By now you may be tired of hearing about the BP oil spill. I am too, actually, though I confess that doesn’t stop me from searching for and devouring every little scrap of information that emerges. Your fatigue, like mine, probably has crept over you as the crisis drags on, the information wobbles slowly toward the more horrendous and the solution seems ever out of reach.

Helplessness breeds weariness, and for us here in the North, a kind of resentful resignation. It shouldn’t be this way, but it is. They should do something. Apparently, “they” are doing all kinds of things but none of them are working. If you’re old enough, you’ve seen this story before.

Dear EarthTalk: What can be done to prevent oil leaks and spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico?  – P. Greenville, Brewster, NY

The explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drill rig on April 20 and the resultant oil spill now consuming coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico could not have come at a worse time for President Obama, who only recently renewed a push to expand drilling off the coast of Virginia and other regions.

The debate over whether to tap offshore oil reserves with dangerous drilling equipment has been raging since extraction methods became feasible in the 1950s. It heated up in 2008 when George W. Bush convinced Congress to lift a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore drilling outside of the already developed western Gulf of Mexico and some areas off Alaska. Despite public protests, cash-strapped governments of several coastal states wanted the moratorium lifted given the potential for revenues.

Most of us grasp the idea of the three-sided coin. I have heard people respond to the idea of the three-sided coin with a quick, “But no, the coin has only two sides!” Then of course the response is to pull out a coin and point out that the ridge defining the coin’s circumference is indeed its third side.

I’m still pondering aspects of karma I addressed in last month’s column, and, thankfully, I testify here that things are feeling better and looking up. Now, feelings reside in the illusion of self. They’re not real in any sense except that they surely seem to be a part of this human existence.

By Deborah Adams

Summer is in full swing and those warm rays of sun are being soaked up by the many who feel sun-deprived most of the time in Wisconsin. But Midwesterners put themselves at a higher risk of sun damage due to our idea that we need to soak up as much sun as possible before the winter winds blow again.

Basking in the warm glow of the sun can make us feel good in the short term, makes us look good too, but the cumulative effect of sun exposure puts us at a much higher risk of cellular damage, early wrinkling, age spots and skin cancer – including melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.

I know, you’ve heard all of this before, many times I’m sure. So why aren’t you taking it seriously? And if you are, congratulations, you’ll probably be able to buy a car with all the money you’ll save from skin care medical bills and anti-aging beauty treatments to try to repair all that sun damage as it catches up with you.

Here’s the discouraging part: Sun damage is irreversible and gradually intensifies with continued exposure to the sun. And contrary to popular belief, UV rays from tanning beds are just as dangerous as those soaked up from the real sun itself.