Oil Spill in the Gulf

[Bishop]

I know that when beloved species that captivate the imagination of our children and generally enrich our ecosystems are threatened by extinction, that can't be good (unless you would happen to know a surefire way to manufacture those species again once they are gone).

That argument doesn't fly with me, while i see no point in deliberately killing off a species i also see no need to preserve a species for the fun of it. Adapt or die.

I know that oil is used to make various materials, that it is in limited supply and that instead of saving the oil to manufacture these materials, we are burning it for energy when there would be viable energy alternatives available now if we had accelerated the pace.

People care more about today, tomorrow is so far away I guess.

I know that all that car exhaust that goes into my lungs when I run is most likely counter-productive to what I'm trying to achieve by running.

Probably, but we assume its better than doing nothing right?

I know that there is at least some element of truth to what is being said about global warming, because so many scientists worldwide are less likely to lie through their teeth than entranched economic interests in the oil industry.

You know no such thing. Scientists are more likely to produce results that favor who is paying their grants. Unless you conducted the research yourself you are just listening to people whos agenda you are not aware of. In fairness, its not like you have a choice though.

I know that this oil leak and the US's technological inability to react properly to it would have been avoidable if the oil industry was actually held financially accountable for the ecological damage it caused, but since it wasn't, there wasn't much interest for them to not to cut corners and make sure they adopted safer practices for the environment.

Big industry balancing cost over safety, no surprises here.

Lets not be naive and think that the next apocalypse will happen tomorrow, but also lets not be naive and think that we are not dborrowing on our long term prosperity and ability to survive for shorter term gains.

Ya, i agree with this - i'm just cynical when i hear about environmental issues - media these days is all over that particular bandwagon and i'm just not sure what to believe any more.

[Magn]

That argument doesn't fly with me, while i see no point in deliberately killing off a species i also see no need to preserve a species for the fun of it. Adapt or die.

I agree with that to an extent.

Its true that if a specie is clearly not well adapted to its environment, it should be allowed to die.

However, between hunting like crazy, habitat destruction and pollution, we are killing species, execution style. Not too many species have a chance to survive what we are doing in many parts of the world.

The species of the natural world stimulate our imagination in a way that many utilitarian proponents fail to recognize.

To this day, the way they operate and the feats they accomplish leaves us scratching our heads and we have much to learn from them.

People care more about today, tomorrow is so far away I guess.

Well, I have no illusions that I'll live forever.

In the end, the bulk of my live experiences and skills will go away with me when I die.

A great part of the hope that keeps me from giving up to the various pressures of life is the legacy I'll leave behind when I'm gone.

You know no such thing. Scientists are more likely to produce results that favor who is paying their grants. Unless you conducted the research yourself you are just listening to people whos agenda you are not aware of. In fairness, its not like you have a choice though.

If scientists went only where the money is, there would be overriding evidence supporting whatever big oil interests want to say.

By their very training, scientists tend to follow the scientific method and search for truth.

While many deviate from this, it still gives them a strong bias toward telling it like it is.

When an overwhelming majority of scientists agree on a phenomenon, odds are great that sound scientific evidence indeed support what they are saying.

[goodz]

I thought obama had a good response to this. I am glad he essentially made BP pay way more then the law said they had too. They also responded very well to this, and helped out a ton more then they were legally responsible to.