… And they strike back at us anywhere and everywhere.
A gas explosion in a San Francisco Suburb last night destroyed an entire city block, killing at least 6 people and destroying over 50 homes. The San Bruno disaster started at 6pm when a fireball erupted from a ruptured gas line, shooting flames 1000 feet into the air.
Today it looks like a war zone – the aftermath of an epic battle raged between firefighters and the dangerous chemicals we keep so tantalizingly close. Burned out cars, homes reduced to rubble, a 15′ crater in the ground – we suffered a deadly attack – by who?
“If it is ultimately determined that we were responsible for the cause of the incident, we will take accountability,” Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said in an e-mailed statement Thursday evening. But later Thursday the company’s president, Christopher Johns, said he didn’t know what sparked the explosion.
Haven’t we learned that it hardly matters what company is in charge? Isn’t it time to levy strict punishments on the industry that keeps us fixed, and on politicians that refuse to provide alternatives?
Take a second this morning, on the eve of 9-11, on the eve of the national day of service, on eve of koran burning day, and ask yourself at what cost fossil fuels become worth it? Look at these photos and ponder.
A friend of mine used to joke that global warming is caused by the angry souls of dinosaurs who don’t want to be disturbed from their geologic resting places. After this year of deadly disasters, not to mention record heat and flooding and forest fires and droughts around the world, that doesn’t seem so absurd anymore.
Fossil fuels subsidize government. Those people died so that civil servants might live well.
Uh, oil companies are raking in record profits while almost every government is suffering huge budget problems. Not sure what point you’re trying to make.
Without oil and gas revenue, their budget problems would be huger.
Income taxes are good, taxes on goods are good, but taxes on bads make governments want to preserve them.