Forty years ago the first Earth Day was held. At the time, I became interested in the wetlands. I was and still am fascinated by the productivity of these lands. They play a crucial role as nesting areas for fish, foul, and birds. They protect our coasts against violent storms. They share their bounty of seafood with people, markets and wildlife.
For more than a month I have watched and read with horror the cold blooded reports of lives lost, the wetlands and businesses decimated as oil comes belching out of a ruptured pipeline a mile deep into the Gulf of Mexico.
Rube Goldberg type of remedies have been suggested and tried to stop the flow, but did not. Representatives of governmental agencies and the oil drilling industry have been appointed by Congress and the White House to learn what went wrong. Yet, in the middle of all this, there are few voices suggesting that land and sea will no longer tolerate our arrogant abuses, or that we will have to alter the way we live.
I hope a way is found to stop the flow. But as I write this, the newspapers report that another oil rig is drilling off Alaska in the Arctic Ocean. A sign on the rig says, "Drill, Baby, Drill!"
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