Don’t Ask, Don’t Spill

The BP oil slick has brought us horrible pictures of wildlife covered in oil and now BP will forever stand for “brown pelicans” in my mind. It reminded me of an old pelican I always watched for when I lived in Florida. He had dark dusty feathers and would roost on the pole next to my boat dock, scouting the water for food. Part of the joy of living near nature is you start to connect with the animals around you. That old pelican had a certain sleepy dignity I respected. Water skiers or loud noises did not easily spook him. If he were annoyed he would just take a little hop to another pole and settle down for more contemplation. He conserved his energy for the important business of diving for fish.

While I lived on the Gulf I was often alarmed by the variables of water quality within just a few miles. A lot of the problem was industrial runoff and some may have even been military. The Navy base had lots of important demolition training to do. I also saw recreational and commercial boaters who didn’t follow obvious rules about spilling gas and oil. The tourists often left garbage floating wherever they anchored to fish or swim. Everyone knew the strict rules and the Coast Guard and Marine Patrols did what they could to encourage responsible behavior and environmental safety but they couldn’t be everywhere. A couple of times we were visited by a strange “red tide” or unknown bacterial events that left lots of people with lung infections, flu like symptoms and dead fish floating in alarming quantities.

There were EPA investigators in the area but I never heard any real explanations. I had a dock on a lagoon within a short ride to the open waters. I needed a power lift to keep the boat up and out of the briny corrosive water of the lagoon. It was not water you would ever want to swim in, I was warned by old timers, but plenty of clear water, with happy dolphins was nearby. I was stopped sometimes for safety inspections and fortunately had all the right papers, fire extinguishers and life jackets. The boat cops were looking for evidence of drinking, and sober, responsible boaters were rarely inconvenienced for more than fifteen minutes by the officers. A lot of boaters resented the intrusion and those officers had an impossible task dealing with angry often drunken boaters. Too few officers and too many people with an attitude.

We had a routine trip we liked to take to an unpopulated island that had a pristine white beach and was only accessible by boat. We would anchor off shore and enjoy a private beach for an hour or two. If you had any food on your boat seagulls would follow, hoping for a handout. Kids threw their crackers up in the air to watch the birds dive for crumbs. In waters near the shore a family of dolphins often followed our boat looking for food. Despite big fines levied against tour boat operators allowing tourists to feed cigar minnows to the dolphins, this behavior is still a concern. The dolphins beg for food and when no one is looking people will try to feed them or brazenly jump in the water to swim with them.

We want our relationship with the natural world but we show too little respect for the rules that will sustain a healthy environment. If so many lack the will to follow the simple rules that apply to the daily life of the Gulf, it is no surprise that we would allow unsafe off-shore drilling and then turn away from serious oversight of corporate power mongers who continually ignore their violations. How many fishing boats will be idle and how many families will lose their lifestyle because of this?

We may have reached the point of no return. We want our freedom, less government and demand fewer taxes. We want it all and yet we don’t want to pay the price to provide a responsible future for our grandchildren. How many destroyed family businesses, dead pelicans and poisoned dolphins will we have to see before we start taking these challenges seriously?

Better oversight requires better government. Better government requires better voters; voters who aren’t acting like petulant children every time we face a difficult task.