Letter to the Editor: Why?
BY Glen Bays, Stillwater
Thursday, February 21, 2013
2/21/13 at 7:55 AM
Having read the World's Feb. 12 report on the Keystone Pipeline, I felt let down. Why, I wondered, has the paper not assigned its own reporter to cover this major story?
Some of the "protesters" come from distant places. Just to get arrested? Or could they be canaries in the coal mine? Bitumen-laden tar sands are "a 'nother kind of smoke," as my favorite teacher labeled things he saw dangerous to humans and their environment.
Two Oklahomans, making statements, locked themselves to machines at the pipeline. One is a retired teacher from Norman. The other is a youth pastor from Warner. They don't seem like "crazies" to me. I'd like to know why they did it.
Both "locking" protests occurred near the North Canadian River. Why there? Is it a way of saying, "don't let a Tar Sands spill ruin Lake Eufaula?"
Such a spill in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010 ruined a community, reportedly killing 17 people within two years.
The Ponca City oil refinery reportedly is processing some of the Tar Sands product from Canada. Winds may carry unhealthy, even poisonous, particles toward Tulsa. Will Tulsans and others, east and north of the refinery, be told about this?
A writer for an international periodical recently interviewed 12 of the most dedicated pipeline protesters. His article will be published within 60 days. I hope to see investigative reporting done by the World before then.
Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
