Naomi Klein: The earth is bleeding

[marmar]

from NOW Toronto:



The earth is bleeding
Gulf Coast saga is waking us up to the reality that our planet is not a machine

By Naomi Klein


Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana – Everyone gathered for the town hall meeting had been repeatedly instructed to show civility to the gentlemen from BP and the federal government.

The officials had made time in their busy schedules to come to this high school gymnasium on a Tuesday night in this, one of many coastal communities where brown poison was slithering through the marshes in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion April 20.

And for a while the crowd, mostly made up of fishing families, listened patiently to Larry Thomas, a genial BP public relations flack, as he told them that he was committed to “doing better” to process their claims for lost revenue.

They heard out the suit from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency as he informed them that, contrary to what they have read, the chemical dispersant being sprayed on the oil was perfectly safe.

But patience started running out by the third time Ed Stanton, a U.S. Coast Guard captain, took the podium to reassure them that “the Coast Guard intends to make sure that BP cleans it up.”

“Put it in writing!” someone shouted out. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=175854