“We . . . are turning our planet into a smoking, glowing, oily mess . . . plundering Mother Earth of her treasures . . . refusing to recognize the growing evidence that our reliance on oil, coal and nuclear threatens our health, our security, our economy, our nation and the world,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives. Referring specifically to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he continued, “Must we wait until all coastal areas are ruined, all fish, all birds, all animals are injured and killed, before we realize that drilling presents a threat to the fragile ecology of life? We cannot afford to passively witness the destruction of our natural environment, because written in the oily sands of the Gulf is the degrading of all life on the planet. Our world exists through fragile, interconnected systems of life. Our survival depends upon reconciliation with, not exploitation of, the natural world.” Kucinich points out that “it is not as though there are no alternatives. Markets and industries have conspired for years to shelve the massive introduction of wind and solar technologies.” (As reprinted on The Huffington Post)