Friday, March 11, 2011

Ignorance is not Bliss

I have in the past stated that ignorance is bliss, I have now come to the conclusion that IGNORANCE IS DEADLY FOR EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT. I have researched this subject for months, and come across many websites and bloggs  and read many comments that are left, with only one conclusion, it is definitely scary what the general public and average joe knows about oil and gas development and fracking. This industry and our local government have for too long distributed untrue propaganda to promote only their greed and ignore the safety of the population. I guess the general population is just so busy with day to day life, they do not take the time to actually educate them self on what is going on around them. The information is gotten from misinformed sources, their buddy sitting next to them at the local pub says it is safe, my dad did it for years, it has to be okay, and of course my favorite, the state would never let companies do something that wasn't safe. It is very easy to pull up articles and studies that have been done on the subject on the internet and READ, this is the way you educate yourself, and any responsible person will do exactly this. I have read comments left by people, obviously misinformed, that absolutely amaze me, here comes that word again IGNORANCE.  The Oil and Gas Industry has stated in almost every article printed that studies have proven their methods safe. In 6 months time of reading every day on this subject, I have yet to come across this information and actually read the documents that show this. If it is so safe and is proven so, why aren't these documents made readily to accessible to the public?  I have though come across hundreds of documents, scientific and case studies stating the exact opposite of what we are told. So maybe your buddy or dad is wrong, and perhaps you should educate yourself  before you open your mouth and ignorant words come out. There is that word again. From the people doing the work to the people spreading the information, ignorance is the key word. It is not that informed people do not what to see oil and gas industry, it is that we want to see it done safely, and not at the expense of our natural resources and health of the population, livestock, wildlife, animals and future generations. The average worker in the industry has no idea what they are being exposed to and are misinformed about the health risks involved. Of course this is not addressed on new employee orientation, if you knew this you wouldn't go out and bust your ass to make a million dollars for them. Too bad your son will not have their father there to watch them graduate, or see your grandchild take their first step. This brings to mind the history of the native american indian and United States beginning. Give food to the hungry and you can manipulate them to do most anything. When cancer research first started it took years to inform the public on the importance of screening and prevention. Our medical field has much to learn on the effects of environmental  health and information to the public. As with cancer, how many people will die before this happens?  Ignorance is not bliss, ignorance is deadly.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Remember When

As children we grew up roaming the hills and prairie, playing in the creek, always bringing home a new found treasure, be it a special rock or a baby cottontail. I remember more than one morning mom pulling a garter snake or cottontail out of her boot before she could put it on, sometime during the night escaping from it's shoebox home.  The world was our playground, I have never known in my life anything but clean air, green grass and clear running water. These things I thought I would always have and no one could ever take away from me. Now they have become nothing but memories, no longer here to pass on to our future generations. How sad that our children will not experience these simple joys of growing up. God's gift to us, the basis of health, wealth and happiness, our natural resources. A beautiful summer day, blue sky, sitting under a shade tree enjoying a picnic lunch breathing fresh, clean air, birds, butterflies and flowers. The day has come where we will only know these simple things through perhaps a movie we will watch, it has become a part of history. Money, greed and power have destroyed our source of continuous life. In high school I had a History teacher, I will never forget the statement he made to us one day in class, "we will become a communist country without a war, in your lifetime you will see a day you will have no constitutional rights" I thought at the time this was a crazy thing to say, impossible, it could never be. Our forefathers had fought too hard for our freedom and rights and put in place too many laws to protect us that this would never happen. How I now wish I would have listened closer to what he was saying and would love to sit down with him and have this conversation over. Our teachers have studied to teach us, and if we would only learn from them, and history what a different world we would live in. They say History repeats it's self, how far are we from total destruction?  From my kitchen window, it appears to not be far away, the land, water and air around me is destroyed more with each passing day. Without these basic building blocks, there is nothing to build.  Pick up your camera today, take a picture of a tree or a bird sitting on a fence, preserve a part of history, this may be the only way our children will ever know what these things were.