Every day that goes by there’s more devastating news about what’s happening in the Gulf with the BP debacle and I question more and more what we are doing to our country and to this earth. Our need for oil, big cars, large SUVs, plastic and plastic bags, etc, etc goes beyond the reality of what we’re doing to ourselves. It’s unfortunate because it’s one more thing that has made people nervous about our times. But I think the long-term damage that we’re suffering now will go on for many many years.
Are any of you out there on the Gulf? If you are, please know that you are in our thoughts and let us know how this is affecting you. Even here in New York and in Montauk, already the fish stores are cutting back on scallops, shellfish and other items coming from the South because people are so afraid of consuming tainted seafood, so though we’re not getting oil on our beaches, we are seeing the result of this spill.
#1 by Visual Vamp on July 12, 2010 - 4:42 pm
Hi Vincent,
Thanks for thinking of us here on the sick slick.
You have no idea how depressing it is to be living on the Gulf Coast right now. Like Katrina, but worse because of the long term self inflicted damage.
Don’t worry about Southern seafood. If it’s being shipped East please ship it back to us!
Seriously, the seafood making it your way is fine.
There’s plenty of local seafood being served here in New Orleans too, including oysters. The slick has not reached all fisheries yet, but I fear that won’t be the case for much longer.
I am indulging in the comfort food of shrimp, oysters, and cat fish as often as I can.
xo xo
PS I’d love to visit you in Montauk to experience a beach without sick birds and turtles, tar balls, brown-orange ugly water, scores of workers in haz mat suits, and the stench of petroleum. Really.
Alberto and I will be in NYC July 23.
#2 by Gary Nelling on July 12, 2010 - 4:44 pm
The BP spill is an enormous tragedy for everyone in the Gulf and far beyond. Hopefully it has raised more awareness of environmental and green issues. I think we will see required safe drilling procedures, stepped up development of alternative forms of energy, reduced dependence on foreign oil, and consumer conservation awareness that reduces energy consumption.
The US has huge reserves of natural gas, which gives off half the carbon emissions of gasoline and oil. Fleets of over-the-road trucks are being built that run on liquid natural gas and pumping stations are being built. Conversion to or replacement of gasoline-burning automobile engines with LNG-burning engines has begun as a test program. Wind and solar have large up-front costs, but as more is built, the unit costs go down. Numerous sea-going vessels have been built which separate oil from water, including a centrifuge system. The latest issue of Dwell is devoted to energy issues and has some interesting information and statistics. I think all is not lost, though the clean up of this spill will take prolonged effort.
I do hope we turn away from quite so many McMansions and SUVs and learn to live a little smaller more like much of the rest of the world. The US GDP went up 7 times from 1950 to 2000, but our cost of living, housing prices and education went up many, many times that. On average, the wealth in our country including leverage is still not enough to support current prices and debt. Smaller living would do much to reduce energy consumption as well.
Much sympathy to those whose personal environments and livelihoods are so damaged by this tragedy. – Gary
#3 by debra on July 13, 2010 - 12:31 am
Hi there -
Just to let you know that we here in Canada are heart-broken about the Gulf too. Hang in there, guys.
#4 by Dale on July 13, 2010 - 4:03 am
My heart goes out to everyone in the area. Being so far away geographically it might seem easy to not think about it much, but I think about it all the time, and question everything about our society and where we’re headed. As designers, we really should push even harder for sustainable, earth friendly products and practices.
#5 by Andrea V. on July 13, 2010 - 1:18 pm
A fellow Gulf Coaster here. It has indeed been anguishing, depressing and infuriating––although, last night as I watched the video of the well being capped, I think I felt Louisiana (and many others) sigh a collective sigh of relief. Finally, it feels as if we are gaining a firm grip on this wild and out of control disaster.
For months we’ve been concerned not only about the environmental impact, but the economic impact for us–the La. oil industry employs somewhere near 200k jobs (don’t quote me on that), and the oyster business alone is around 63mil in revenue– these people work HARD, so hard you can’t even imagine. To think that the economy of an entire coast/several states is in jeopardy due to the carelessness of one company makes me angry beyond measure.
It all breaks my heart in half.
**I agree with V.V., seafood is fine–there are plenty of unaffected areas that are still being fished–and if there is ANY trace of contamination in the open fishing areas, they quickly close them down and make the fishermen do away with the catch. I wouldn’t worry so much about that, to be honest
Thank you for posting this, Vicente
#6 by Cheryl Elsbree Interior Design on July 13, 2010 - 8:47 pm
So appreciate you making reference to the BP spill. As a homeowner on the Gulf Coast in Florida we fear for all of the wildlife that we see each and every day. We advise cutting back on petroleum based products. That is a change we can all do right now. Thanks for your post.