{"id":7700,"date":"2014-01-13T19:35:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T00:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=7700"},"modified":"2014-01-13T19:35:58","modified_gmt":"2014-01-14T00:35:58","slug":"say-what-west-virginia-isnt-as-important-as-chris-christies-shenanigans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/01\/say-what-west-virginia-isnt-as-important-as-chris-christies-shenanigans.html","title":{"rendered":"Say what? West Virginia isn’t as important as Chris Christie’s shenanigans?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>Okay — so it’s politics and soapbox time (you can tune out now, if engaged Buddhism doesn’t fit your needs today — I really get it).<\/p>\n

Sunday, NO ONE spent time on the disastrous West Virginia chemical spill. 300,000 American citizens fighting over potable bottled water<\/a> so fiercely that WalMart has to call police, and the big news is weather & Chris Christie pulling Mafioso-type politics?<\/p>\n

I don’t get it. Why is the environment not newsworthy? What is it about the future of our planet that we don’t care to talk about it? We are STILL doing these insane things! Fracking, Pipelines that will certainly break at some point. And precipitate similar disasters. Not ‘if,’ but WHEN. Accidents happen, and we have no fall-back plans.<\/p>\n

The Gulf states are\u00a0still\u00a0<\/em> dealing with (well,\u00a0trying\u00a0<\/em>to deal with) the fallout from the BP spill<\/a>. Most — if not all — small family industries & businesses dependent on the Gulf ecology are down the tubes. I could go on in detail, but this information is readily available from impeccable sources: National Geographic, Smithsonian, Discover, Wired. If you’re a research-based journal, the facts are there. The accompanying photo <\/a>is from the Christian Science Monitor, a reputably neutral source.<\/p>\n

\""Tar<\/a>
“Tar balls lie mixed with shells on the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., in this June 11 file photo. Three years after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the petroleum giant and the Coast Guard say extraordinary cleanup operations in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi are done. Louisiana officials want the effort to continue.”
Dave Martin\/AP\/File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So I’ve come once again, and this is an ongoing challenge for me, to the conclusion that America hates science. Truly dislikes it. Loves the technology scientific research produces, and the medical advances. The PRODUCTS — which can be commercialised — we’re great with. But the process? I have NO evidence that ordinary people give a rat’s patootie, as my Aunt Alene used to say.<\/p>\n

We don’t ‘believe’ in so many accepted scientific facts that it’s frightening. Many Americans (22 million!) still believe the moon landings were faked<\/a>! Not to mention how many don’t believe in climate change, don’t believe in evolution, and generally don’t believe in science.<\/p>\n

Still…. You’d think folks would believe that 300,000 American men, women, & children deserve clean water. And that the rest of us do too. Somehow, I thought that was an inalienable right. Guess Chris Christie is more interesting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Okay — so it’s politics and soapbox time (you can tune out now, if engaged Buddhism doesn’t fit your needs today — I really get it). Sunday, NO ONE spent time on the disastrous West Virginia chemical spill. 300,000 American citizens fighting over potable bottled water so fiercely that WalMart has to call police, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166,98],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,1228,1211],"class_list":["post-7700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engaged-buddhism","category-environmentalism","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-engaged-buddhism","tag-environmentalism"],"yoast_head":"\nSay what? 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