Eco-Tourism

Or, Irrational Exuberance

Apparently the state of Florida is considering opening up some offshore oil and natural gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico. Historically, exploitation of these fields has been prohibited, for fear that an oil spill would mar Floridian beaches and harm Florida's valuable tourism industry.

Whatever. But it did get me thinking: Disasters require relief, right? I mean, this news article about Florida oil vs. Florida beaches? It made a big deal about the size and duration of the cleanup efforts after the last big oil spill on the Florida coast.

So I'm thinking, a big oil spill like that, you're gonna need a lot of volunteers. Sure, you're gonna need some trained professionals, too. But sooner or later, you're gonna need to bus in a couple hundred enthusiastic amateurs, give them a half-day seminar on entry-level oil cleanup operations, and put them to work.

So why not make it a tourist attraction? There's gotta be plenty of people out there who wouldn't mind paying a little money to Save the Planet. You set up a trailer park campsite, cater three hot meals a day, and charge a reasonable fee to house eco-tourists for the duration of the cleanup efforts.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "two weeks cleaning up an oil spill doesn't sound like much of a vacation to me". But I'm telling you, that's where you're wrong.

In other news
While I'm on such an awsome roll of awsome ideas, how about this? Instead of canceling Civilization every time it endangers some species or other (Sacramento Delta Smelt, I'm looking at you), why not just make a genetic record and move on?

Then, in a hundred years or so, when it turns out we really did need that species after all, we can clone it from our genetic library, and restore it in all its original humanity-serving glory. What do you think?