If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you know that a year after the start of the BP drilling disaster, BP’s oil is still in our marsh, still affecting our coast and our communities. You’ve likely seen our photos of the impacts and the inadequate clean up and containment response, maybe watched a video, sent an e-mail to a decision-maker, made a donation, or shared a link with your friends. Thank you for all that you’ve done. Now I want to ask you to do more. To take action away from your computer, and become an off-line supporter of GRN.As we get back from the July 4th beach trips and barbeques, we know that the urgency to protect and restore the Gulf is fading fast. If you were on a Gulf beach, you saw big crowds, or if you weren’t maybe you’ve read headlines that indicate we’re back to business as usual down here. But we’re not. The oil is still here (photo on the right is from a May 2011 trip to Fourchon Beach), and Congress still hasn’t passed a single bill to protect or restore the Gulf. I want you to step up, and help change that by hosting an easy and exciting event this summer to help restore the Gulf! For the past 4 years, GRN volunteers have been hosting Defend the Gulf movie screening events in their homes, community centers, favorite bars and church basements to share films highlighting the greatest issues facing the Gulf and to inspire people to take action.This year, our focus will be on BP’s oil in the Gulf of Mexico that has left a catastrophic mark on the environment. The series of shorts includes the hilarious BP Spills Coffee, two beautiful short documentaries from Cornell’s Ornithology Lab, excerpts from GRN’s Gulf Tides series, and more.Since Congressional action is key to restoring and protecting the Gulf, we are aiming to have the home screenings take place during the summer Congressional recess (August 8 – Sept 5), when elected leaders will be back in their home districts.Just choose a date that works for you (don’t worry, you can change it later if necessary) and sign up with our online system to create your own event page, and the GRN system will guide you through sending invitations.If you’re already in our online system, you’ll need your username and password to sign up. Your username is the e-mail address we use to send you updates, and you can use that to get your password sent to you.From there, we’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll put together conference calls for hosts to recieve updates on the issues facing the Gulf, and a couple weeks before the event, we will send you a host packet, which will include the DVD, several fact sheets and post cards with information about the situation, a petition urging Congress to pass legislation, raffle tickets for a trip to New Orleans, and other party goodies. And of course, we’ll always be here to answer questions and provide support.Thanks for considering taking this step away from the computer, and towards helping create a community more aware of the importance of the Gulf and supportive of efforts to protect it. I look forward to hearing about your events!United for a healthy Gulf.Aaron Viles is GRN’s deputy director. For shorter insights, you can follow him on twitter here.
