A Spill Is A Spill

Often times I sit here and wonder how so many can turn a blind eye to the very real problems of our environment .

Every day I see people throw trash and litter haphazardly wherever they happen to be. Most people just don’t care about the environment and the effects they have on the everyday environmental health. Stop and think for a moment. Suppose someone rides by your house and dumps garbage into your yard, your driveway or your Koi pond and kills your fish? Well, this is what most American’s are doing by dropping their trash into our lakes, streams and oceans. I find it interesting that most people would spend hours tidying up their property, going to ball games, lying on the couch doing nothing or loafing in general. We should all consider the Earth our property. Mankind has no qualms about fighting over it, raping it, destroying it and degrading it. Why is it so easy to justify these actions and not be able to promise to protect, honor and beautify it?

The way things stand today, future generations are going to wind up with water that is tainted, no true forests to enjoy, no mountains to take their breath away, no clean streams, or lakes or oceans to swim in and look at. Not to mention the sea life that will gradually fade away. I was reading about anoil spill in Martinez, California, which happened on Monday, Jan. 2nd. Comments were made about it being a small spill. Some even offered up a few spare cotton balls to help with the cleanup. While this may seem like a joke to most, it is nothing to be laughed at! Any oil spill, no matter how small, is serious business where our environment in concerned. Do these people who laugh and scoff at the spill not understand the fact that the residual effect is harmful to those animals who may use that particular area for spawning grounds? Do they consider the fact that animals will die? No, they don’t. Know why? Because they simply just don’t care. If they did, they would not treat any size spill as something to make light of and jokes of. Think back to the Exxon Valdez. Remember all the animals who perished? This could have been prevented if that captain wasn’t so arrogant as to think he could deliver all that oil while he was blind stinking drunk. Exxon knew this man had a drinking problem but did nothing to prevent him from piloting that boat and many, many of our sea dwelling friends died. This is the second spill for Shell. The first happened in McNabney Marsh, Carquinez Strait, and adjacent waters, Contra Costa County on April 23, 1988 . A leaking tank at the Shell oil refinery drained approximately 400,000 gallons of crude oil into a nearby creek. The oil then ran into a marsh and into the bay. This spill involved wetland habitats and fish. Okay, so these were huge spills but a spill is a spill nonetheless. But what we need to realize is that these spills are deadly to our fragile eco system and should not be looked upon as something that is small, medium or large.

Now, getting back to the litter issue, when was the last time you made an effort to do something about it? When was the last time you picked up trash? When was the last time you made a real effort to protect our precious wildlife by donating time or money? When was the last time you made an effort to protect our natural resources? When was the last time you sat down and read about conservation and got up and did something about it? When was the last time you even considered what kind of legacy we are leaving for future generations? It’s not too late. Get educated, get motivated and get out there and make a difference. If not for yourself, for future generations. They deserve our efforts.

Lauren McLean, CHCH’s co-owner, loves animals and the great outdoors – especially the Colorado Rockies. Her politics are something of a mixed bag – usually conservative, but is also a great defender of the environment. But as she has at times wryly noted, “What could be more conservative than to be a conservationist”.

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