Spirituality and Ecological Hope

Fostering Ecological Hope

Today from Margaret Swedish:

Another indication of how the quest for oil will impact international politics, Japan is resisting sanctions against Iran because it is the country’s most important oil customer.  “Japan consumes 22 percent of Iran’s oil exports,” according to the Washington Post, and has a major investment in developing oil fields there.

The US is trying to persuade Japan to join the international community in punitive measures against Iran unless the Iranian government gives up its plan to enrich uranium.

Interesting also is one of the reasons for Japan’s concern.  China is Iran’s second leading foreign oil customer and Japan fears that if it steps out, China will step in. (If you missed it, more on China's quest for oil and how it impacts international efforts to defend human rights in the June 14 post just below).

What’s interesting about this is how the need for oil shapes the struggle to come up with a coherent international approach to the presumed threat of Iran’s nuclear program.  And it reemphasizes the profound dangers inherent in the geological reality that so much oil lies in the ground of such a violent and unstable part of the world.

The Bush administration itself has had a great comeuppance, thinking it could so easily invade Iraq, change the government there, and take control of the oil fields in favor of US energy companies.  Now today we reach 2,500 US troops dead in the attempt, with more to come, nearly 20,000 wounded, some horribly, thousands more traumatized – and then there’s the tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi dead.

And still no hope the war will end any time soon, or that Iraqi lives will be spared more violence, more misery, more oppression.

Think about this when you put gas in your car.  I do, all the time.  Imagine if the money we have invested in wreaking so much destruction in the Persian Gulf region (the figure could surpass one trillion dollars, most of it debt for your children and their children’s children) had instead been invested in alternative renewable and ecologically sound energy alternatives, mass transit systems, 50-100 mpg automobiles, and redesign of car-dependent suburbs, among other things.

War doesn’t bring peace, and war for oil does not resolve our energy problems. Ain’t no ecological hope there.

 Ecological Hope is a project of the Center for New Creation.  Donations are tax deductible (checks made out to the Center, earmarked Ecological Hope), and can be sent in care of the PO Box in the contact info on this blog.