steve graziano, author at planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球

oil and money

sat, 08 may 2010 16:00:00 +0000

there is a peculiar relationship with oil here in louisiana. the state makes money from fees, royalties and taxes paid by the oil-related industry. that industry stretches from the gulf, inland to the refineries. at a time when the state budget is being slashed, an increase in the price of oil puts more cash in the government’s coffers. that’s good news for people who depend on state-funded services like roads, security, and education. it’s also bad news for people who pay to put gasoline in their cars or buy anything that is any way associated with oil – and that’s pretty much everything.

there’s another peculiar relationship in louisiana and it’s playing out along the gulf shore. families depend on the water for their livelihoods. some are shrimpers and fishermen. others work on the rigs or the refineries. it’s probably difficult to vent your anger at an oil company that is involved with destroying your income, when it’s responsible for providing the income of another family member.

what do you think? what if your loyalties were split between making a living from a product that is threatened by another entity that helps you make a living?

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oil spill and basketball

fri, 07 may 2010 16:15:14 +0000

i was talking to willis reed, the former new york knicks basketball player last night. (don’t ask – it’s a long story.) he lives about as far north as you can go in louisiana but he was interested in my take on the oil spill. reed is an avid hunter and fisherman and truly loves the outdoors and i could sense his concern. when i said it could migrate out of the gulf and up the east coast, he just shook his head.

i think there’s a lot of that. people just shaking their head – trying to grasp the enormity of what is happening. i told him what i’ve told others – that this is a slow motion disaster and it will take a long time to determine the impact.

what do you think? when will we know the full extent of this spill?

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more on the oil spill from baton rouge

mon, 03 may 2010 00:38:46 +0000

it’s a little over 150 miles from where i live in baton rouge to venice, louisiana, the town where the gulf meets land. what i find interesting is how little
conversation i’m hearing here in town about the spill. i was at the annual baton rouge fest
for all today (sunday, may 2). it’s
a music and arts festival that attracts people from all over. no one was buzzing about it. no one was talking about the president
being down here. i had a
conversation with a professional photographer who telling me about where he
shoots his nature scenes…alligators, pelicans and things you don’t normally
see in new england or the great plains.
i asked him how close his spot was to the oil spill. nowhere near – he said – not in the
least bit concerned. you would
have thought that would have opened up a conversation, but i could have asked
about the drought in calgary for all he cared.yes””>

maybe it is because the spill is slow moving and we don’t really know what’s going to happen.
maybe people are waiting to worry until they know more. i’m used to hurricanes and tornadoes…things
that you plan for (hurricanes) and things that come and go quickly (tornadoes) that
leaves you with a very clear sense of what needs to be done.

all i can say is the reaction this ecological disaster is odd in the way it is being played out.
i’m also surprised that no one is calling for a boycott of bp gasoline
(or amoco – which bp owns.) not
that a boycott would be positive or negative.yes””> i’m simply surprised it hasn’t been floated.

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a view of the oil spill from south louisiana

fri, 30 apr 2010 22:03:19 +0000

if you want to know how serious the oil spill in the gulf is – all i have to do is mention the shrimp and petroleum festival. it’s held every year in morgan city, louisiana, and it pretty much sums up two of the most important products that come from these parts.

shrimp is big down here. if you’ve been to new orleans, lafayette, baton rouge or any of the small towns that dot the map, you’ve had some of the best meals you’ll find anywhere on earth. nearly all of them are smothered in shrimp. order grits at breakfast and you’re asked if you want shrimp with that. fried, boiled, or stuffed you better like shrimp. don’t think people aren’t worried about the shrimp industry – both because of the economy and the gastronomy. there are stories of folks buying a hundred pounds of the crustaceans to cram in their freezers.

i heard a policy maker today say that the oil spill has already reached the capitol building. he was talking metaphorically, of course, but regulation, safety and oil prices are even hotter topics today then they usually are.

it really is too early to tell what’s going to happen, but this is a disaster that is playing itself out in slow motion. our local media are doing a good job at reporting what they know. unfortunately, nobody knows a whole lot right now. a lot of oil is about to gum up the works, but how bad and for how long is anyone’s guess.

the buzz is about who’s going to pay for this mess. will bp be stuck with the tab, or will it fall to the taxpayers? will the price of oil go up and benefit the state’s ailing economy? will the weekend’s forecast of storms accelerate the slick’s progress to shore? we just don’t know. i’ll keep you posted on what the sense from baton rouge is. here’s the shameless plug for louisiana public broadcasting – visit our website for archives of news conferences, media reports and links. it’s at www.lpb.org/oilspill.

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