Get Off Oil! Fight for the right to G.O.O.!!

What is G.O.O.?  Allow me to explain...

Last week, I was making dinner with the nightly news buzzing in the background. The big news that night was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Having been inundated with bad news for the past ten years (9/11, Iraq war, Wall Street, wrinkles around my eyes getting progressively worse), I just kept making the salad.  But all of  a sudden, I heard a noise.  I turned and saw my nine year old son, William in front of the TV watching the red rivers of oil stream across the Gulf.  He was sniffling.  We'd all had colds last week so, at first, I thought nothing of it.  Then I noticed that his body was shaking and I realized that my son was crying.  I went over to him and asked him what was wrong.  He pointed at the oil spill on TV and said very quietly: 'We're killing the planet.  There will be nothing left.' 

THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT.

He was right.  At this rate, our children will be inheriting a planet much more toxic than the one we got.  I wanted to tell William that everything would be okay  but I don't like to lie to my kids.   After dinner, I got the kids off to bed and sat at my desk and decided that I should be a part of the solution - whatever that was.  I knew that I had to do something.  But what?  I'm a working soccer mom!  I barely find time to shower!   

THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT.

Alright! I decided to do the one thing that I always do when I don't know what to do: talk to my girlfriends (and some of you are guys).  We all know that the problem is our dependence on oil.  Wherever you look, from the poles melting to the brown skies above us, the culprit is the same: Fossil Fuels.  So, the solution must be to GET OFF OIL or G.O.O for short.  (Get it?  Oil is gooey!)  But how do you fight Big Oil?  These companies have a death-grip on the world economy!  And what will replace oil?  

THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT.

OK! OK!  Maybe we don't worry about the solution right now.  In fact, there are alternative forms of energy already available.  So,  let's just focus on getting rid of the problem.  It can't be impossible.  Plenty of smart people out there.  Just think, a few years ago I would never have been able to reach out to all of you by using the Internet.  That's how fast things can change.

Wait a minute......  the Internet!  I know!  I'll do that thing that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) did and I will send out a letter and get other moms to sign it and then we'll send it to our political representatives!  (You know, the guys who are supposed to represent us?)  We'll call ourselves M.O.M. - MOTHERS ON THE MOVE and we'll stand up and write before there really is nothing left! So I sat at the computer, ready to type, when suddenly I heard a part of me say,  "Don't you write this!  It won't change anything and you'll just look stupid!"

THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT.

But then, another part of me said, "Looking stupid has never stopped you before and I can't take much more of that other voice saying, "THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT"!!!!

So, before I really go off the deep end, scroll down and sign this letter!  Send all the other moms you know - here or in China or wherever  to this site and ask mothers everywhere to fight for our right to G.O.O.!!  I know it sounds naive but who knows?!  Maybe, just maybe we M.O.M.'s will play a part in saving the Mother of all Mothers - EARTH.

Sincerely,

Ally Walker