Oil Spill Off Alaska Shore

The Exxon tragedy in Prince William Sound makes me livid and contorted with rage. Once again a previously undisturbed section of our planet is slaughtered so we can have a fossil fuel for our automobiles.

The true tragedy, though, lies in the feeling of helplessness I have, and others like me. There is nothing we can do, nothing at all. I read the news stories, I see the videotape, and I cry. I cry for the whales who will suffocate in a black mist they cannot comprehend. I cry for the seals and ducks and fish and birds, who because of needless human error, will agonizingly die. Exxon will not feel their deaths, nor will Shell, Chevron, or Mobil. People will lose their livelihoods and beautiful pieces of God’s handiwork will sink into Exxon’s waste.

The oil companies are a blight on this world. Our country should be leading the way into a new age of alternative fuels. Instead we set horrible examples that other countries like Mexico and Iraq and the Soviet Union duplicate with ease.

After speaking with some of the environmental engineers at my job I was more incensed. America has the technology to clean up these spills quickly and without the widespread damage a spill of this size causes. Since taxpayers balk at the extra taxes needed to finance development of these tools, the technology languishes and nature takes it on the chin.

I would certainly pay 10 cents per gallon more if I thought it would safeguard against a catastrophe like Prince William Sound. I wouldn’t expect the oil companies to finance a safeguard, however.

This world is finite. It will end someday, much to the chagrin of rapists like Exxon, who will then no longer be able to strip the land and sea of dollar signs for their fat pockets. Until I can get a good bike and forget my car, I’ll be driving only when I have to, and I will never set tire in an Exxon station as long as I live.

MIKE COSTELLO

Fullerton