On October 4-6, 2010, ninety-five people representing forty six community, local, regional, national and international environmental, social justice, and fishermen’s groups met at the Beckwith Camp and Conference Center on Weeks Bay, Alabama. Together, we drafted the following set of goals and principles that we believe must guide the recovery and restoration of the Gulf …
Throughout this long, hot Gulf coast summer, GRN’s Healthy Waters team has been working hard to protect the rivers, bayous, and streams of the Gulf, and deal with the ongoing impacts of BP’s drilling disaster. From fighting a limestone mine in the heart of Florida’s Nature Coast, to pushing Louisiana to do a better job …
As many readers might be aware, the Kemper County coal project is an expensive, destructive and unnecessary, proposal to construct a new coal-fired power plant, and massive lignite coal mine in central Mississippi just north of Meridian. The plant and associated mine will impact over 3,000 acres of wetlands and disturb over 40 miles of …
Last I attended a meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi that was billed as one of three forums between federal officials and the academic community to discuss the Unified Command’s draft proposal for monitoring and sampling oil and dispersant beneath the Gulf’s surface. As dueling reports from the government and independent scientist fly back and forth about …
The federal government, and the various Gulf states, recently worked together to host a series of dockside chats to help reassure nervous fishermen, and the public, about the safety of Gulf seafood in recently reopened fishing areas. Nonetheless, many members of the public, Gulf fishermen, and even some independent scientist are continuing to raise concerns …
Last week, New Orleans’s local Fox affiliate aired video of BP’s crude literally bubbling out of the ground on one of Louisiana’s barrier islands. It’s clear that, despite some government and media reports to the contrary, there is still a lot of oil in the Gulf and along our coastlines.Click on the photo below to …
I’m back home in New Orleans now after an enlightening trip. Below is the update I wrote on Friday but was unable to post until now.——————————–I have left Valdez on my way home. Today, before my departure, we spent time talking to the staff of the Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council about their work. Their ability …
Lessons from Alaska – Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council Read More »
We are now in Valdez, AK. Today we met with the Prince Edward Sound Regional Citizen Advisory Board (RCAC).During our meeting the leaders of the RCAC made clear that if the citziens of the Gulf want to obtain better safeguards and better oversight, we had better move forward quickly. They warned us that the disaster …
Lessons from Alaska – Local Citizens Vs The Disappearing Act Read More »
Yesterday, NOAA released a report and press release claiming that “the vast majority of oil from the BP oil spill has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead, or dispersed.” Sounds good doesn’t it? Unfortunately, you could also summarize the findings of the report this way:Up to 50% of Oil from BP …
Yesterday, we met with scientists and fishermen that study the impacts of the Exxon Valdez spill on the fish and wildlife. Sadly, what they have found is that after the initial impact of the oil, the true impact on a species, such as herring, did not show up for many years. Moreover, the impact could …