James Cannon Boyce of Salon points out that all of us who fail to fight for clean energy are responsible for the recent Gulf oil spill.
We each use too much oil in our lives and we are each willing to spend more and more on oil, meaning that we drive the profits and the plans of the large oil companies. It is our consumption, our willingness to pay that drives oil companies to explore the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, spend hundreds of millions of dollars on rigs, because they know we will buy their product.
Oil is much more than a fuel. A large part of the oil we use is a major ingredient for creating asphalt and plastics. While asphalt is obviously used in road building, it is also used in shingles. Plastics are ubiquitous.
And, strange as it may seem, petroleum distillates are used in making artificial flavorings.
Lisa Margonelli agrees:
"The oil spill is so sad, but it shouldn't be surprising to any of us. And during the all the finger wagging that will undoubtedly start, why don't we start to point at ourselves, maybe in the rearview mirror of our huge SUV, or from the comfort of our couch in our houses heated to 72 degrees when it's zero degrees outside, or even when we buy fresh produce in January that was trucked in from Mexico or any number of luxury activities that originate with cheap oil?"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?stor…