The Conference Coach™

Carolyn Bradfield

During the last presidential election, a Republican battle cry was “Drill Baby Drill.”  Our insatiable thirst for everything oil created a frenzy of tapping into the deep waters off the Gulf and the Atlantic with drilling operations that could go miles under the ocean to bring up the vast reservoirs of oil trapped there for millenniums.  Today there are 150 wells in deep water like the Deep Water Horizon that exploded 6 weeks ago.

This is an economic, environmental and personal disaster like no other.  It makes Katrina look like a puff of wind.  So what if oil invades those marsh lands in Louisiana?  It’s just marsh, right?  And those gulf coast beaches…..tourists can go somewhere else for sand and sun.  Let’s get a clue here.  Those fish and shrimp we like to eat start their lives in those marshes, the same for much of the birds that we enjoy seeing fly over the ocean.  Those sun and sand worshipers that come to the pristine white beaches and clear waters of the gulf account for $60B in revenue for the state of Florida.

Today Good Morning America broadcast from Pensacola, Florida, just down the coast from my favorite destination, Seaside, Florida.  There were tar balls washed up on shore that coated Sam Champion’s feet as he walked to do his weather report. It made me sick to my stomach. The oil slick is dangerously close to the gulfstream current which would take it around the tip of Florida and up the Atlantic coast as well.  Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia – you’d better start thinking about how to deal with this.

The well will eventually be capped and we’ll clean up the best we can.  We can never replace the beaches, the wildlife and the fish that will be gone.  Tourism and fishing jobs supporting families for generations may send those people over the brink of financial ruin.

What I haven’t heard is any real call to action among the American people as was there during Katrina or the devastation in Haiti.  I think we’re going to have to go beyond BP and the government to pitch in here.  We’re a small company, but here’s my offer.  If any relief groups need help in coordinating people, logistics, or cleanup efforts, you get in touch with us at Copper.  We will make our conferencing services available to you for this effort and not charge you anything.  Get on the phone.  Get on the web.  Get in gear and let’s figure out how to help.

For the rest of you who are thinking about canceling your trip to the Gulf…..don’t do it.  Take the time to enjoy the sun and what you can of the surf, but also figure out how you can spend some time volunteering to help clean the beach or the wildlife that fly in and are oil soaked.  If you have kids, it will be the best life lesson you can give them.  They can take those shovels and instead of building sand castles, they can scoop up the tar balls and put them in a trash bag.

I’m a Republican, but for my money, I’m done with Drill Baby Drill.  I still think the right answer is to find a way to reduce our dependence on oil, whether it comes from off our shores or from the Middle East.  It causes nothing but problems for our foreign policy, for our environment and for our peace of mind.

Call Copper Conferencing (866.859.1741) and let us help if we can.  I’m booking my trip to Florida as we speak.

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a provider of Earth-friendly communication tools – audio and web conferencing. Copper also provides wrap-around services including online account, invoice and recording management. You can try Copper’s great web and audio conferencing services — FREE. Just sign up now.