Where is our mom outrage over this oil spill?

Where's the Outrage?

Where is our mom outrage over this oil spill? Our mom bloggers are so disappointed and heartbroken over the environmental damage, the lack of governmental response, and the horrors done to the wildlife. What can we do about it -- and as moms -- what can we teach our children about this very un-natural disaster?

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MollyCT
2 yearss ago

I just want to say that I don't think it's helpful when conversations like this one get derailed at the end by the turn toward, "how to talk to our children" about very adult problems, as though just because we are women, this is our next step for action. A more helpful question would be, how do we talk to each other about the gulf spill and what to do about it? And most importantly, how do we talk to our elected representatives? This is a serious catastrophe that reveals so much about the society we live in--its relentless search for oil, and its dominance by corporate, rather than public, interests. I think the best thing to tell children about it is, this is a problem for grownups to worry about, and Mom and Dad are doing all they can so that you don't have to fix it when you grow up.

cynthiaNOLA
2 yearss ago

Exactly. You just further proved my point. It's gotta come from somewhere, darlin', and if it ain't our Gulf, it'll be someone else's. You and everyone else in the country uses the product that's extracted from off the coast of Louisiana...and from Venezuela, and from the Middle East. Our dependence on oil is precisely the problem.

Jaclyn Smith
2 yearss ago

Check us out ;) www.savethemermaids.net

cynthiaNOLA
2 yearss ago

I love it!

Cathi
2 yearss ago

This is such a great topic, and the panelists have done a fabulous job tackling it. I really want to imbed and/or forward this video. However, the "Hornitos" ads? They are so ridiculous that there's no way I can share this. Maybe they are mildly funny, but not something I want to attach my name to.

bwankel
2 yearss ago

Dana-you are the first overtly conservative personality I have heard say they are ok with environmental responsibility. I'm so tired of people thinking they can be irresponsible just because they aren't a liberal. The environment is not a political issue! It happens to be everyone's delicate ecosystem! Just be nice to it! So, thank you :) I personally feel overwhelmed by it. I don't live in a Gulf state, so I just had those underwater news camera images. It's horrible, and makes me feel so guilty, like you Alice. I mean, we are a very green family, and we hardly ever drive, but when we do, it's not an electric car. It's not even a hybrid. Just a regular gasoline engine. This is partially our fault, right? If the demand is up there, BP was trying to keep up with that demand, albeit greedily and irresponsibly. I think people don't know what to do. I wanted to boycott BP, but those gas station owners are just local business owners. It's a tough call. And outside of that, as an American, I kind of felt like my hands were tied. It was up to BP, and possibly the government to figure out how to stop a gushing oil leak at the bottom of the ocean. In the aftermath, I can get outraged, but we all should have been outraged about the demand for oil before this all started.

cynthiaNOLA
2 yearss ago

I agree. It's tough. We can say that it's our faults because of our dependence on oil, but most cities in the country are designed to create dependence on cars. I remember after Katrina, those of us New Orleanians living in Houston had a hard time finding jobs because we didn't have cars. And try existing in Los Angeles without a car. It's also tough because both parties have their testicles firmly planted in the hands of corporate America. The oil industry has existed unchecked for decades, not so much because of political negligence, but because of politicians CHOOSING to deregulate and give big oil more power and less accountability.

cynthiaNOLA
2 yearss ago

I live in New Orleans. Where do I begin? My reaction to this has run the gamut of panic attacks in the middle of the night (probably revisiting Katrina trauma), to outrage, to exhaustion, to making a paper mache pelican head doused in oil for a local protest. Our beaches are dead, our oysters are dead. This is a holocaust. It is the death of our livelihoods and way of life and our cultural traditions. It is the end of one of the most culturally diverse areas of the country that will soon be dispersed because of its reliance on fishing and shrimping. I talked to my daughter about it because I had to. She had seen me crying about it a lot so I explained in a way I thought appropriate for a 3-year-old. And the next morning when she woke up, she said, "Mama, later today, can you take me to the Gulf of Mexico so I can save the mermaids?" And then later that day she asked, "Does the oil have claws?" ALICE, thank you for bringing it up!! DANA, there's a huge whopping elimination from your list. You might want to think about adding it when you step on your pundit box: DEREGULATION!! And if you're planning on posting about it, the face of Dick Cheney, the man who handed permanent regulatory relief and rolled back environmental laws for the oil industry during his time in office, is the icon I would attach to that number on the list. The mere mention of his name sends chills up my spine. Also, please send me the addresses of anyone who has been known to shout "Drill, Baby, Drill" so I can dump dead pelicans and oil in their front lawns. Maybe that will help stop my panic attacks.

SilverXeno
2 yearss ago

FYI, I hate this new layout...it took me about 40 tries to even find out how to post. ...White boxes with white backgrounds & no shadow to at least let me GUESS?? C'mon...someone can do better than that! Anywho...I am from a gulf coast state...I am enraged over the whole situation b/c when my state brought it up, I voted NO. I do NOT want offshore drilling on my coast. Our state's #1 source of revunue is from tourist dollars. We have beaches in the top 10, 20, & 100 lists... The last thing we need is to lose our state income b/c no one wants to come here anymore. I have always been frustrated that other states are allowed to have off-shore drilling, but surrounding states had no say. Why was I concerned? Because of THIS. EXACT. SITUATION. Oil has been spilled...and it is effecting EVERY coast. Not just LA's. Yes, I am concerned for the enviromental effects...but I'm ANGRY over the fact that once again, I had a great flippin' idea (I even wrote letters to my state representative, my governor, my anyone who was in charge of any part of any kind of district I lived in) to disallow gulf coast drilling in ALL states...that ALL coastal states needed to band together and get rid of it. No one listened. My voter voice went unheard. I got back form letters and, "your idea will be considered" responses. Total, and utter SHIT. Now my state could be in just as much danger as LA...but the focus is on them. When THEY are the reason it is even OUT THERE. (Please don't misunderstand this as "they deserve every bit of damage they get"...I'm not suggesting that, but they made the decision, without the consent of surrounding states...and it's effecting us ALL.) Now all I'm waiting for is a great big hurricane like Elaina to sit on the Gulf for 2 days whipping everything up into a seawater & oil smoothy...then deposit it through flooding into every nook & cranny up to 5 miles from the coast! Yum.

cynthiaNOLA
2 yearss ago

First, your vague use of "they" is irresponsible. Second, do you drive a car? Just wondering.

Where's the Outrage?

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