A Nature Trip, a Big Discovery, and a Disclosure
07 February 2006 9:36 am by Taylor Marsh
UPDATE (6.25.06): It’s time to update the disclosure portion of this post. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to Robert Redford, when he was in D.C. talking about the Apollo Alliance, and former Vice President Al Gore, during a blogger conference call, just this past Friday. I've also done a lot of research on climate crisis, which has brought me to a point of serious and potentially influential (one can hope) activism on the issue. Until the gas prices spiked just this past spring, I only received a couple of emails about gas prices and the oil industry's role in prices at the pump, as well as global warming. Recently this has changed, partically due to the growing influence of people like Redford and Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” This is an issue that affects all of us, but for me, it personally affects my family.
As I said in the post below in early February, my sister's husband is one of the most powerful oil executives in the world, working for Exxon-Mobil. He is also one of the most honorable people I know. The conflict here, I realize, is perplexing. However, let me also add that if it weren't for my sister and her husband's largesse, there are moments in my life that would have been dangerously desperate.
Recently, I've now come out strongly behind Redford and Gore's environmental efforts, which puts me on a collision course with two people I love very much. Frankly, we don't talk politics very much because to say we are on opposite sides is an understatement. But we especially don't talk about climate crisis, for obvious reasons. That won't change, however, my involvement in the issue has dramatically shifted, as I've told them both just recently. My family and I will find some way to deal with the conflict, because we love one another.
Regardless of the personal outcome and the growing pains that lie within, my course is set and my objective is clear. I'm going to speak out loud and often and help Redford's Apollo Alliance and Al Gore's efforts whenever I can, no-holds-barred. I just wanted it to be clear where I stand.
“A lot of what we provide is information,
but it's their future,” he said. “We are trying to empower them to
be the long-term stewards of their mountain range. Is it going to be difficult?
You bet.” People like Mr. Poole agree. When it comes to new species, he
said: “The challenge is not finding them but working out how to protect
them. When we find them, that's when our job begins, working with the government
to say, 'How can we help you protect these areas?'” New Birds of Paradise, Frogs and Giant Flowers!
Birds are a thing with us. We love them. I've fed birds from city
garden patios for over 25 years. So, when I come upon an article or discovery
in the nature world, I just think it's news, worth talking about and appreciating.
Some of the other pictures in the links here are beyond spectacular. The frogs,
just about everything screams hope, miracle and the reason we want to save our
environment. I think about that a lot every time my husband fires up his 1-ton
truck. It's the most energy friendly truck they make, a diesel, which only has to be smog checked every 2 years, but it is still a gas
guzzler. However, as I said on radio the other day, a hybrid hasn't been built
to haul the things he pulls for his business.
We have been so lazy in our efforts
towards energy transference. It wasn't long ago when the entire country collectively
laughed at Al Gore's statement about getting rid of the combustion engine. Now
James Carville is even talking about nuclear. Okay, but what are you going to
do with the waste? Nevada doesn't want it and Yucca Mountain may have been conceived
and built, but it can't safely house it. Find a solution for that and
then we can talk. Unless, of course, you want nuclear waste in your backyard.
As for the oil industry, I'm stunned I don't get more emails on
the subject, but I don't. I've gotten just a handful over the many years I've
been online. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have a conflict of interest
on oil. My sister's husband is one of the most influential oil executives in
the world, and nothing is more important than honoring my family and two people
who have been more generous to me, in times of deep despair, than anyone. The other thing is that I know this man and I can tell you without reservation or hesitation that he is one of the most scrupulous, honest and hard working individuals in any industry on planet earth. To demonize all oil executives is just wrong and I won't, especially when I know people who are devoted to this country and who also work in big oil. Frankly, I
also get a little nauseated when Americans yell at the oil industry, then fire
up their cars, without a thought or care in the world. Sickened when Americans
elect oil men to the White House twice, while throwing aside the foremost conservationist
politician in the country, Al Gore. If Americans wanted to do something about energy they wouldn't elect oil men. But that said, the profits recently reported
by big oil boggle the mind. I also don't understand and abjectly reject the moral bankruptcy attached to reports that the Exxon Mobil Corp. is fighting the $5
billion jury judgment over the Exxon Valdez. I just don't understand it and never will.
But I digress… This nature story is wonderful and I invite you to take a break from
the insanity to peek into a lost recently found world paradise. And while you're watching thank Dr.
Bruce Beehler, who has devoted the last 25 years to finding a new paradise in
New Guinea. If you have children, please take a trip through the latest nature
finds with them and also visit Conservation
International, the organization that runs the Bronx Zoo. And just wait until
your little person sees the frogs!
As for conservation, there is so much more
we can do and talking about our “addiction to oil” isn't going to
get it done.
