[Dialogue] small signs

[opossum2 at att.net]

Colleagues,

I got a degree in geology in 1970.  Of the intervening 36 years, I've spent approximately 30 working in some quarter of the petroleum exploration industry.  As someone who tries to be socially responsible and fairly green, this continually raises the question from me of how I reconcile the two.  Obviously, I don't, totally, but I enjoy doing a lot of what I do, and making a pretty good living at it.  I find myself somewhat in the position of some of my friends, who are long-time registered Republicans and refuse to "leave" the party, but have found themselves voting solidly Democratic over the last 15-odd years out of conscience, and are still trying to save the party from its ultra-right wing.  

The reason for this posting is that I do see a few small signs of hope that the human race, and especially that microscopic part of it that wields real power, may be making some intelligent choices for a change.  The list so far:

1.  The Feds have postponed a scheduled oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to allow more time for environmental impact studies.  This was part of an out-of-court settlement with the government of the state of Louisiana.  This is the first time in history that a producing state has caused the Feds to put off a lease sale.

2.  Prop 87 on the ballot in California.  California taxes gasoline and petroleum products fairly heavily, but until now it has not had a straightforward extraction tax.  California is usually a bellwether for trends and changing opinions.  It will be very interesting to see if such an automobile-addicted culture can reconcile heavier taxation of petroleum products (and costs) with conservation.

3.  The city of London has for some time levied a congestion tax of 10 pounds/day on private vehicles driven into the central city.  Now the borough of Richmond (fairly affluent SW suburb of London) is thinking of levying a fee of approximately 500 pounds annually on houseshold that drive SUVs or that own more than two cars.

Finally, I am generally encouraged by other very local signs.  In my workplace, we have a group of lofty thinkers called the "Design Team", which is our term for R&D.  These guys are split approximately 50-50 between the ones who drive SUVs and the ones who drive smaller hybrid sedans.  In Houston, that would have been unimaginable 5 years ago.

Just some random thoughts on a very important question.

Grace and Peace,

Steve Rhea

Houston,  Tx.

"Officially" in the OE 1970-77.  Lots of Movement experience on either side of that.
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