A Big Red Carpet Welcome to Seattle for Shell's Arctic Fleet (2015, co-op)

[treuphax]

Am I crazy for wanting to be part of a well-mannered and good-humored counter protest to support and show appreciation for Shell and the energy industry? I have a little kayak and could have some signs printed today. Anybody want to join me tomorrow for a nice day out on the water for a good cause?

We should all be quite grateful for the oil and gas industry for supplying the energy we need. Without them we'd be cold, hungry and bored.

Even those sanctimonious protesters depend on it. Their organic groceries were likely delivered to their food co-op on trucks fueled by diesel. Their iPhones flown in from the far-east on planes fueled by kerosene. The protesters' kayaks are all even made of plastics. You do know where that comes from I hope?

I'm all for conservation. That's part of being a genuine conservative - not wasting things like our natural patrimony. Indeed let's manage it wisely so we can leave some of that good go-juice left for the kids and grandkids so they too can enjoy a warm bath, mobility and the rest of the fruits of our modern industrial economy.

We should appreciate the sacrifice and hardship that the workers in oil and gas make to deliver us our energy. Working in places like frozen Alaska and North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico and the deserts of the Middle East is difficult and risky. Everybody remembers the damage to nature from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Nature has largely recovered, but the men who perished in that accident are still lost.

Instead of protesting the producers who just deliver what we consumers demand as efficiently as possible, they should protest consumers. The corporations are just our humble servants; they deliver the goods that we demand.

[homesinseattle]

You aren't crazy but is that really something to celebrate so strongly? There is plenty of oil without having to drill in the Arctic. I'm not anti oil, I use the stuff every day. I am anti drilling for oil in incredibly sensitive areas. Here's some fun morning reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/us...ling.html?_r=0

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by treuphax

Am I crazy for wanting to be part of a well-mannered and good-humored counter protest to support and show appreciation for Shell and the energy industry? I have a little kayak and could have some signs printed today. Anybody want to join me tomorrow for a nice day out on the water for a good cause?

We should all be quite grateful for the oil and gas industry for supplying the energy we need. Without them we'd be cold, hungry and bored.

Even those sanctimonious protesters depend on it. Their organic groceries were likely delivered to their food co-op on trucks fueled by diesel. Their iPhones flown in from the far-east on planes fueled by kerosene. The protesters' kayaks are all even made of plastics. You do know where that comes from I hope?

I'm all for conservation. That's part of being a genuine conservative - not wasting things like our natural patrimony. Indeed let's manage it wisely so we can leave some of that good go-juice left for the kids and grandkids so they too can enjoy a warm bath, mobility and the rest of the fruits of our modern industrial economy.

We should appreciate the sacrifice and hardship that the workers in oil and gas make to deliver us our energy. Working in places like frozen Alaska and North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico and the deserts of the Middle East is difficult and risky. Everybody remembers the damage to nature from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Nature has largely recovered, but the men who perished in that accident are still lost.

Instead of protesting the producers who just deliver what we consumers demand as efficiently as possible, they should protest consumers. The corporations are just our humble servants; they deliver the goods that we demand.

One interesting irony is the amount of fuel used by Greenpeace to follow it from Hawaii. I wonder if the news tomorrow-Monday will show all of the cars parked in the area by the kayakers. Since no offshore drilling can be done without federal permits, they should be protesting in D.C., but then there is no water to play in there.

[GatsbyGatz]

These protesters are sincere when they use their smartphones to Tweet and Facebook about how anti-oil they are, all-the-while ignoring the fact that their smartphones (and the components that make up their phones) are all manufactured in countries that rely on oil and pollute heavily.

I guess you can call these people environmental-NIMBYs. They're fine with giving patronage to goods produced in other people's countries that rely on oil, just as long as they don't have to see it in their own city. Sweet hypocrisy.

[mrman78]

Well, the funniest part to me was the fact the 'kayak-tivists' seemed oblivious to the fact their kayaks are made from petroleum... At least the duwamish tribe protested in wooden canoes. Sometimes I wonder about people and how they don't think when they protest something lol!

[dubfan]

Environmentalists: biting the hand that feeds them since 1962.

[jdhpa]

Originally Posted by GatsbyGatz

They're fine with giving patronage to goods produced in other people's countries that rely on oil, just as long as they don't have to see it in their own city.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, that is my conclusion as well.