Why We Need to Quit Fossil Fuels

There is talk that the Gulf oil disaster looks less grim, but the eyes of brown pelicans, their bodies cloaked in oil, have been staring at us from news reports for weeks. Many ask why something as “low-tech” as Dawn dishwashing liquid is the cleaning solution of choice.

But the real question about how to help wildlife after the spill is not about which cleaning solution works best. It is: How do we cope with the long-lasting effects of the oil spill on birds and other wildlife, their food sources and their habitat?

Even after many years of various oil spills, we do not have a solution — high-tech or low-tech — that addresses the deeper effects. The best solution is to avoid spills in the first place, and that means we need to stop our addiction to oil.