The Good, The Bad, and Under the Radar

Everyone knows how congress had been considering this $700 billion bail-out plan to help the financial market out of the mess it made of itself; well congress has also been considering another important issue. The issue of whether or not to lift the ban on oil-drilling in the ocean. Well, congress decided to lift the ban, so now oil companies are free to drill for oil in the ocean. Because of the presidential debates and the new bail-out plan, the decision to lift the ban on ocean drilling was shooed through the door without anyone batting an eye at it. I wonder if congress has considered the environmental repercussions of this move. While allowing oil-drilling in the ocean can be strong move to break our dependence on foreign oil, I am not sure that it is a permanent or efficient solution. Instead of breaking the hold of foreign oil, why not break the hold of oil all together? What happened to all that talk about innovative new ways to get energy, and being an eco-friendly society? It seems that everyone, including myself, has gotten caught up in a whirl-wind of political mud-slinging and allowed important issues and decisions go unnoticed. It makes me think we all shouldn't try to be more vigilant about what is actually going on in our country, and perhaps be more involved in the way that it is run. Instead of letting elected officials pursue personal agendas, they should be held accountable for upholding the public good and doing what is right. It is a complicated time for our country and that allows things to pass and take effect under the radar before anyone knows what happened.