I thought this was a worthy post I made in another thread (copied here)...
In reading the more recent posts here, I'm mildly shocked at the attitudes (on both sides) overall. While not necessarily representative of America as a whole, I think the diving community has a very important role in helping us (our country) to understand what we need to do to provide a balanced and sensible solution for today - and tomorrow.
[1] Oil rigs - by themselves - can (and are) a valuable part of an increasing support in habitat and have a positive environmental impact. Drilling need not be a negative (if done right)
[2] Oil spills - particularly like the one currently in the news - are a major disaster to the environment and our economy. It shouldn't be an acceptable loss when such a disaster happens. The possibility of a spill is a very sound reason for not supporting offshore drilling. But there is a possibility of having successful drilling offshore IF we are willing to accept the added costs of containment plans and strategies, as well as additional measures and redundant devices which would check any disaster that might cause a spill. The technology does exist, and we MUST take all measures to protect our environment.
[3] Getting off the grossly ancient petro-energy diet is a must for America and the rest of the free world. There is NO doubt that our dependency to foreign oil is killing America and our economy. But the solution is NOT to continue to drill - but to get off our prodigious diet of petroleum based energy. It’s not about finding new ways (albeit we need to continue those efforts)... we already have the technologies and means to greatly reduce our carbon footprint on the planet and seriously reduce our need for oil consumption. We just have to act aggressively to make those changes happen NOW!
[4] Our near-shore waters are polluted from many sources... but very little to none of it has come directly from oil rigs in the Gulf. We have a far greater problem in what we do daily with our own garbage, run-off, pesticides, lawn fertilizers, toxic dumping into our ground waters (which eventually leaches into our shorelines), etc. At one time, our shores were very beautiful and near pristine - as late as the early 1960's we had some very beautiful coastline and bays. The solution to which is different than what we need to do with respect to our demand for oil - but like that problem, we have existing technologies and measures that would make a hugely positive impact.
[5] Mother nature will help us - but only if we help her. It's a fact that with positive changes (that we can make right now), our near shore environment can begin to make a drastic recovery.
No reasonable, educated person would deny that making any change to reduce our carbon footprint is a smart and necessary goal. As we take this to a more serious level and begin to really make changes, we will foster a far healthier and prosperous near shore environment. Do we still need to drill? Probably.... but it MUST be done with a greater sense of protection and that would probably add cost. More importantly, we need to more quickly wean ourselves from our massive petroleum diet and use the alternative energy sources and technologies which make a sustainable and environmentally positive life possible.
YOU are the most important part of the solution! Decide to make a difference, and you will!
All the best,
Jim Helmuth
Divemaster - NAUI
