On the Soapbox

{I actually started this post a while ago, like 2 weeks ago to be exact, but then became distracted and forgot to finish it...}

Recently offshore drilling has been surfacing in the news and obviously heated debates are created from this topic. One such debated occurred last night in my living room as my step-father in law believes that he is always right. According to him, we should "pump the hell out of the ocean floor" because "there won't ever be a spill or contamination of the ocean because drilling practices are perfect." I am paraphrasing.

I am firmly against off shore drilling. I am a huge advocate of ocean conservancy, and that apparently means I "have lived in California too long." Yes, I would rather continue to hemorrage money out the wazoo for gas if it means protecting the oceans. I saw what a small spill did to the bay and the fishing and crabbing industries, and thus the whole SF economy. Sorry, but it isn't like you can just wipe up oil with a paper towel.

And apparently I need to "think about how my children are going to live." Well, sorry but I am. I don't want my children to live a world with no oceans. And I am pretty sure that when the oceans go, the rest of the planet will soon follow. call me crazy but, I want my children to be able to go to the ocean and witness all it has to offer. And most of all, I want my children to learn to co-exist with nature, not dominate it. I am sorry if that makes me a "bleeding heart" or "too da*n liberal," but it is the what I believe.

I am all for lowering gas prices...but not if it means that I won't be able to see this anymore:

or that this beautiful color will have turned to black and the beautiful shoreline has turned into a wasteland of death and decay:

I suppose I took the argument a little further than it needed to go, as I made my FIL very agitated that I wouldn't budge on the topic. My husband said I was doing it intentionally, just to egg him on, and I suppose to a point I was. My MIL thought it was pretty funny as most people just let the FIL go off on his tangents in order to prevent further conversation on the choice topic. I just couldn't.

In no way am I an expert on oil drilling processes or the industry or anything along those lines. But I have spent 8+ years studying and immersing myself in the ocean and the environment. And I am sure off-shore drilling has been improved upon as the years go by. However...I am sorry, but I just don't think you can put a price tag on something this magnificent: