Rockwall County — Did you hear about the news from China?

Well, we’ve got a new oil leak. Or, I should say they have a new oil leak. But come to think of it, if they can’t clean it all up it will eventually drift over to us.

They say it’s not as bad as the BP oil leak in the gulf. That’s good ... I think. But nobody’s ever been able to tell me how bad the oil leak in the gulf really was (hopeful use of past tense there).

We know it was mucho-millions. Nobody seems to know much more than that.

The lack of information seems kind of sad. After all, the BP brass told us right up front that they were going to be open and straightforward about the whole thing. They gave us up-to-the-minute video updates on what they were doing in the Gulf of Mexico every day.

Of course, they hired goons to run off all the reporters from the beaches, but that was OK because I’m sure they were completely straightforward about everything. Then there were the incidents of contractors appearing with Coast Guard personnel to turn the independent media away saying, “...this is BP’s rules, not ours...”

Huh? BP dictating coastline policy to the Coast Guard?

Luckily not. The Coast Guard quickly responded saying that no media access was denied, or rather, that there was some “confusion” in one incident with a CBS news crew.

I guess there was some “confusion” in the restriction of open American airspace to helicopter flights booked by newspapers too (wink).

After May 11, some confused person also notified charter services that all air traffic over a huge portion of the gulf and the entire Louisiana coastline had to be approved first by BP, or flown at higher than 3,000 feet (basically where you can’t see anything).

But that’s all in the past. Now at least we know that the dang thing has been capped. I know this because I’ve seen the really cool underwater photos of the now non-spewing hole in the bottom of the ocean floor.

Then again, that photo that BP got caught retouching from their “command center” was a pretty cool shot too (big grin).

There was also that little “blowout,” you know the new stream spewing out from under the ground a few miles away from the capped well. But it’s OK because that leak is “natural” (we know that because BP’s folks have determined as much, beyond doubt).

Ironically, photos and information have been coming out of evil, dictatorial, communist China like there’s no tomorrow. Which is ... well ... weird.

I have to give Kudos to four other companies: Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Dutch Royal Shell. In case you haven’t heard, those guys are taking a preemptive step by setting aside some big bucks now for contingency equipment to keep at the ready just in case.

Think there might be some “confusion” when my vehicle (hey, it has a mind of its own) decides to adopt arbitrary restrictions on which gas stations I fill up at?

On the positive side of our gluttonous appetite for energy, I saw ads for 100 percent electric cars this week at a local dealership. I got pretty hopeful.

On the down side, they are expensive. They only drive up to 100 miles before needing to be recharged, and it takes eight hours to do so (assuming you have a specialized 240 volt outlet installed into your garage, plugging into a standard outlet will take much longer).

But at least it’s a start. There are a lot of people out there that could easily limit their driving to 100 miles a day and can afford a second vehicle. I hope to see some of those little spark-o-wagons zipping down the road soon.

There are also options for converting engines to run on used cooking oil. Sounds strange, but if it works ... great!

The fact of the matter is that we still need oil, and we will for quite a while to come. It takes more than a little time to develop new energy marketability, so the sooner we get started the better. In the meantime, we can take these lessons as a mandate to be better prepared — across the board — for these “possibilities,” since Murphy’s Law seems to always win in the end.

On a totally different note

A special shout-out goes to the Rockwall-Heath High School choir. That was one impressive performance you guys gave on Friday afternoon. It has to be difficult to round up all the members of a school choir on short notice in the middle of summer, and for such a difficult event. Your delivery was absolutely fantastic.