You spend your weekly paycheck and turn your eyes away
From the crisis we've created with our self-indulgent ways
Living like there's no tomorrow, well that just might be the case
Now they're tearing down the forests and the jungles of Brazil
Without a second thought about the species that they kill
But extinction is forever and still the forests fall
And push it ever closer to extinction for us all...
Now the politicians bicker on the early evening news
Pledging their allegiance to whoever they can use
The corporate bosses snicker as they watch the profits soar
They don't care what they make next month just as long as it is more
They take our farms and marshlands, drive nature to the wall
Just so they can build another %@##@&^ shopping mall
And it doesn't seem to matter if they cannot see the stars
As long as they can keep on building obsolescent cars...
Now you cannot drink the water and you cannot breathe the air
The sky is ripping open and you still don't seem to care
The soil is tired and toxic and unable to provide
The clock is running out and there is nowhere left to hide
Now there's laws that we must live by and they're not the laws of man
Can't you see the shadow that moves across this land
The future is upon us and there's so much we must do
And you know I can't ignore it and my friend neither can you
Unless you're blind to the truth, blind to the truth
And you can't see nothing
You're so blind to the truth, blind to the truth
But the judgment day is coming
"Blind To The Truth" - Dan Fogelberg (1990)
There has been not much exciting for me to talk about unless I look at the Gulf of Mexico, a 20-minute drive from my home or a five-minute drive from my office.
So far we have been more fortunate than our neighbors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. However, many cities and families whose livelihoods depend on fishing, tourism, or a blend of the two are feeling the pain.
I've heard a few race directors (including my PRM partners) begin to ask how the Mississippi Canyon 252 spill may affect upcoming events. We were talking about Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach, which (I guess) just received the first touch of BP's anti-largesse. You're talking a million-plus dollars which have been invested a year in advance for a day in Bay County which is scheduled not more than four months from today...and that's only non-refundable entry fees to the fine folks at World Triathlon Corporation and Active.com. Top that with another million-plus in hotel and condominium revenues, and perhaps another couple million dollars in incidentals such as rental vehicles, food/beverage, shopping, ancillary entertainment for family members, and it starts to look like a really bad day on the horizon. Immediately after my friend mentioned IM FL I started to think about the IM70.3 World Championships which take place around the same time, give or take a week, down in Clearwater Beach. Once again, the same "off the top of my head" financial statistics or estimates I quoted for IM FL also rings identically true for that event...not to mention the lost television revenues from NBC, who has seen fit to cover the event since its inception. Ten million here, ten million there, next thing you know you're talking about real money.
For us, we're adapting to the conditions and making changes as needed. Other events may not be so fortunate.
Regardless of what your views on politics or the environment, I believe we can agree something positive needs to be accomplished, and quickly, before the quality of life to which we have become accustomed is drastically...and perhaps irreversibly...changed.
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