There’s been much talk of the upcoming oil drilling in the Arctic. Drilling creates an even stronger greenhouse effect; risks disaster to this pristine land; and disrupts whale movements with its added noise. Greenpeace’s petition has been widely distributed (see the last paragraph of the post for the link), but I thought Mr. Drost’s words summed it up beautifully. PROTECT and PRESERVE what little remains…. Enough is enough is enough.
This summer the Dutch/British owned oil company Shell will start drilling for oil in the Arctic. They can do this because the sea ice has melted enough to expose the oil rich sea floors of the high north. This oil will be burned, resulting in more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and an even stronger greenhouse effect… Besides, we’ve seen in the Gulf of Mexico what can happen when something goes wrong while drilling for oil. And with the cold temperatures oil degradation takes much longer as in the warmer Gulf of Mexico.
Since I came to the high Arctic for the first time in 1999 I’ve seen islands emerge from glaciers, I’ve reached places that used to be locked in ice every summer and I’ve seen Polar Bears change their behavior because of the changing ice conditions. When I made my first visit I expected to visit a true…
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FeyGirl
Serenity Spell 
Thats cute big guy 🙂
They’re beautiful, aren’t they? I sure hope the little people can protect them and their beautiful space in the face of corporate oil and fishing…
Peekaboo I see you – Great Photo!
He’s truly an amazing photog!
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Hey, Fey. Thank you for reblogging Mr. Drost’s thought provoking post. You know how I feel about our environment and especially the Arctic. I support Mr. Drost’s position, but at the same time, I realize that I am part of the problem and will continue to be until governments completely ban the use of hydrocarbons. I use a shameful amount of fuel every time I fly home for the summer and back to work in the fall. I depend on aviation fuel to get food to my village, we burn fuel oil to warm our school and burn spruce to keep from freezing to death. And I’m sure Mr. Drost did not paddle to and fro for each of his Arctic trips. It’s really a very complex issue. I expect Mr. Drost and you and I all share the same dream of a world free of hydrocarbons and yet we go on consuming them because at present we haven’t the means to rid them from our lives. Every single thing we buy required energy to produce it, so we are guilty of pollution and global warming with every penny we spend.
And here is the kicker. There aren’t enough pollution free forms of energy to supply the world’s consumption of them. At least, I don’t think there are. So what are we going to replace the hydrocarbons with? You know I’m not defending the use of the hydrocarbons. I’m just asking for a solution.
Here is something I wish you would do on your blog – ask your readers to share ways they are actively trying to reduce their dependency on energy and especially on hydrocarbons. I’d love to see their responses, and maybe they would be instructive for all of us until the world solves the energy problem.
I thoroughly agree with what you’re saying… But the LACK of controls in drilling continues. Keep in mind I live in an area where one of the worst spills obliterated many endangered species and devastated an entire ecosystem and the people relying on it — despite constant warnings. And even afterwards, a failure to comply with clean-up procedures. There are no rules when it comes to These Companies.
Then you have your constant efforts on behalf of the oil companies to undermine investigations into clean fuel. Not to be a conspiracist, but there have been plenty of reports to document these efforts. Oil is big money — enough said. REAL big money. Granted, there may not be enough natural resources to replace the hydrocarbons — but there are enough to make a severe dent, and certainly enough to not warrant drilling in the Arctic for cripe’s sake. I don’t know how concerned about our environment, and the planet at large, These Oil Companies are when faced with the almighty dollar.
I do believe it’s possible — at least, as a start… By simply CUTTING BACK on the amount that is used. Does every single person in America NEED a SUV? No. Rarely do Europeans use them, and just a decade-and-a-half ago they were unheard of. Yet I see more SUVs than cars — with one person per goliath. Baby steps, like *anything* else. As a military brat, I’m accustomed to cutting back on luxuries — things can be changed.
I like your idea of raising that topic, for sure… I know when I lived in city environments, I used public transportation for instance. I know many who bike (they’re fortunate to be able to do so in their world). Baby steps, baby steps… But it must be balanced on behalf of the Goliaths that are the Oil Industry, which of course It Is Not.