A Lesson from Bayocean, OR
By Thom Hartmann A...
If you've never heard of the city of Bayocean, Oregon, you're probably not alone. By 1960, the last home in that once-booming city disappeared into the ocean, but there's an important lesson to be learned from Bayocean that's still valuable today.
If we don't learn to work with our planet, and restore balance to our environment, it's only a matter of time before another city is swallowed up by the sea. Established in 1906, Bayocean, Oregon was envisioned to be the “Atlantic City of the west,” and at one time it contained a hotel, a dance hall, and numerous homes.
Before long, residents grew concerned about having to cross the treacherous Columbia River to reach Bayocean, and they began meddling with mother nature. In an effort to ensure safe travel to the city, residents demanded a protective jetty to calm the waters in Tillamook Bay, but their attempt to work against nature backfired.
The Army Corps of Engineers explained to town residents that they would need two jetties to calm the bay, but residents only paid to build one. The new jetty changed the current, and started the slow destruction of Bayocean.
Slowly, but surely, water began to wear away at the sand beneath the city, and made it more vulnerable to bad weather. By 1938, almost 60 homes had been washed away, and most residents had abandoned their once-booming city. By 1960, Bayocean had completely disappeared, and all that remained was the hard lesson.
Instead of working with their environment, Bayocean residents tried to stand up to mother nature, and the result was tragic. If we don't learn from their mistakes, and start working with nature to restore our environment, we could be damning ourselves to the same fate.
It will be difficult to undo the damage caused by a century of pumping carbon dioxide into our environment, but it can be done. And, our planet's natural systems can help make it possible. To find out more, check out GreenWorldRising.org.
Comments
#2
Instead of saying "Fox so-called News" every time, Thom could use the more concise "Fakes News". I haven't seen or heard that anywhere.
#3
What occurred to me here is that I constantly hear the right winger theorcrats talking about gays going against nature while these so called conservatives constantly attack nature and try to bend nature's laws in order to fit their selfish wants. What they think is natural is of course the most unnatural.
#4
"Fake News" -- Mathboy, I like that!
#5
Johnnie, I love your posts. Great point, as always!
#6
There is a law of nature that far too many people are still not getting: If you get in Mother Natures face, she WILL slap you down. Work with Her to accomplish your goals, and She'll give you more than you asked for.
#7
mathboy -- Faux news comes close.
#8
Global Warming is by far the biggest story in recorded history, and barely gets a mention by our so called news media!......a Carbon Baron apocalypse in the making!
#9
Chuckle8, the trouble with "Faux News" is that it doesn't work in speech nearly as well as in writing--/fo/ vs. /fawks/--not to mention that you can't tell if it's "faux" or "foe" (both work). I like it in writing, though, because it looks like it would be pronounced the same as "fox".
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One thing that tells me Lt. Gen. Boykin doesn't know what he's talking about is that he referred to "usurping the Constitution", which is a semantic impossibility. Powers and positions are usurped, meaning that they are appropriated illegitimately (the term derives from the Latin for "seize by use"). You could almost say that the Republican party has usurped the American flag, but a President usurping the Constitution has no meaning.