A town in Washington state has recently passed a bylaw to reduced their fossil fuel consumption in their municipal vehicles. Normally I think that this is a wonderful idea, and I still think it is. It is great when a municipality, city, or what have you takes a environmental stand to help the Earth.
But the reason for this one is somewhat interesting to me and a little shall we say… ironic.
Keep in middle that on the east coast of the United State there is a British Petroleum platform spewing thousands and thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean a day for the past fifty plus days. This whole circumstance started with an explosion that killed 11 people on the platform. Devastation in the Ocean ecology destroy habitats of sea life, polluting miles and miles of beaches. Much worse then the Exxon Valdes (spelling?) spill. I could go on but just know that the BP platform accident is a huge disaster, both environmentally, economically, and a sad loose of human life.
Back to Washington state town now. The reason for the vote in reduction is because in the last couple of years the town has been getting a great deal of their oil supply from the tarsands in Northern Alberta. They believe that the current process of extracting the oil from the tarsands is not “environmentally sound”. They feel the tarsands project does not have enough checks and balances to ensure that it is do safely and ethically for both workers and the environment.
Let us review – whose nation has a massive oil leak polluting the environment around it? Whose nation’s lack of strict safety standards and ethical practices had an explosion while they were capturing the oil, killing 11 people?
Just a little strange to me, Washington please do not forget what is happening on your other coast.
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