The BP Oil Spill

Up til now I haven't written about the disaster that is happening in our beautiful Gulf of Mexico. There is nothing I can say that will be helpful. The situation makes me very sad and very angry. I figure it's best to sometimes leave things left unsaid. I'm going to mention it now and share some videos for anyone who isn't aware of what is happening for reasons I've written below. Obviously, you can find many, many article and videos regarding this disaster if you look for them. I'm also going to mention some thoughts on the environment in general. And just so this isn't too Debbie Downer, I do have a giveaway coming up soon! It's come about through my desire and responsibility to be more Earth friendly, and encouraging others to do the same. Plus it's a pretty chic giveaway. Be on the look out for it.

A couple days ago I observed an online conversation taking place in a blog's comment section and was shocked that many people commented that they were not following the story, they didn't really know about it and I guess were not concerned. What? How can they not know? Well, it seems that other parts of the country are not directly affected and didn't give much thought to anything they had heard about the oil spill. This just seems unreal to me, and probably everyone else who lives in one of the Gulf states. The Gulf of Mexico is a part of our lives. Some of us enjoy it's beauty, some of us depend on it to support our families. All of us love it.

Another thing that came up over the course of this conversation was the inevitable polarization of views regarding wildlife and the environment. These types of topics always disturb me. I'm a nature and animal lover. Albeit one who is not doing all I can do to help our environment. That is something that I have started to work on and will continue to do so.

There are just a couple of things that I can say to try and bring everyone together when it comes to our environment and the many creatures we share our world with. All are created by God-humans, animals and Earth. There is a connection, a God given connection. As for our environment, I don't know the extent of damage our lives and actions cause upon Earth. Many disagree on topics such as Global Warming, etc. It seems that I read that the biggest leap of technology in the history of mankind has occurred in the past 100 years or so. If you think about it, it really is true. But have all of these new advances come at a price? I can't imagine that such changes have not affected our environment in a bad way. Here is an example of something pretty gross and certainly bad for our environment, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. One hundred million tons of debris estimated to be twice the size of Texas and 30 feet deep, swirling in the middle of the ocean per a write up in Redbook magazine for July 2010.

Our bodies have been affected. The incidence of many types of cancer is increasing. Some children are developing earlier than children of generations before. I'm sorry I don't have stats for you on these things, but a google search can verify these increases. There are probably many, many more ill effects happening to us. My guess, and again it's a guess, is that these changes are happening to our bodies because of the increase in toxins, pollution, etc. So it's not so much of a stretch to think that Mother Nature is being affected as well.

The last thing I'll mention about concern for our environment is that *if* we as a whole are damaging our environment, then it should be something that concerns us all. Let's face it, if we have a planet that is damaged to the point of being unable to sustain life, then most other issues that come up really won't matter will they? Again, I don't know this to be true. I believe that yes we have caused harm. I hope that it is not to the extreme that some believe.

Here are the videos showing some aspects of the disaster to *our* beautiful Gulf. Yes, our Gulf. You may not have the pleasure of living in a Gulf state, but it is one of the many beautiful and fantastic places that our country has to offer to all of us! Apparently, the videos (2 parts for no longer than 15 minutes total) have been pulled down by BP a couple of times, or so it's been said. If the videos no longer work, you'll know why.

Part 1

Part 2