I'm going to assume that you are a heterosexual (as am I). I would like for you to wake up tomorrow and immediately stop being attracted to women and instead long for the touch of a male. Could you do it? Could you simply flip a switch when you wake up and do it?
Let me help you with the answer... it is a NO. And guess what, I couldn't make the switch either. For some reason, I am wired to only be attracted to females and as hard as I might try... I will never be attracted to males.
But according to you and what you preach... it is as simple as making a choice and making the "right" choice (otherwise, you will burn in hell).

Who cares if only 20% of the signatures are from Bahamian citizens. The Bahamas are an international destination. The vast majority of the country's income comes from international visitors and their money. And if the majority of signatures are from outside the Bahamas (most likely from the US and/or Canada) and something very negative happens at the drill site (explosion, oil leak, pollution, etc), then these international folks by using their signatures on this petition are telling the Bahamas government -- they will go elsewhere for their beach vacations or fishing trips or boating trips or scuba trips. And poof... the money is gone!
That is what the 80% of those signatures are telling us. And that is a very, very important point and it shouldn't be discarded or downplayed.

The "benefits" of this project certainly won't outweigh the short-term & long-term "costs!!!"

Maybe they are too busy at the moment polluting some other small/helpless country's natural resources.

Why oil????? That is a very, very backwards approach. Shall we also mine for coal? Or, how about putting up more landlines for phones? All of which are dying industries. We need to think forward not backwards. How about we as a country look at wind energy and/or solar energy?

Nicely said. I agree 110%!! All they care about is $$$.

HA! I actually hadn't thought of that. Too funny!

Someone needs to sink that ship before it arrives!!

Fantastic article and topic. 13% is shockingly low! Agree 110% that it should be much, much higher. Having good female role models and mentors would be a good way to help the younger generation strive and achieve their career aspirations. It's fairly obvious that a large portion of the male leadership in this country are vastly underqualified for the job and have no idea what they are doing!!

Ohhh, that is an easy one... money!! The Bahamas (and the U.S.) purchase too much goods from China. Plus, the Bahamas also imports Chinese workers (e.g. the Baha Mar project). To put it simply, the US and many, many other countries do not want to upset China too much -- due to business, trade, and money. As for Taiwan... yes, it would be fantastic to normalize relations with Taiwan and recognize them as a fully independent country from China. That would be incredible and something I would support 110%!!