Panel Blasts Government On Gulf Oil Spill Response
October 7, 2010
A preliminary report released Wednesday by the federal commission investigating the BP oil spill blames the Obama administration for misrepresenting “the amount and fate of the oil” in the Gulf of Mexico.
Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery
October 6, 2010
Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered “colony collapse.” Suspected culprits ranged from pesticides to genetically modified food.
Obama talks green, GOP talks freeze
October 2, 2010
Wind, solar and other clean energy technologies produce jobs and are essential for the country’s environment and economy, President Barack Obama said in promoting his administration’s efforts.The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, a month away from congressional elections, to charge Republicans with wanting to scrap incentives for such projects.
These articles were frustrating to me, but not altogether that surprising. The government seems to be making a habit of distorting the truth (Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, U.S involvement in Cambodia) and the media is proving to be completely unreliable and entirely manipulated by those in power. Still, it was depressing to see how blatantly the American public had been lied to about the oil spill. But my question is Why? What was the purpose of passing it off as something less than it was? Was the Obama administration trying to avoid scaring or angering the American public? Or was there something shadier going on? Joseph Romm, who writes the blog Climateprogress.org for the liberal Center for American Progress think tank said that “BP always knew lower measurements of oil in the water could mean the company would have to pay less in damages.”(article). Was our government, in a way, helping BP? If anything, it was the administration’s job to do a careful analysis of its own to access the damage. The numbers that were first revealed were sloppy and had little scientific backing. The stats that came later, which were much more accurate, shouldn’t have been ignored. Though it’s not surprising, it is still disturbing. Where can we get reliable news? And what else is being kept hidden from the American public?
The article about the bees was interesting but I wish it had talked more about the larger implications of the virus/fungi epidemic. I think there are definitely some relationships that can be drawn, especially to human health (like Cooper did) and environmental issues. I found this movie called “The Vanishing of the Bees” (check out the website and trailer: http://www.vanishingbees.com/trailer/) This movie says that the disappearance of the bees (known as CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder) is directly correlated to issues in food production and industrial agriculture. The disappearance of bees is apparently becoming a huge and widespread problem, and is a result of something bigger than this virus/fungi combination that researchers and the army identified. Not only is this going to have huge effects on fruit and vegetable production (the film website say “commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables”) but also are a sign of something larger that is wrong with the way we produce food and treat our environment.
After reading these two alarming and upsetting articles, the last article was just frustrating. I wish that Republicans and Democrats could stop bickering and get something done. At the screening of “Climate Refugees”, one of the film’s producers made a really good point. The United States is one of the only countries in the world where environmental issues are split across party lines and have become a largely political issue. It shouldn’t be like that! I don’t think Republicans have been showing support for investments in renewable energy technologies and also I don’t think extending tax cuts to the rich is what our country needs right now. Really, things are just getting out of hand and I think it’s up to us to start pressuring our politicians and joining grassroots movements that are pushing for change.
Last paragraph first, which can serve as a theme: it’s about power and we know how corrupting power can be. What power? you ask. Well, the power to be, say, the voice for Wall Street, as Obama has been, reaping a wealth of benefits for his party, him, those close by, i.e. Laurence Summers, who, in turn, continue their upwardly mobile lives.
The bee thing has long been discussed as a sign of deteriorating food production methods — or, perhaps said better, how the industrialization of food production is affecting our environment. Frogs fall under this category, too.
The function of government is to protect property — John Locke saw it this way. In time, property became synonymous with corporate ownership of land, air, revenue — the entire means of production. Could have been that BP said to the Obama Admin, “Do you want another crisis on your hands, something big that would follow the mortgage crisis and the automobile crisis? Or will you go along with us to keep our stock up, money flowing — and we’ll do justice, we’ll cough up the money necessary for the recovery, don’t worry?” I can imagine a conversation like this behind close doors.
It seems like it is impossible nowadays though, to get into a position of power without doing exactly as you said- using money and status to gain leverage and benefits for “your” people. We expect for our democratic government to represent the people, but one cannot have a position of power before first representing the rights of powerful people and corporations! It seems like an intrinsic contradiction to me. And I completely agree that a conversation like the one you described probably did happen. What can we do?
We’ll, for starters, we do what we’re doing here; then, secondly, we get involved. A good place is writing letters to our senators and congresspersons, ensuring them that if they pursue corporate policies, we won’t vote for them. And finally, we can get involved with organizations that are fighting the fight for democracy — 350.org, Change, MoveOn, etc — but keeping an eye on them, too, so that we make sure everyone is acting in concert with social justice. We must also study — what is ecological democracy? what is social justice? how do we undo an apartheid system of education? and so on. And finally, you must answer a question for yourself: knowing what you now know, how do you want to live? And make a commitment to that life.
Well done in covering the articles, Cooper. Might we then have a one party system — the corporation with two perspectives in how to ensure greater wealth (Dem/Rep)?
Also, you speak a few times about how you feel, that is, that you feel a bit vulnerable here. What might we do, as students in a college, to address this vulnerability? Might the authors we’re reading provide us with some intelligent approaches that might help alleviate some of this vulnerability?
I agree with the idea that we have a one party system with two subgroups trying to push their own agendas. It’s hard for a government like this to progress and bring about change because the two subgroups will always disagree. If the democrats want to end dependence on foreign oil by installing green energy sources like solar power plants, but the republicans are economically tied to oil companies, nothing will be accomplished. For any system to work there needs to be a single goal and everyone needs to believe in that goal.
As college students we need to pay more attention to what’s really going on in the world instead of the pseudo events that are so present in our country. If everyone cuts the time they spend on facebook, watching reality tv, and reading celebrity gossip in half and uses this time to stay up to date on current events, we will be better informed citizens. The more you know the less vulnerable you feel because you understand what’s happening around you. It could mean talking to your biology professor after class and asking him or her about how viruses work and how we can protect ourselves from them. On the surface it seems easier to be naive, but in reality knowledge is the best way to combat the feeling of helplessness I felt when reading these articles.
Reading these three articles at the end of an already very long stressful Monday was not the best idea. The three articles present three very serious issues; the lack of trust in the government, susceptibility to disease, and political bickering between democrats and republicans. In the article about the BP oil spill, scientists investigating the oil spill said that the real amount of oil that had spilled was kept from the public. This is disturbing to me because I’ve always felt a sense of security because I feel like I can trust the American government to be honest and look out for the American public. This article shatters this feeling feeling of safety.
The second article discusses how bee colonies has been under attack from a virus and bacteria simultaneously, resulting in a drastic decline in bee population. We’ve talked about the susceptibility of humans to diseases in class before and how the easiest way to wipe out a city or even entire country is to introduce a virus into their water supply. This is a prime example of the destruction viruses can cause. The scariest part about viruses is that we would be completely helpless against a virus we have no nature or man made defenses to. I generally take comfort in the fact that I control the majority of my life and to imagine something so completely out of my control like an epidemic of drastic proportions is downright frightening.
Lastly, the third article talked about President Obama and Republicans struggling over environmental issues. Obama accused the Republicans of trying to hinder environmental developments like the solar power plant that was just installed in the Mojave Desert. This is one part of our political system that always irritates me. The two party system always seems to be counterproductive because whichever party isn’t in power spends all of their time trying to stall the party in power. The leaders of the political parties are more interested in maintaining or taking over power than the good of our country.
Cooper