The "Radical" Event of Our Generation?

Radical Simplicity by Jim Merkel was prompted by the toxic oil spill in Alaska, which was, at the time, the most toxic environmental event in US history. The new oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is quickly becoming the worst industrial disaster that this country has ever seen. The problem is that the media is not doing enough to cover this terrible tragedy that has befallen the environment and the oil workers themselves. 11 men were killed on the rig of the coast of Louisiana and thousands of sea creatures are being choked by the oil every day. I have been following the media via various mediums and have found that none of them can tell us the full impact of this event. On television, the focus is on whether President Obama has done enough (which is a legitimate question), yet it seems to turn into a partisan battle. Many on the right are calling this Obama's Hurricane Katrina. While that remains to be seen, people need to grasp the full impact of this event. The history of British Petroleum is as scandalous as the oil spill itself (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bp_billionaire_polluter_20100504/?ln). This is a link to a fascinating article about the history of BP. On the internet news, there has been decent coverage of the event, even on the Drudgereport, an ultra conservative news site. I just wish that people would become more engaged with what is going on. Very few of my friends know the extent of the oil spill and what is worse is that they don't care to know. The Exxon Valdez tragedy featured wall to wall coverage, with many books written about it. I can recall a trip to my school's library when I was in the 3rd grade to read an elementary school level account of the accident. This was years after, yet I wonder if anyone will write about this oil spill in years to come? The oil spill should also sound the alarm for more sustainable energy usage, especially the introduction of renewables. In an article in the New York Times on Tuesday, Tom Friedman wrote a great piece on the importance of the cap and trade bill in Congress. The problem with this is that it has not even been approved for discussion in the Senate because of political posturing by the right and some conservative Democrats. This is a crucial piece of legislation. Something needs to be done so we can avoid more fatal catastrophes. The problem is that no young people are being mobilized to fight the good fight. They remain uninformed and uninterested. This is something that people should be handing out flyers about on Bruin Walk. This should have been on the front page of the Daily Bruin. However, we remain ignorant to a problem that has occurred IN OUR OWN COUNTRY! We must act soon and figure out how to make our energy more sustainable. If not, history will repeat itself.