3 years ago, the BP drilling disaster unleashed 4.1 million barrels of oil and nearly 2 million gallons of toxic dispersant into the Gulf. 2 years ago, BP promised to quickly spend $1 billion to begin to fix what their oil has done to our precious Gulf.Unfortunately, some Gulf states are proposing to use early restoration dollars from this fund on projects which are less focused on restoring natural resources and more focused on traditional economic development. Tell the decision-makers in charge of early restoration to spend these dollars on restoring the Gulf’s environment.Some of our decision-makers are forgetting that environmental restoration IS economic restoration, and far too much of this money is being dedicated to projects that will actually cause more environmental harm.Alabama intends to spend $80 million to develop a hotel and conference center in Gulf State Park on top of critical habitat for the endangered Alabama beach mouse. This is money that is supposed to be used to restore lost ecosystem services or human use of those ecosystem services. It’s outrageous that Alabama wants to use restoration funds to develop critical coastal habitat.Take action to tell your decision-makers that beachfront boondoggles or any non-restoration projects should not be included in BP’s early restoration funding.The biggest impact of BP’s oil has been on the Gulf environment, which our communities depend on for their economy. Investing restoration dollars in the environment will restore the economy and it’s time that our decision-makers understand that. So help us tell them today!Aaron Viles is GRN’s Deputy Director.
