Date:         Thu, 09 Nov 1995 14:31:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@PO2.GI.COM>
Subject:      RE: Heater Ideas



>> > SET DEVICE=EXXON to screw up your environment.
>>
>> SET CAR=NODRIVE to stop screwing it up.
>> Or else quit whining about it! Exxon et. al. only supplies YOUR demand!
>
>Hmmm... remember the Chevron Valdez?  No, wait, it was the EXXON Valdez!
>I have not set wheel in an Exxon station since then.  Friendly serv or
>not.  Perhaps I'm punishing the wrong villain, perhaps not, but it makes
>me feel better.


An easy trap to fall into, Dave. As I recall, there have been lotsa
tanker spills over the years. I don't recall all the companies involved,
besides Exxon at Pr. William Sound of course. But I'd be surprised if
Exxon was the only one that ever spilled oil and messed up a shoreline.
Wasn't there once a big spill (more than one?) off the Santa Barbara
coast, involving a tanker, an oil platform, or a combination of the two?

The point I was trying to make, is that it's our huge demand for oil
that created the supertankers, offshore wells, oil shale wells, etc.
Pretending that any company(s) could supply this demand with zero spills,
is unrealistic to say the least. We, the people who drive cars, get goods
delivered by trucks & trains, turn on lights powered by oil-fired generating
stations, and heat our homes with oil, have brought it upon ourselves.

Blaming Exxon, or any other oil company, is like blaming a match for
starting a fire. Oil is bulky, messy, unpleasant stuff. Considering the
huge traffic in oil, it's almost surprising that there are so FEW accidents
with it. Out of the next 10,000 tanker voyages, I guarantee that there will
be one with the captain passed out drunk in his cabin, despite the most
stringent rules (and common sense) against it-- and despite the 
professionalism
and dedication of the other 9999 captains. Or maybe even a captain will be
suddenly taken ill at just the wrong time, and the ship will be in the
hands of a less-experienced man who screws up a tricky avoidance maneuver
and collides with another ship.

As long as we depend on oil, we are _guaranteeing_ ourselves oil spills.
Which company pulled the latest one, is almost immaterial.

AND... I favor a dependence on oil! It's the safest, cleanest, most
convenient energy source we have (except nuclear IMHO, but that's another
argument). Our lives (and environment) would be a lot worse if we had
never discovered oil anywhere, and had developed any other conventional
energy source instead.

Well, sorry-- that got me going. I'll shut up now...

Steve