TAKE ACTION - BP's fines should be used to restore the Gulf Coast
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 12:04AM Without congressional action, between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion in expected Clean Water Act fines would be on track to go to a fund to pay for the cleanup of future oil spills, as well as to the federal treasury, instead of the Gulf Coast. Take action now and urge your senate delegation to pass the Restore Act.
From Vanishing Paradise -
The Mississippi River Delta supports some of the best hunting and fishing anywhere in the world.
The delta hosts as many as 10 million ducks and geese during the winter—that’s roughly 70 percent of the waterfowl that use the Central and Mississippi flyways. And the Mississippi River Delta is one of the only places where you can catch bass, redfish, and tuna all within a few miles.
Unfortunately the BP oil spill had a devastating impact on the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River Delta. Hundreds of miles of shoreline were oiled; tens of thousands of square miles of Gulf waters were closed to fishing. The spill could not have come at worse time for spawning fish and nesting birds—and the oil is compounding Louisiana’s longstanding erosion problems that cause an average of a football field of marsh to vanish into the Gulf every hour.
Despite the continued threats to fish and wildlife in the Gulf, the Senate is stalling on a bipartisan piece of legislation called the RESTORE Act that will help the Gulf recover from the 2010 oil spill.
Without your voice, this common-sense piece of legislation may not make it across the finish line.
Please call your senator today by dialing the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
- Tell your Senator why restoring the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River Delta is important to you, your business or your organization.
- Ask the Senators to make passage of the RESTORE Act a priority—before the two-year anniversary of the spill this April.
- The RESTORE Act will dedicate 80% of the Clean Water Act fines from the BP oil spill to restoring the Gulf of Mexico.
Calling is much more effective but if you prefer to send your comments via e-mail you can do so HERE.
Reader Comments (4)
The marshes down here are fine and mother nature did a wonderful job cleaning up on her own. The marshes disappear naturally on their own, and have done since way before the spill. They'll continue to do so long after anyone reading this is gone. BP has done more than their fair share to help clean up down here...and for sure more than any government agency has during the past few hurricanes. I witnessed a lot of the clean up, and helped out where I could too. I saw a lot of so called "private cleanup skiffs" that were contracted by BP to go out and help. These were local fisherman and shrimpers using their own boats to help clean and being paid for it. And I'm sorry to say a lot of them were just out smoking dope and spending their days driving around looking at the marsh, but not doing anything to clean. This happened for months, and they were all paid by BP in an attempt to replace the lost revenue they saw post spill. Not only were they paid 100%, they were paid 140% of what they lost in a normal revenue year. BP isn't to blame now. They had a terrible accident and have made good on their end of the deal to restore all they could and more.
This failure to use the fines appropriately has way more to do with government greed and dishonesty than anything habitat related. Once again, we see those at a federal level benefiting financially instead of us locals that know what's really gone on down here. Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed regularly and often. Elections are right around the corner.
The previous post appears to be from BP. Marshes absorb and dissolve biological matter, not oil, or there wouldn't be such a push to get rid of two stroke outboard motors. If marshes did do a "great" job absorbing oil. The recycling campaign would be "Take your unwanted oil to your local lake and dump it in the reeds". But it is not because that is bullshit. Any more the majority of government fines are just to get revenue. All the way from the jaywalking ticket to the oil spill fines. It's all the government generating revenue.
Hey fatguyaaron,
BP didn't post my thoughts, I did. And for the record, oil (petroleum) IS biological matter. Use your brain if you have one. Where the hell does it come from to begin with? Mother earth, that's where. The gulf has hundreds of natural seeps that release oil naturally into the water everyday...just like every other hydrocarbon rich area on the planet. Guess they don't talk about that in the media though. It's surprising just how little the general public knows about it, because the media wants a good, bleeding heart story. It generates dollars and air time.
But, you are right about the government's involvement in gaining money at others expense. I'll give you that much. Now be a good little boy and go google where oil comes from and what it's made of. You just might learn something and get a little more street cred.
Southern Proud,
As an environmental scientist, I can honestly confirm your an idiot.
Oil from spills is neutralized by natural bacteria at a rate of about 4% of the total spill a year.
There is still oil in British Columbia and Alaska's coast from the Exxon Valdez.
You claiming that the marshes "cleaned up all the oil" tells me that you are completely full of it.