Oil spill. Coastal environment. Clean energy. Yes, we know.Those are the terms we have justifiably been seeing and listening to for the past month and a half. But have we?Is it the political quarrel around the fact an honest attempt to reflect over actions to be taken?Let’s answer: blame. Let’s blame BP, the Environmental Protection Agency, off-shore drilling, fossil fuel. Although, whoever gets nailed, the world is not going to see significant changeIf you are calling me a pessimist now, hold on. I believe a drastic change in our world and society will happen very soon, actually, happening right now. But it’s not the journalistic will for tragedy or our rage against the corporations that is in action here.Right and left mumble-jumbles are equally annoying.We still depend on petroleum. But why the heck are we not diving into clean energy production?Talking about off-shore drilling, shit can happen. Talking about life, shit can happen too. Neglecting safety measures is wrong, I’m not arguing on that.I’m not disputing the fact that something went very wrong. Nor do I doubt that accidents like that are not out of the question, even after this one.We know that research on clean energy is showing hopeful results. Using the sunlight instead of a black dirty liquid/mud that comes from the planet’s womb sounds good. Intelligently reducing our waste of energy (and we could here make a not-so- rough comparison with the emotional and physical energy we unnecessarily waste every day) also seems to have to do with common sense. Right?Apparently not. We are acting like idiots. The constant whirling of the post-modern life has turned us into complicated computers.We lost the ability to think clearly, and to realize that we are obviously not living the life we should.Greed and self-consciousness are not on the same page, unfortunately.What petroleum means to us is much more than energy.I recently heard the motto of the state of New Hampshire is “Live free or die.” Immediately my mind responded: If there’s something this country is not, it is free. America is chained to petroleum.Corporations such as BP are landlords. We are paying an expensive rent.To me it’s unbelievable that people who are affected by the oil spill don’t care to say that more drilling is necessary.Turning our eyes to clean energy doesn’t mean we are giving away the system. Fear of the future is worse than uncertainty about it. If we stay under our mother’s wings we don’t move on with life.America, your power is your burden. If this accident makes the country review its ways of sustaining life, the world will follow.Again, the United States has a great responsibility. If only half the resources used to sponsor a doubtful war were invested in fighting stupidity, sustainable life wouldn’t be just a pretty word in a toothpaste commercial.You may not be thinking about going to the Gulf coast to clean pelicans, or perhaps you don’t consider yourself the right person to fix the world. Neither do I. I’m just writing a column.The mind plays tricks on us. It’s educated to believe in something.If everybody tells us that petroleum is beautiful because it makes our cars run fast, we believe. And it may be true.But it may not be the only truth.Oil spill. Coastal environment. Clean energy. Yes, we know.But what do we believe in? —-Contact Marcelo Vieira at [email protected].