We live about 5 minutes away (by car) from the kid's school; today, like every other day, I drove him there. The cars were lined up, dozens of them. It's too far to walk for most of 'em - in our case, he'd have to cross a freeway and hike up a mile's worth of hills. Tall order for a six year old - for any kid, really. But since his school does not offer bus service, I need to drive him.
Driving home, the surfers were out in force. The water's still too cold for trunks; everyone was in wetsuits. Neoprene is cheap, at least the standard variety - the good, environmentally conscious folks at Patagonia and Matuse do produce limestone-based neoprene suits, but those would set me back at least $350. Mine's treated me well - I got a deal on it, $150. It's got a few more winters in it. Maybe by the time I go to buy a new one, "green" wetsuits will be cheap enough for the average Joe.
We're thinking about taking a trip to Costa Rica this summer. Eight days of surfing and exploring the rain forests. The kids will dig it. We'll have to fly, of course.
A bunch of countries whose governments hate us made $573 billion in oil revenue last year. They stand to make close to $800 billion next year. They'll do so laughing at us, with their knives at our throats.
The coasts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida are fast becoming an abattoir. But, statistically speaking, offshore drilling is much safer than shipping oil in tankers. But along with the environmental damage, there's industries and livelihoods that stand to be destroyed, in a region that's still reeling from Katrina. But right now, and for the foreseeable future, there are no realistic alternatives for me, for you, for most of us.
The slick spreads.
We're all covered in oil.
