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Activists mark anniversary with protests, Gulf residents work toward recovery
Oil in the Gulf of Mexico. PHOTO COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD.
SUMMIT COUNTY — Dozens of environmental, climate, and social justice groups targetec government and corporate operations with protests and civil disobedience in an international day of direct action against extraction organized by Rising Tide North America to commemorate the first anniversary of BP’s Gulf oil disaster. The protests were organized to demand an end to the environmental destruction and climate destabilization created by fossil fuel and other extraction industries.
Emails expose BP's attempts to control research into impact of Gulf oil spill http://tinyurl.com/6df4dhe #BP #oilspill #gulfoil #deepwater—
Michael Rivero (@WRH_Mike_Rivero) April 21, 2011
Wildlife still need help one year after Gulf #oilspill. Volunteer to #RestoreTheGulf or help spread the word http://bit.ly/hsaqVl—
National Wildlife (@NWF) April 20, 2011
“For all practical purposes, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast function as a third world resource colony within the US. For a hundred years, our people and ecosystems have been sacrificed to provide cheap energy and big profits,” said Devin Martin, a Cajun native of southern Louisiana. “We pay for the hidden costs of oil and gas with our health and our lives through air pollution, oil spills, and a completely corrupted state government. We already lose a football field of coastal marsh every 38 minutes, and now rising sea levels from climate change will put my home, including New Orleans, under water permanently.”
Greenpeace asks for help sifting through 30,000 pages of BP #oilspill documents received from FOI requests. http://t.co/gxmZphF—
Carmen Sisson (@CarmenSisson) April 21, 2011
The day of action featured events organized by Gulf Coast residents fighting offshore drilling, local residents in the south side of Chicago resisting two of the largest coal plants in the nation, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York residents opposing natural gas hydro-fracking, Canadians fighting tar sands mining in Alberta and residents of Oregon and Washington resisting coal and tar sands exports along the Columbia River, as well as other community groups engaged in fights against extractive industries. Protests were also planned for the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
The ever-astute @kate_sheppard presents 10 reasons to still be PO'd about the Gulf #oilspill http://bit.ly/hYglYE—
Through a Green Lens (@thegreenlens) April 21, 2011
Pictures don't lie. Powerful imagery of the Gulf #oilspill from National Geographic. http://bit.ly/cWismY#fb—
(@Eric_Regalado) April 21, 2011
“The cultural heritage, land, ecosystems, and human health of more than sixty First Nations communities are being sacrificed for oil money,” said Heather Milton-Lightning from the Indigenous Environmental Network, who will bring the concerns of native people to an anti-tar sands rally along the Columbia River in Oregon. “This is slow industrial genocide.”
RT @cwipress: In case you missed it: Photos for the Gulf: First Anniversary Edition. Support #bp #oilspill relief: http://j.mp/gb-1st #gulf—
Bill Wolff (@billwolff) April 21, 2011
The day of action sought to highlight the companies responsible for community, worker and environmental harm from extraction operations.
“Whether it’s in Appalachia or on the Gulf Coast, these companies make millions by ruining our communities and natural environment,” said Kim Marks of Rising Tide North America. “The 11 workers who died on BP’s oil rig and the 29 who perished in Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine were killed by the same thing: corporate greed. These deaths are not accidents. They are the direct result of these companies cutting corners in pursuit of profit.”
We should also be trying to understand the backstory that was there long before the #oilspill ARTICLE>>> http://bit.ly/e420P7 #LSUResearch—
JPasq (@AllHazardsGulf) April 21, 2011
RT @NatGeoSociety: Gulf #OilSpill Anniversary: Resilience Amid Unknowns http://on.natgeo.com/fOrle1—
Dayana Gómez (@dalexa1973) April 21, 2011
For more information please visit www.extractionaction.net
Filed under: BP Gulf oil spill, energy, Environment, oil drilling Tagged: | BP, Deepwater Horizon, energy, Environment, Gulf oil spill, oil drilling, Summit County News
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So is there ANY trace of the “oil plumes” left? Even parts per billion. And yet, 40 million barrells of crude a year ooze into the gulf ecosystem from “natural oil seeps”. Thats four Exxon Valdez’s per year.
You have no proof that anything is harmed. “Could happen” or “might cause” is all I see. But then, environmentalism is the only court venue where the burden of proof is on the defendent to prove himself not guilty. If they can prove that “you haven’t disproved it yet” then that is proof enough to them. Orwellian logic.
Looks like most of the oil has settled to the bottom, where there is some pretty thick sludge in some areas. Hopefully it gets eaten by those bacteria, but I don’t think we fully understand what the long-term impacts might — or might not — be.