Co-op Parking

I paddle out every morning just before sunrise. The air comfortable and the no-see-ums are just waking. The wind is at maybe 1 or 2 mph and THE water is like glass. As I paddle out I hear an assortment of boats gearing up and heading out. I see lights in Jug Creek as the sport fishermen head out to catch the first tide. It sounds like the jungle as I listen to the assorted seabirds wake up and call out. The launch behind the Bokeelia Pier is my favorite place to set out from and as I am paddling I can hear the steady rumble of the shrimp boats as they slowly make their way to the dock. Then the taxi out to Useppa heads out. This is the only boat that really can upset me in my kayak. But these guys are great and if I am too close to the channel they slow down for me and other yakkers so their wake does not upset us, I really do appreciate the courtesy. Many boaters don’t realize they are responsible for their wake and any damage or injury it might cause. But back to the great day and fishing. The past month I picked up some great fish notably, 28” sea trout, 28” red, and 25” red. The season has started out strong but the big snook count is noticeably down. Now as the sun peaks over the horizon I feel a sense of awe and wonder that we are so blessed with this place. A family of otters squeaks and chatters to each other as they swim out into the channel in front of me. Three turn back to shore and the fourth goes out into the channel before realizing he is alone. He sprint swims as fast as he can back to the mangroves and starts chattering. His family has gone somewhere inside the mangrove cover.  I can hear them answering him. A little latter a pod of dolphins swim by hunting and then on the way back to the dock a manatee swims under me. Again I think we are so blessed.

Then I get home and check the news. This has become my new ritual. I watch to see what is happening with the oil spill. The fishermen there no longer fish and don’t know when they will again. They clean up oil and get sick on the fumes. The estuaries are now destroyed and their recovery could be many, many years. Clearly BP has a long history of courting the government officials they work with and corrupting them (check out info on the Valdez disaster in Alaska). This has gone on for over 20 years and clearly no progress has been made. I think if the technology does not allow us to do it safely we should not be doing it. Now many people say “we need fossil fuel it is just a fact of life”. A few facts for you; we are already in a conversion to alternate energies and estimates are about 40 years to accomplish, NASA already powers all kinds of equipment including HVAC for their space stations with alternate energy but somehow down here in the 21st Century we still rely on fossil fuel. The money spent on research for better fossil fuel and its uses could have financed and still could help reinvest in an alternate energy source for everyone. It has already been shown that if every building was equipped with its own energy source, sun, wind, water, wood, magnetic, we could easily supply our needs. We could stop drilling today and use the reserves we have to convert and implement, clean, safe, alternative fuel sources. But I fear there is no real incentive to invest in this kind of conversion because there is not any real money in it after the initial investment. All that aside the reason I watch is the same reason many of us here on Pine Island watch. We want to know, is it coming here? Recent research found an underwater pocket of sludge many mile to the west of the origin. The northern shoreline is already being hit but any change in wind or tides will change where this thing goes. A hurricane could put it in our lap. If by the grace of the one god (whatever you believe) we are spared this we will be one of the few estuaries still producing. That makes its preservation even more important. I have personally boycotted all BP products. We are told that boycotting BP will only hurt Americans. The fact is that if BP could be forced out, another company with a safer history would step in, reemploying Americans with safer jobs. We would hardly notice the change.

On a similar note I recently read that GPICA opposed a parking lot by the old co-op site the county bought. The old co-op site cost us millions and Pine Islanders can’t use it because there is no parking. It seems that this would remedy that. It also would bring people directly into the business district of the island and is in keeping with the intent of the development plan. Most the people directly affected would be the local business residents. But it would also cut down on people having to drive from either end of the island. This would cut gas and ease island traffic. I know as with everything else there is a history here. But if you look at just the facts this is a much better solution than any others presented so far (under these circumstances) and ecologically sound. I urge support of this planned development.

John Paeno