My nephew sent me this pic today.

Living in Louisiana, I fear we all don't realize what a lasting effect this is going to have for a very long time.  Seafood industry, endangered animals, wetlands, beaches, food chains.....it is not going to be a quick fix and there is so much oil, I don't think we know how to get rid of it all. 

That picture is quite appropriate.

I have to say that I hope this turns out to be the first
substantial blow to the continued use of fossil fuels and
will accelerate the push to make very real technologies
like electric cars an affordable reality. We have the
technology. The excuses have all but run out.

The thinking has seemed to be: we can't suddenly overnight eliminate our need for oil.  Therefore, we shouldn't try to do it at all.

I'm thinking the statistics concerning the number of lives lost and evironmental devastation from fossils fuels is quite more significant that that of nuclear power.  Does anyone want to do some research on that one for me?

   Finding an alternative fuel source has often been a question on my mind, as the fact that oil-based fuels are becoming more expensive and the risks involved in extracting oil are being made all too obvious.  At the same time, however, we depend on oil for other things, including the clothes we wear, the computers we're using, and even much of the power being generated in order to manufacture things.  At the present time, even with all the alternatives that're out there, I think there's still too much inertia resisting the pressure towards implementing those technologies.

   I'd love to see the day that someone finds a way to produce cheaper, longer-lasting batteries capable of moving a motorized vehicle for up to a week or two before needing a recharge, or a power plant which runs on a miniature nuclear reactor which is safer than those behemoths that dot our landscape.  If you can run a digital watch on a single battery for up to two years or more, certainly someone can find a way to make a battery-driven car that performs as well as any gasoline-powered model currently in use.

I am stealing this with your approval. I like the visual and it helps get the point across.