The BP oil spill is turning into a catastrophe

Nice reporting Abbie. See this Treehugger.com article about why burning won’t work:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/y-didnt-they-burn-the-bp-oil-spill.php

Definitely wish I was down South now to help out. It’s sad to hear of all the danger the wildlife is in…hope they get their stuff together and figure out a way to effectively finish the spill and finally clean the mess up.

@Carlo – Thanks for the update!

@Russo – It looks like it’s going to be a loooong process. I think the best thing we can do from a distance is raise awareness & encourage people to get down there that can help!

Thanks so much for this article, Abbie. I’ve been wondering what I can do to help. Just contacted the Sierra Club about blogging. These oil spills give me nightmares, so tragic.

the oil spill in Mexico would surely be one of the greatest environmental disasters for this year.”-”

Sickening, disheartening, should have never happened.
There were not the appropriate safeguards in place, and heads should roll over this one.

http://news.suite101.com/article.cfm/bp-goes-from-beyond-petroleum-to-big-polluter-in-csr-setback-a235924

[...] BP oil spill has put animals living in already-fragile ecosystems at greater risk- animals like brown pelicans [...]

I live on Lake Ponchartrain and it’s beautiful here, watching pelicans fly overhead, ducks paddle by, and flocks of redwing blackbirds make noise in the marsh grass. The other night I went fishing and watched a sunset while reeling in a couple flounder. It would’ve been a perfect evening if it didn’t smell like oil every time the wind blew.

I signed up to help with Volunteer Louisiana, but they mainly want people who can put full time efforts towards this or are trained/experienced in hazmat cleanup.

I think the best way to help, wherever you are, is to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Exert pressure on politicians to properly reform the MMS, encourage regulatory agencies to make all data public, and curb your gas consumption where possible. Prevention is key! With the Exxon Valdez, I believe only a fraction of the oil was ever mopped up and the animals that were saved from the oil were a small percentage of the ones that died in it. Marshland is truly one of the world’s most beautiful and delicate ecosystems. Who knows what this mess will leave our coastline looking like in the near future and how many lives it will adversely impact. I’m just hoping they can shut that thing off sometime soon…

[...] article started as a project for myself. Depressed and aggravated about BP’s oil spill and mismanaged clean-up, I started researching ways to cut back on my own oil [...]

[...] plastic, and made from petrochemicals. The oil industry comes in for plenty of flak since the Gulf of Mexico spill, but day-to-day operations have huge environmental and human rights impacts too – from [...]

[...] plastic, and made from petrochemicals. The oil industry comes in for plenty of flak since the Gulf of Mexico spill, but day-to-day operations have huge environmental and human rights impacts too – from [...]

It just boggles the mind how long it took to finally make even the smallest amount of headway, BP left a lot to be desired in the whole affair. It is really hard to believe how a major cooperation like BP could be so incompetent. They have been doing this for over a 100 years! The only good thing from this whole experience is that it shows we give companies like them too much credit. Sad, very sad. The worst part of the whole situation is that is that so many people have had their livelihood pulled out from under their feet.

@Heather – I definitely agree, the best thing we can do is raise awareness and put pressure on politicians and gas companies.

@Mikaela – The animals & people of the Gulf are definitely getting the worst end of the deal from something that BP could’ve prevented.

[...] Share Feature/Above Photo: roland BP could have bought a hell of a lot of hypothetical random items with all the money they’ve lost on the oil spill. [...]

[...] day and age the earth is rife with environmental destruction. What can one person do in the face of such disasters? I think the first and most important thing the individual can do is engage in discussion and [...]

[...] Oil is gaining quite a reputation around the world for its environmental irresponsibility, from the Gulf Coast in the United States to the Amazon to Nigeria. var ids = new Array; ids.push(5317); Tagged under: AB 32, Air Pollution [...]