Last night I went to a party that my neighbor throws two or three times a year. She is plugged into the blues scene in Sacramento and always has great live music. Her house and backyard were filled with dancing, drinking people.

As the evening moved along I talked to several folks about the oil spill. Interestingly, I didn’t bring it up.

People are very angry. The attendees are a cross section of musicians, bikers, and social workers (strange mix of people). I would say that most of them are fairly conservative. It was clear that they were upset about the lack of action and the kowtowing to British Petroleum by the Obama administration. But when I suggested cutting back on the use of their vehicles they backed away from me.

So, this morning I woke up ready to take action. I opened up Photoshop, found a high resolution BP logo and got to work on a enlightened and clever bumper sticker.

In the middle of my manic design work I stopped. I was creating a damn bumper sticker. For a car.

I am part of the problem.

Yes, you read that right. 3,858 oil wells are in the gulf.

Greed is one thing but the murder of an entire ecosystem is, simply put, stunningly ignorant and stupid. We are not the species we think we are.

We need to keep an eye on Chevron’s Tahiti, the deepest-producing offshore oil platform in the world. Chevron has plans to build six more rigs in the gulf this year.

A rig can operate many different wells.

Crude Awakening-An infographic to help you understand the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and the incredible costs that will affect us all.

"If you kill the shrimp, you kill the fish that feed off the shrimp,
and if you kill the fish then there is nothing left in the Gulf of Mexico.
That would absolutely be a disaster for years and years."-Dan Dix, fishing boat captain"

A ‘double-dip’ recession probably has been made more likely
by this tragedy."-David Kotok, chief investment officer, Cumberland Investors

Where do we go from here?

I admit to feeling impotent.

Here are links for May 4, 2010 to news, wildlife rescue, state and federal sites, volunteer sites and others. As always, I will update them as the information becomes available. Your links and information are needed. They will be included on the next day’s post. Science and Twitter were added as new categories today.

Huffington Post by Dan Froomkin
NOAA Warned Interior It Was Underestimating Threat Of Serious Spill
NOAA is the nation’s lead ocean resource agency, and the warnings came in its response to a draft of the Obama Administration’s offshore oil drilling plans. The comments were Web-published in October by the whistle-blowing group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
……as I recall when Bush tried to weaken the authority of NOAA by hiring incompetent people a mass resignation was threatened. Bush backed down. NOAA is good people.

Oiled Wildlife Care Network Blog by Mike Ziccardi
"Lastly, we finally have great news on the training front.  After a complete re-review by OSHA of the “paraprofessional” training program, health and safety trainings will begin tomorrow, and will be fully in operation Wednesday."
….. Mike Ziccardi is my hero. Please go to his blog and comment. Mr. Ziccardi is working long hours and is leading the bird rescue effort.

News Updates:

Deepwater Horizon Response
Gulf Restoration Network
Skytruth
NOLA.com
al.com
http://www.pnj.com Pensacola FL
http://www.sunherald.com Biloxi/Gulfport MS
http://www.al.com/press-register/ Mobile AL
Reuters
New York Times

Science:

Ocean Circulation Group University of South Florida

Activism:

Care2

Volunteer or Work:

Wetlands International
Volunteer Florida
Volunteer Louisinana
emergency.Louisiana.gov
OilSpillVolunteers.com
Pascagoula River Audubon Center
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana

Help Rescue Wildlife:

Oiled Wildlife Care Network Blog-U.C. Davis This is information from the front lines in LA.
Florida Shorebird Alliance
The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies
Tri State Bird Rescue and Research
IBRRC International Bird Rescue Research Center
Facebook/Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries
California Department of Fish and Game, Office of Spill Prevention and Response
Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Federal, State, Information, Fact, Sites:

Volunteer Florida
Volunteer Louisinana
LA Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Projected Trajectory
U.S.Coast Guard District 8 Flicker Site
Deepwater Horzon Incident Site
NOAA
NOAA Environmental Modeling Center
Environmental Economics Blog
Environmental and Urban Economics Blog
Twitter Oil Spill
EPA

Health Related Concerns:

Poison Control Center

Hazwoper Certification:
(Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response)
There are many places across the country to take this course.

National Environmental Trainers, Inc. Martinez, GA
Safety Council Baton Rouge, Addis, Gonzales, LA
MSU/Safety and Environmental Training Courses MS
Osha Compliance Safety Training Folsom, CA

Twitter:

al.com
nola.com

Others:

British Petroleum Site (cringe)