It's Time to Connect the (Oily) Dots

A huge oil rig off Loisiana explodes and sinks causing a gigantic (and growing) oil leak. Wasn't it just a month ago that Obama talked about opening up more locations for off shore drilling (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html)? This went in direct opposition of what he said in 2008: "When I’m president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida’s coasts. That’s how we can protect our coastline and still make the investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices for good.”

Well, any sort of illusion that the Obama administration in conjunction with big oil (because let's face it, everyone KNOWS by now that big oil has their fingers deep into the governmental body of America) wanted to pull over Americans' eyes isn't going to be very easy now. Offshore drilling is not only barely regulated, unsafe for workers, and contributing to global warming, it is also HORRIBLY UNSAFE for the environment as a whole.

So, let's connect the dots and see the disastrous effects of off shore drilling once and for all…

Here are some pictures to illustrate the outcomes of an industry not regulated nearly enough…

In this aerial photo (above) taken in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana's tip, oil is seen near the site last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

One thing that mainstream media is doing is saying that this could result in a "possible environmental disaster" if the oil reaches shore. They fail to realize that the ocean is itself an ecosystem and that all of this oil is killing living creatures RIGHT NOW. They should be saying that the oil leak could cause "possible economic disaster"; these are two different and sometimes linked issues. A large portion of the ocean environment is going to be destroyed regardless of what happens in the coming days. Whether or not 'viable fishing industries' will be hurt is yet to be determined.

So make your voice heard. Talk about this issue and let's DEMAND that offshore drilling no longer happens and that opening NEW SITES for it is NOT the answer. Obama has shown Americans that he cannot be trusted at his word on the oil issue and it is incredibly obvious where his interests lie (with oil giants) and where they don't (with the environment and people of the world).

I Really Cannot Believe I Have To Do This

I was talking to a friend yesterday who was honestly convinced that the environment was better off now than in the past. I decided the best way to combat this strange, and untrue, assumption was with photos. I gathered all of these via Google Images (or referenced where I got them).

Above is an image of clear cutting in the Boreal Forest. Destruction continues to this day.

Above is an image of a whale beached and dead. It was killed by navy sonar use, which continues.

Whaling continues year after year even with depleted populations and a public outcry from many for it to stop.









Depleted Uranium Birth Defects (Above). "Also in 1999, a United Nations subcommission considered DU hazardous enough to call for an initiative banning its use worldwide. The initiative has remained in committee, blocked primarily by the United States, according to Karen Parker, a lawyer with the International Educational Development/Humanitarian Law Project, which has consultative status at the United Nations." See this article.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Space Trash. "It is estimated that hundreds of millions of pieces of space trash are now floating through our region of the solar system. Some of them are as large as trucks while others are smaller than a flake of paint. There are a couple of relatively famous pieces of space trash. One is the glove that floated away from the Gemini 4 crew during the first spacewalk by U.S. astronauts. The other is the camera Michael Collins lost during the Gemini 10 mission. Rocket boosters, pieces that came loose from spacecraft, and fragments and particles created by space collisions or explosions are other examples of the types of trash whizzing around Earth at speeds of up to 36,000 km per hour."

Oil Spills. Oil continues to be accidentally spilled into waterways around the world. With each spill environments are destroyed. Here are some links to more recent oil spills (there are obviously many more):
Pine River
Brazil
Queensland
West Cork, Ireland
Des Plaines River



Coffee Farming. This requires people to clearcut their land to create space to grow coffee, which in turn destroys the soil. (Picture from WWF article).
















Manatees. "The population of manatees in Florida (T. manatus) is thought to be between 1,000 and 3,000, yet population estimates are very difficult. The number of manatee deaths in Florida caused by humans has been increasing through the years, and now typically accounts for 20%-40% of recorded manatee deaths.^[10] There were 417 manatee deaths in Florida in 2006 with 101 attributed to human causes according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission."



I could go on and on, but this (The 15 most toxic places to live) article seems to sum it up pretty well.


-Amelie