Gulf drilling has nothing on beach bombing

Well, for about a month now, we’ve heard from the “hand-holder’s chorus” — some of whom list themselves as dual-citizens (Seagrove and somewhere in Utah,.. or someplace else) as though that gives them super-awareness-and-wisdom of all things they drive by or fly over (maybe reporter Deborah Wheeler should determine where they vote or whether they even own property here at all … or are they merely “Snowbirds” and vacationers with birthdays and worldly opinions on ALL things wafting over the open bottle?)

Then we have some “chorus” members who do in fact actually live here and purport to love the beach.

And where are the “Save The Turtles” people? They will have to walk a little deeper out into the water since a lot of their precious turtles probably aren’t making it through the military bombing range on the eastern half of the Gulf  (the wine-sippers and label readers probably think “that noise” is just echoing thunder from some far off tropical island or rainforest paradise “you know how sound carries far over water”)

And what about the hundreds upon hundreds of porpoise schools we see passing by our beaches from time to time, or large schools of sharks at other times, or even any other assortment of marine life and sea birds the Gulf is famous for? 

How well do you think this marine wildlife makes out on the Gulf bombing range? 

The regularity of the bombing sorties no doubt turns untold numbers of this precious marine life into HUGE chum-fields, which very soon leave no evidence that these creatures ever existed at all. Think about that sometimes with your elbows on the bar during “Happy Hour.”

Can we even rationalize that the weaponry ordinance junk regularly sinking to the Gulf floor could be a marine habitat construction work in progress, even as we destroy that wildlife in the process?

Well, one thing is certain: The Gulf military bombing practice will ensure our safety if a terrorist fleet of dhows ever attempts to sail toward our Gulf beaches...

On a related topic, I’m sorry to say that the old adage “Even bad publicity is good publicity” holds true (just ask Hollywood and Washington D.C., “Hollywood East,” about that).

The result of this back and forth, therefore, will no doubt be a long line of “hand-holders” ringing the Gulf from Naples, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas, and also a “packed house” ringing the bell at “Happy Hour.”

Facts, although often pesky, are irrefutable and require the use of logic and common sense in order to see the “big picture” and not be “sidetracked” by parochial thinking and “quick-trigger” opinions “shot from the hip.” 

For all of you “jump-to-conclusion” types, an offshore distance limitation mandate on “drilling” should rightly be a prerequisite.

But technology trumps the local “Not-In-My-Backyard” mentality, and energy resource technology is among the best in the world today. There hasn’t been an Exxon-Valdez type incident since March 1989 and oil exploration technology is constantly improved upon. 

Nuclear energy is another technologically and historically safe energy resource option that has irrationally suffered under NIMBY opinionated “doomsday predictions” and conservationist (Sierra Club type) fear-mongering. 

R. Shaffer is a Panama City Beach resident.