Land of tricked-out mowers and blown-out oil wells

I always enjoy Wendy Bounds' well-written articles in The Wall Street Journal.

Here is a link to her balanced, 6/14/10 article describing proliferation of "super" (lawn) mowers in parts of the U.S. (example: Ridiculousburg, Ohio, (zip) EIEIO):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704575304575296833523847028.html

(Old photo: Google/LIFE archives)

"Pres. of Wesleyan Univ. taking his family for a ride on the mower.

Location:	Middletown, CT, US
Date taken:	December 1968
Photographer:	Bob Gomel"

For me, this on-line comment (as appended to the article, emphasis added) sums up the ongoing, general disconnect nicely. I.e., between the Gulf ("corner-cutting", mile-deep, exploratory oil well) disaster and many Americans' "environmental" behavior:  

"I guess (individual named in article) and all the other folks purchasing these ridiculous machines haven't yet grasped the link between their lawn obsession and the Gulf oil spill. This disaster in the Gulf is our collective responsibility and we should all be ashamed of the way we have allowed ourselves to get "addicted to oil", (as W said).
Go ahead, buy a super mower, buy a pickup truck that is twice as much truck as you need, mow your 12 acres of grass, then relax with a frosty beer and turn on a video of the oil spill."

-- Dave Fisher (WSJ commenter)

Bonus: Another applicable one? (Different commenter re same article:)

"Small minds on big machines. How appropriate."

Oil disaster: Anger? Yes. Changed behavior? Unlikely.

Three links. One underlying theme: 

-- Image (above) from 6/3/10 article: "Oil Currents Likely to Carry Oil Along Atlantic Coast" ,The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
"The modeling results are captured in a series of dramatic animations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and collaborators." 
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under sponsorship by the National Science Foundation.

-- Recent Gallup organization poll results for survey on increased drilling for oil and gas off U.S. coasts. (Side note: When will someone ask a poll question that separates offshore gas drilling from oil drilling?) Link to poll results: http://www.gallup.com/poll/137885/Americans-Divided-Increased-Coastal-Oil-Drilling.aspx
6/10 update: Some encouraging poll results via this linked 6/9/09 MSNBC/Washington Post article. But how long will the expressed sentiment really last? And will it translate into personal action? (Link) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37598363/

-- Another recent survey showing U.S. consumers "at the bottom" (i.e., dead last) in environmental behavior (link): http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2010/06/greendex-2010-environmental-survey-national-geographic-society-globescan-consumer-behavior.html

Ask yourself: Why are they "punching" mile-deep exploratory oil wells in the ocean? (Or trying to in ANWR...) Could a primary reason be....so Mom and Dad can sit up high in thier matching Escalades??  Be sure to (try to) justify that "responsible" behavior to your kids/grand-kids. (As they find news stories about long-lasting environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico. Link to a current article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37535767/from/RSS/)
(BTW, a hybrid Escalade is no solution...)

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The author of this work has dedicated it to the public by waiving all of his or her rights to the work under copyright law and all related or neighboring legal rights he or she had in the work, to the extent allowable by law. 

6/10 update: (Certain) Hummer, Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade drivers (etc.): HAHAHAHAHA (link): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100608/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_recall 

These over-sized things (smaller version shown) take a lot of energy to heat/cool/maintain:

photographer, John Delano


Read more here. Increased offshore oil drilling will not lower your U.S. gasoline prices. Ocean oil drilling is not "safe". Rampant consumerism promotes risky offshore oil exploration/extraction.