Keep Your Stinkin’ Oil
October 10th, 2006 by Vihar ShethPosted in Energy, Society
It takes guts to refuse a basic necessity on principal, but that’s what some Alaskans are doing. According to this article about some very determined Eskimo and Indian villages, ‘a few of the small communities want to refuse free heating oil from Venezuela, on the patriotic principle that no foreigner has the right to call their president “the devil.”‘
Devil, schmevil. It’s semantics. I think we all know that Bush is the devil, it’s just that the Alaskans are pissed someone else is calling him a name that should be reserved, in their opinion, only for Americans. For example, wouldn’t you be angry if someone, say a Venezuelan dictator, called your mom “mom” too? I think you get what I’m talking about, and so does this woman.
“As a citizen of this country, you can have your own opinion of our president and our country. But I don’t want a foreigner coming in here and bashing us,” said Justine Gunderson, administrator for the tribal council in the Aleut village of Nelson Lagoon. “Even though we’re in economically dire straits, it was the right choice to make.”
On the flip side, it seems that Chavez has done some things even good ol’ American oil companies refuse to do.
Over the past two years, Citgo, the Venezuelan government’s Texas-based oil subsidiary, has given millions of gallons of discounted heating oil to the poor in several states and cities — including New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine — in what is widely seen as an effort by Chavez to embarrass and irritate the U.S. government and make himself look good.
I for one think Chavez should continue his charitable ways and give discounted heating oil to the poor in said states and cities until they start sweating. The Alaskans’ refusal to accept or buy oil from Citgo could end up hurting them though.
Joan Eddy, principal and teacher at Nelson Lagoon’s school, said most buildings in town were erected 30 to 40 years ago, which makes them pretty old, considering how they get battered by the constant 20-25 mph wind coming off the ocean. Their heating systems are aging, too. She noted the fuel barge is late arriving this year, and said residents are turning on their furnaces for only a few hours in the morning and at night. “We’re conserving as much as we can because we are concerned. It looks like it’s going to be a snowy winter and cold,” she said.
If the igloo-ites can hold out long enough their friends to the south should be able to heat up that part of the globe to a nice and toasty temperature.
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