Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: June 3, 2010 - # 1023 - Title: Does environment movement share blame for oil spill? (4195)

When then president elect Barack Hussein Obama declared just five days before he was inaugurated in 2009 that  he was going to “fundamentally change America” there were few who comprehended just what he had in mind for ‘changing America.’ I doubt if anyone foresaw what he had in mind, I know I didn’t. And I suppose if someone would have told me that in less than eighteen months President Obama, supported by a democratic controlled Congress,  would literally “change America” to a near socialist nation I would not have believed them. But he has almost done just that. And it has saddened me greatly.

            But while these events have saddened me they haven’t surprised me. History reminds me that many nations, after reaching their zenith of freedom and liberty, have lost those freedoms by allowing greed and pride, both personal and national, to replace the principles of liberty that are embedded in God’s perfect laws of liberty that were given to Moses on Mt Sinai.

            Few people can comprehend how President Obama was able to fulfill his boast to ‘fundamentally change America.” It occurred because the America people, fed up with the corruption in Washington D.C., and in many of the fifty state capitals of America, were hoodwinked into electing a ‘parliamentary type government.’ A parliamentary government is the type of government used by Canada and Great Britain where one party dominates the government and rules without fear of opposition – and without the checks and balances woven into America’s Constitution by the Founders. The current administration, dominated by the Democratic Party, has ignored the America people while ramming Obama’s ‘fundamental changes’ down the throat of the American people.

            This administration has often accomplished their ‘fundamental changes’ through crisis management, real or created. The latest crisis, the Gulf oil spill, while not a created crisis, is and will continue to be used to berate the ‘evil oil companies.’ It has already been used to stop further off shore drilling – a major goal of most environment groups. If this ban on off shore drilling holds some believe it could lead to a greater national dependence on foreign oil and higher gas prices at the pumps for all Americans.  

            The media blame game regarding this catastrophe is now in full swing with big oil, representing by BP, the target. The charges against BP are being led by the president, with congress following close behind while the progressive main stream press berates BP and big oil. Would the Progressive’s goal in this campaign be to take over the oil industry as they have the auto industry, America’s health care industry, and the financial industry of America? 

It sounds much like a staged political campaign for the government to take over the energy industry – with BP being used as the whipping boy or scapegoat. As I listened to the charges I began to wonder if BP is the only one to blame for this horrific accident. Questions came to mind, questions that led me to ponder the role of America’s environment groups in this disaster. The questions include: Why was BP required to drill out in the ‘deep (one mile) water’ when new technology could reach those oil deposits from closer to shore; and why is America’s huge natural oil reserves off limits  to development – reserves that could substantially reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil at reasonable prices.

            Unfortunately the answers to these questions pointed directly at the environmental movement that began in earnest in the early 1970s. This answer surprised me as I consider myself as much an environmentalist as every other American. All Americans want to preserve their environment. But as I continued to ponder this phenomenon it began to dawn on me that every movement is established with both leaders and soldiers. The leaders, often a behind the scene close knit group, set the goals and establish the policy to attain the goals while the soldiers are often called upon to sustain the policy, often ignorant of the real end goal – and often with blind obedience.

This is not to say that this environmental movement has not done good – it has – much good. But when a movement becomes so large and so powerful that it can and does intimidate governmental leaders and policy, often leading to corruption, it is time to take a look at that movement and call for change, major change. Soldier members of the environmental movement far too often follow blindly believing every thing done in the name of the ‘environment’ is a worthy cause. It is not. Some of their goals will lead to more restrictions on all Americans freedoms and liberties.

Is it possible the environment movement, that includes all of us, is as much to blame for this disaster as BP? Is this something all Americans should ponder as they wait to tally up the cost of a failed energy policy here in America – a policy advocated and strongly pushed by the environmental movement?