Overloaded Vessel

By Ronald E. Hignight

There is nothing more egregious and dangerous than a Captain who overloads his vessel placing the vessel, himself and his passengers in peril. The BP oil disaster brings into focus how human beings have overloaded our vessel – the earth – and are placing our vessel in peril.
We are, in our haste to increase petroleum production, taking short cuts producing such disasters daily. The BP disaster may pass, as all such disasters tend to do but, what will we learn from the disaster?
The vast majority of our scientists have warned that human beings are responsible for the pending Climate Change yet we listen, instead, to the politicians and entrepreneurs debunk the warning and drill on.
We have also been warned by various national and international agencies that we have passed Peak Oil production point and that the earth’s available oil is being consumed exponentially and without recovery, at the current rate of 9% per year. By 2020, there may be no more recoverable oil.
Our Oceans are in decline experiencing a collapse of their ecosystems long before the BP Oil Spill disaster. In 2004, the Oceans had lost 20% of their historical coral reefs. Another 40% of the reefs, the building blocks of our fisheries, will be lost before the end of this decade.
Our earth has lost 50% of its Forests, the consumption of which, accounts for over 25% of the Greenhouse effects inducing Climate Change. Because of Climate Change, we are losing arable lands and producing a potential Food Crisis.
Lastly, we are simply Over Populated. There are close to 7 Billion people on this overloaded earth where a scant 50 years ago, there were only 3 Billion people.
A Captain has an opportunity, before leaving port, to decide whether his vessel is safe or overloaded and in danger of capsizing. Climate Change, Peak Oil, Oceans in Decline, Deforestation, Food Crisis and Over Population has together, if not individually, overloaded our vessel and it is time for the Captain to make sound decisions – not convenient and expedient decisions.