Oil Companies

[highway star]

Industrial humanity and the enviornment can get along just fine. Industry is really only a small percentage of the globe. The left can make no definitive argument that an extinct species would'nt have been so without industry. Flying over or driving across the country you have to be impressed with how much unspoiled beauty exists despite the evil industrial humans. Unpleasant eye candy is a fact of life. Should we do away with electricity, telephones, highways? Is an oilrig several miles out really all that bad?

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Nope. And I agree with you 100%, Highway. Everything can and should work together. It's when one or the other goes overboard that we experience what we are now. A few 1000 acres does not kill off caribou in Alaska. That same 1000 acres in a wetland or rainforest could destroy many species.

 

[tallcal101]

I'm glad you are all so trusting of Corporate Americas obligation to live up to promise's to be responsible for the mess's they leave behind.
When I got into Expediting,over 6 years ago,fuel was around $1.50 per gallon.I bought 4 cylinder(hybrid)Detroit diesel engines that get 9 to 11 miles per gallon.I specified these engines, as they were meant to be used in transit bus's,and had the cleanest EPA (at the time)of all the engines I considered.They have been good engines,fuel efficiant,and long lasting.Had I known that the oil companies were going to get filthy rich off my back(I really don't have any consulation for SUV owners)I probably would not have gotten into this industry.I agree,hauling a single carton across country in a D unit,holding temp at 20 degrees,is pretty stupid.Problem is,nobody else can do it.Can't trust the airlines,thats for sure,and with the growth of Bio Tech,paticularly out here,the need is very present.
I certaily don't hold Henry Ford responsible for polluting the Great Lakes,nor industrialists of his era.They did indeed make very valuable cointributions to our great country.
But somewhere along the line,some were able to buy our congress,and thats when trouble was on the horizon.
Pacific Lumber,a leader in the clear cut method of old growth harvesting,simply don't want to spend the money,or wait a generation,for new growth to be farmed for the building industry.Unfortunatly,extreme methods have become the norm for Earth First protestors, to save whats left of old growth Redwood stands. These tree are older then Chrisitanity.
Once gone,they don't come back,or reach their majesty for another 2000 years.It's not about spotted owls(not sand fleas)as much as it is about habitat in genral.
I would not expect anyone who has never walked through a virgin Redwood stand to understand.It is pretty awe inspireing.As is the Grand Canyon,Yellowstone,Yosemite,just to name a few.
Where do we start?Where do we draw the line and say if it's OK to destroy one habitat,but not another?Does greed,and profit have to be the deciding factor?If this is the driving force that must win out everytime,we have a problem.Does that make me a tree hugger?So be it.I just happen to live in a State that is so rich in beauty,in climate and in amazing places to visit(ski at 9:00 AM in Tahoe,and surf at 3:00 PM in Santa Cruz),that I get pretty upset at the thought of generations in the future not being able to enjoy,just so we can have oil rigs and tankers off our coast.

 

[highway star]

My former bro-in-law took me to a redwood forest that was supposed to be the one George Lucas used for one of the Stars Wars films with the flying motorcycles. I don't know if those trees were 2k years old, but they were beautiful. I have a hard time believing the logging industry wants to take them all. They've been very responsible with replanting, anyone harvesting a crop would. There are those that say there is more wooded acreage now than hundreds of years ago. Polluted Great Lakes? I live 6 miles from the northern shore of Lake Huron and I can tell you all is well there. The clean-up and rebirth of Lake Erie is a tribute to the willingness of industry to accept responsibility. Yet, every time it looks like the government might give industry a bit of leeway on something, the Greenies go all "Chicken Little". The people of industry have families like everyone else. Their grandchildren have to drink the same water and breath the same air as everyone else.

 

[greg334]

I do agree with Tallcal on the redwood forest issue, We must preserve some of it but don't agree with the habitat stuff people always scream about. I look at my area, once a thriving area with businesses and people but thanks to the city of detroit and the state we have a lot of land that has been abandoned and now has deer, coyotes, game birds and a lot of other wild life returning to the area. It is odd to live here and see deer droppngs along the side of the house or watch the dogs kick up a bird or two or watch as my dogs chase a rabbit in the yard.

 

[highway star]

Until a year ago I lived in downtown Alpena. There was a small, swampy woods behind my house. Even though it was isolated from the woods outside of town, there was a small herd living in there. They came in my yard quite a bit. I got home about 0130 one night, shut the van off and opened the door. There was one not more than 10 feet away staring at me, not moving. I sat there awhile and so did he. It was a he because it was about this time of year and they have their racks. He finally walked off very casually, not even running when I got out and opened other doors.