Where have all the flowers gone?

We all know the refrain of the song "Where have all the flowers gone":

"When will they ever learn?"

I have to admit that I regard the expressed grief over the damage caused by the oil spill as somewhat disingenuous. Harkening back to the Exxon Valdez disaster in Prince William Sound in 1989, one would think that if those in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida truly treasured their ecological heritage and the associated value of tourism to the coastal areas, they would have had the foresight to envision just such a disaster as an oil rig explosion. These regions could have taken some proactive measures a long time ago. 

It is always easier to cry over spilt milk (or oil, in this case) then to consider the benefits of a spill-proof cover on the bottle or carton. So once again we have a terrible situation that threatens wild life, eco-systems, people, jobs and tourism. Once again, we destroy a piece of our planet's beauty and deny appreciation of nature, culture, and recreation to our children. And then we wonder why movies such as Avatar are so popular. One answer is that computerized visions of nature and the freedom of indigenous populations may be all we have in the years to come. 

So sad.

- Steve Gillick, President and COO, CITC