Shake the habit

The Dementia of Petroleum Addiction?

Petroleum executives assure us that their giant tankers and offshore oil rigs pose no danger to the environment; coal company CEOs insist that their mines are safe and that blasting off mountaintops is ecologically benign; natural gas companies claim that "fracking" deep underground geological formations will not contaminate fresh water aquifers; and nuclear power promoters tell us not to worry about core meltdowns or the disposal of millions of tons of highly radioactive waste.

Do we have S-T-U-P-I-D written on our foreheads? Or do we just choose to swallow these lies because, like addicts everywhere, we need these pushers to provide us with our daily energy fix?

These energy "suppliers" have a sordid history of crimes against nature, and their assurances of safety have proven tragically wrong time and time again. Clearly their drive for profit knows no ethical or legal bounds. So why do we continue buy their lies, and reward them with lavish subsidies and tax breaks, instead of kicking our habit and sending these petroleum pushers to prison?

It's time to purge our petroleum-clogged economic arteries and clear our heads of gasoline fumes and high-octane dementia. Fossil fuel addiction is distorting our judgment and allowing these energy pushers to get away with murder and ecocide. Unless we come to our senses soon, we will have sacrificed the planet to feed our addiction.

It is in so many things we wear. It is involved in food product. It is all around us. It is time to rethink our consumer habits. Time to simplify for our future.