Monday, June 14, 2010

1 Degree of BP

In the 1990's there was a run-away conversation game called "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon"...where you tried to make a connection between any person (celebrity or not) and Kevin Bacon in as few connections as possible. The basic premise was that you could most certainly do it in 6 steps or less. 

Seems the sad sorry game these days could be the B.P. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill from the Deepwater Horizon's drilling rig explosion on April 20th, 2010.  Worldwide headlines seem to be playing the "BP Abbreviation Game"--what's the most appropriate B.P. abbreviation to encapsulate the BP debacle.
Lately "BP" could stand for an assundry of things: Bad Press; Botched Politics; B'oiling-mad People; Beastly Pollution; Big Problem, Bothersome & Pathetic, Back Peddle, Beyond Patience, Brilliant Propaganda, Bottomless Pit, Biodiversity Perdition, Bureaucratic Pursuit, Beyond Petroleum, Bye-bye Planet.

Here we are, approaching 2 months later, and we still have this horrific situation down in the Gulf of Mexico.  BP is dabbling in corrective attempts with limited to nil results.  People are getting antsy and wanting to do
"something" about the oil spill..but what??  

Well, there are places out there, from donations to petitions to "go out and take action" spots where you can get involved.  
  • Donate to the National Resources Defense Council, http://www.nrdc.org/ . While on their website, take the time to see the 5 minute video from Robert Redford entitled "The Fix" about the significant impact this spill.  However, given that the NRDC is multi-faceted, donation money is not solely focused on the oil spill.
From their website:  "NRDC is the nation's most effective environmental action organization. We use law, science and the support of 1.3 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.....Worth Magazine has named NRDC one of America's 100 best charities, and the Wise Giving Alliance of the Better Business Bureau reports that NRDC meets its highest standards for accountability and use of donor funds.....The New York Times calls us "One of the nation's most powerful environmental groups." The National Journal says we're "A credible and forceful advocate for stringent environmental protection."
From the NWF website:  "Where Does Your Money Go?  The money donated to the National Wildlife Federation through response to the oil spill will support the following efforts:  1.  Development and deployment of the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf Coast Surveillance Teams, a volunteer network that is being organized to monitor the coast for wildlife impacted by the oil spill. Beyond the initial surveillance needed, this effort will then shift to long term volunteer restoration programs.  2.  Restoration of vulnerable nesting and breeding grounds, as well as other delicate ecosystems found throughout the Gulf Coast for water birds, sea turtles and other animals.  3.  Public education about the oil spill and its impacts on wildlife, including our online efforts at www.nwf.org/oilspill and informing the press and others about the impacts the oil spill is having on coastal communities and wildlife.  4.  Policy work at the national and state level to support restoration of habitat in the Gulf Coast and better protection of our waters and coastlines."
  • The Audubon Society is also doing a lot given the impact of the spill on our watery, feathered friends.  They too are taking donations: http://www.audubon.org/
From the Audubon site: "The Gulf oil spill is an unprecedented catastrophe for people and nature of the region. Audubon mobilized quickly to help birds like this pelican and for the environment it shares with us as soon as the toxic slick began spreading toward vulnerable wildlife and habitats. Now, as the crisis continues to deepen, we need your help. Our Volunteer Response Center is already in touch with more than 20,000 people eager to help with efforts from Florida to Texas. Your support will help fund Audubon’s work to aid birds already suffering the oil’s deadly effects; to protect now-unharmed wildlife in the path of spill, and to meet the long-term challenge of restoring a devastated Gulf of Mexico ecosystem."
From their website:  "Oceana, founded in 2001, is the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation. Our offices in North America, Central America, South America and Europe work together on a limited number of strategic, directed campaigns to achieve measurable outcomes that will help return our oceans to former levels of abundance. We believe in the importance of science in identifying problems and solutions. Our scientists work closely with our teams of economists, lawyers and advocates to achieve tangible results for the oceans."
So we're at a crossroads...that place between being disgusted by the news, and the age-old question:  "So what are you going to do about it?"  Idly sitting there and either putting your head in the sand or just griping about it are 2 pretty useless activities.  

So...what are YOU going to do about it?

For more information from BP to keep track on what they are doing to attempt to solve their major malfunction, go to www.BP.com/GulfOfMexicoResponse or
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/

 
Thanks to Heather & Global Snark for doing the lion-share of legwork on this and for sharing!!!

Pictures from (
6 degrees logo) www.sixdegrees.org  and http://climateprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/bp.jpg

1 comment :

  1. Two more newly found "must-sees"

    1. http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/
    At this website, you type in your location of choice to see the vast coverage if the BP oil spill debacle hit your turf.

    2. http://cbf.typepad.com/chesapeake_bay_foundation/2010/06/chesapeake-bay-is-fighting-its-own-oil-spill.html#tp

    For those of us in the Chesapeake Bay, here's the size of the spill in our homeland, with a conversation of our sediment, nitrogen, phosphorous pollution.

    ReplyDelete