait our crab nets, tong the silt for oysters or chase the shrimp runs. When we sit down to eat we are ready for the bounty that Nature, in Her bounty, delivers to us, and we are grateful. We live the old way. There is no other way for us to live and be real.

Our lives, no matter what we are doing in the present are based on the patterns our ancestors followed, and in a major way we must follow them. It is intrinsic to our beings. It is what we on the Coast are… creatures who in many ways must live within our sphere, our nature. It’s Nature’s way. To go elsewhere is a violation of our being.

This is our our World, and the current BP oil spill, no matter the reasons or the blame, are putting us and our World in danger.

Right now under the current situation, we have become an endangered species. My extended family’s boats are idle, as are my friend’s jobs in the restaurants of New Orleans. People are canceling their trips to the Coast… a place we love to show off as a wonderful place to be. Our economy is threatened by this unbridled wildcat drilling with no protections for mistakes. This is wrong.

What if the spill happened off the coast of the Everglades? How would you explain to the people and the creatures that it was okay? What would you say if another wetland area was sentenced to die all for the oil/gas industry and it’s earnings for shareholders that didn’t work for the money?

We are talking about people who just live their lives.

So Your Honor, I ask that you reconsider allowing the deep drilling moratorium to stand so that we, as a country, our engineers and planners, can get a handle on what is needed just in case another Deepwater Horizion event does occur.

It is only fair for those who have no part in these “explorations/exploitations” of our lands and seas by corporations that are only looking for treasure. We LIVE in these places, and our lives have meaning. Our lives, connections, history… the feeling of belonging to a place. These things must matter. Otherwise, the United States is a sham. It will be seen as a shell for money to do what it will and American citizens will have to grin and bear what comes their way. And just maybe will be seen as, “Since you bought us in 1804, we are your chattel”. Ever think about that one?

This is not the Country that I gave many years of my life to defend. Not the Nation that I swore to protect. It is definitely NOT what I was taught, and steeped in, to protect.

The true treasure to be found here is in living in the cycle of Life here and the coming of the tides.

And I will stand for the Gulf Coast and you have much to answer for concerning your decision about the drilling moratorium. Who is the real American Sir? That which places themselves amongst the people, or that which is tangled up with business?

It is your turn to answer.