Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, June 15, 2010
Oil The Last Oyster Harvest
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 9:11 PM
The beginning of an end (one end among many):
Up until four weeks ago, when the Louisiana departments of Wildlife and Fisheries and Health and Hospitals closed the bays and estuaries north of Grand Isle for fishing, Nick Collins was harvesting his select oysters from reefs his great grandfather seeded. Collins, along with his father, Wilbert, and his son, Jaden, was dredging up 65 sacks a day on the family's 2,000 acres of leases, and three times a week, those oysters traveled to Acadiana...That's when Nick, who is rational, calm and articulate about the situation, begins to choke. "When I was a kid, I used to swim with the dolphins right here; I'd feed them silver eel from the nets. It was an awesome place to grow up. It hasn't sunk in yet, to see all this ruined. I can't even think it. But it doesn't look good. I heard the guys from Alaska talk about the Exxon Valdez. Twenty-one years later, there's still oil. It doesn't look good for the fishing industry. And Jaden, he already knows he wants to oyster. What's he going to do?"
2
Am I a terrible person if I point out that Nick, his grandpa and his dad probably all voted for legistlors on every level who allowed this to happen? I can't stand to hear people pile on Mr. Obama as if this is all his doing. It is the fault of all of us, and no one moreso than the conservative voters of the Gulf who repeatedly for decades have elected pro-drilling, pro-development, anti-environmental candidates on every level. You reap what you sow people. Maybe for a few decades you thought you were sowing oyster seeds, but it turns out you were sowing crap.
4
Here's the source:
http://www.theind.com/cover-story/6323-t…
Brendan, the SLOG is such a heavyweight on the web that your little blog-post is ranked more highly on Google than any of the other locations this story appears. You and the rest of the staff make not think much of it, but like it or not you have a responsibility to credit your sources.
http://www.theind.com/cover-story/6323-t…
Brendan, the SLOG is such a heavyweight on the web that your little blog-post is ranked more highly on Google than any of the other locations this story appears. You and the rest of the staff make not think much of it, but like it or not you have a responsibility to credit your sources.
5
Four generations of privilege, down the drain. As someone who inherited no property, exclusive leases or money, and grew up in a nondescript urban environment, I can slightly sympathize with their loss, but @2 said it: these people wanted unbridled corporate power and, well, they got it.
7
Matt @6, 2 is likely right. Louisiana is a reliably red state. It sends mostly republicans to congress. Republicans overwhelmingly favor big business, less government control, regulation, and oversight, and are anti environment. That is exactly the environment that allowed this to happen.
These particular individuals might be the exception, maybe. But all of those southern states that are now effected by the spill are all red states. They put the politicians in office that allowed massive drilling with little or no oversight.
These particular individuals might be the exception, maybe. But all of those southern states that are now effected by the spill are all red states. They put the politicians in office that allowed massive drilling with little or no oversight.
8
@6 Screen Name base on the numbers is more likely right than wrong. This is a Conservative Christian oil spill. And even if he's wrong about this particular family, he's right about a majority of the people whose lives are being destroyed by this disaster. The gulf states voted for corporate deregulation because a candidate said 'Jesus Jesus Jesus' and 'guns guns guns'. They didn't vote, which is virtually the same thing.
So despite the fact that SN could be wrong about these particular people, he brings up a valid point, and one that deserves to be shouted from the rooftops. This is what the world looks like when you deregulate industry.
So despite the fact that SN could be wrong about these particular people, he brings up a valid point, and one that deserves to be shouted from the rooftops. This is what the world looks like when you deregulate industry.
9
@ 7, it's one thing to speak in the abstract, and another to single out individuals who reveal nothing about their political leanings.
Democrats poll 30-40 % of the vote there; that means that, while a distinct minority, there are liberals in the South, and in sufficient numbers that you risk your own credibility when declaring all of them to be bible thumping hard right tea baggers. That's what ScreenName is doing. (Southern Louisiana has a history of being a pretty liberal region, which further corrodes this stereotyped assumption.)
If this person had revealed anything to indicate Republican leanings, then @ 2 and you would have a point. But probably not. Hell, even with Dems in power, oil is huge and elected officials would probably have still fought for offshore drilling, which tends to undermine the idea that their reaping what they sowed by being red.
Democrats poll 30-40 % of the vote there; that means that, while a distinct minority, there are liberals in the South, and in sufficient numbers that you risk your own credibility when declaring all of them to be bible thumping hard right tea baggers. That's what ScreenName is doing. (Southern Louisiana has a history of being a pretty liberal region, which further corrodes this stereotyped assumption.)
If this person had revealed anything to indicate Republican leanings, then @ 2 and you would have a point. But probably not. Hell, even with Dems in power, oil is huge and elected officials would probably have still fought for offshore drilling, which tends to undermine the idea that their reaping what they sowed by being red.
10
i grew up down there. i fished, i hunted, i trapped, i worked in the oilpatch.
this is killing me.
i thought my survivor's guilt from Katrina was bad.
this is killing me.
i thought my survivor's guilt from Katrina was bad.
11
When will we hear what part Cheney's secret oil company meetings had in all of this? He has been conspicuously silent since this started. We need loud and angry voices to demand answers. Other countries have real safeguards in place. Why not us?
12
Why don't we have a coherent energy policy?
Look no further than the bribes to lobbyists and congressmen, look at the non stop parade of idiot politicians who do nothing but whatever industry says to. Look finally at the f-ups that vote them in time and time again, then look at you funny if you ask why.
Look no further than the bribes to lobbyists and congressmen, look at the non stop parade of idiot politicians who do nothing but whatever industry says to. Look finally at the f-ups that vote them in time and time again, then look at you funny if you ask why.
13
@ #11 - That might make Matt From Denver upset, we wouldn't want to bruise his fragile psyche. Best to keep things in the abstract for the poor dear.
14
So if these people voted Republican, then they deserve to have their livelihood, built over generations of hard work, ruined? That's an awesome strawman argument on the kinds of people whose lives are being ruined by this disaster.
I really like how you conveniently forget that there were lots of Democrats who received political donations from the same oil companies.
I really like how you conveniently forget that there were lots of Democrats who received political donations from the same oil companies.
15
@2 is right. Guaranfuckingteed this douchebag voted for every redneck pro-business right-wing dickwad that ran for office down there.
16
Its kinda a dick move, but you could do it without being a dick by not dwelling on it and helping them see how these actions led to these consequences.
17
Man, you guys are just as bad as the teabaggers. Guess that's what happens when you ensconce yourself in a nice ivory tower, eh?
18
Obama approved expanded offshore drilling in the gulf mere weeks before this happened. You guys are aware of that, correct? Jesus Christ.
19
@17 & 18 I'm reading this completely differently than you are, but this is on the second page now, so the debate is over.
@17 You really don't think working class Republicans vote against their own better interests? Or do you not think it's fair to point it out? Just as bad as the teabaggers? That's just hyperbole. Ignorance of the effects of elections is a huge problem in this country. Every time a poor person votes Republican they hurt their own interests. I can see the argument coming that the Democrats aren't perfect, but you have to admit they are better for the working class.
@18 Everyone is aware of that. We have 2 corporate parties in the USA. The Democrats however put some safety and environmental regulations in place. And it was a Republican presidency that removed the regulations that would have prevented this spill.
@17 You really don't think working class Republicans vote against their own better interests? Or do you not think it's fair to point it out? Just as bad as the teabaggers? That's just hyperbole. Ignorance of the effects of elections is a huge problem in this country. Every time a poor person votes Republican they hurt their own interests. I can see the argument coming that the Democrats aren't perfect, but you have to admit they are better for the working class.
@18 Everyone is aware of that. We have 2 corporate parties in the USA. The Democrats however put some safety and environmental regulations in place. And it was a Republican presidency that removed the regulations that would have prevented this spill.
20
@ 19, the point is that you and everyone else here haven't a fucking clue as to how this guy votes. Yes, in general, the South is full of these people. Yes, in general, they've fucked themselves for this.
BUT... this isn't about generalities. It's about this specific guy. You can't tell me that he's a conservative just because he's a Southern fisherman any more than you can tell me some Seattle resident you find at random is a liberal. This is the kind of stereotyping teabaggers engage in. That is why those guys are as bad as them, and there's no exaggeration or hyperbole in calling them that.
You want to speak in generalities? Leave specific people who don't reveal their politics out of it.
BUT... this isn't about generalities. It's about this specific guy. You can't tell me that he's a conservative just because he's a Southern fisherman any more than you can tell me some Seattle resident you find at random is a liberal. This is the kind of stereotyping teabaggers engage in. That is why those guys are as bad as them, and there's no exaggeration or hyperbole in calling them that.
You want to speak in generalities? Leave specific people who don't reveal their politics out of it.
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