Since the British Petroleum (BP) well erupted at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20th, roughly 800,000 gallons of oil has been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis. While BP has been making limited progress in slowing the leak, they have estimated that the well will not be capped until August, at the earliest. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen has now estimated that the disaster cleanup could take years, but we can only speculate on the long-term damage to the sensitive Gulf marshes and the likely collapse of the local marine population. Rest assured we will be feeling the reverberations of this catastrophe for decades to come. One just has to look at the environmental and social impact on the Prince William Sound area 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill to get a glimpse of the exponential future repercussions of the worst oil spill in United States history.

If you are like me and have been following BP’s self-inflicted soap opera over the past 49 days, you are frustrated and angry. You are frustrated over BP’s risky business practices and their inability to plan for the potential consequences of such behavior (hastily strung together stoppage techniques like “The Box” and “Top Kill” do not count as a disaster plan). Surely you are also frustrated over the widespread corruption and incompetence at the Minerals Management Service, which is supposed to act on behalf of the American people and is “responsible for inspection and oversight of energy companies to ensure they are following the law and protecting the safety of their workers and the environment.” Unfortunately, having a good mission statement doesn’t stop oil spill disasters. And finally, if you are like me, you feel angry at your inability to make any meaningful impact on this disaster. Fortunately, both you and I would be wrong to think we are completely helpless.

When I typed “how to help the oil spill cleanup,” strangely very few applicable links popped up and there certainly was no comprehensive resource. However, after some digging I found a lot of good information and have already started taking steps to make my own personal impact. And assuming there actually are people out there like me who want to help, but aren’t sure how, I have summarized five action items you can start today.

1. Volunteer your time -- Many organizations are recruiting volunteers, including The Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LBB) offers a few ways to volunteer and the Environmental Protection Agency has created DeepwaterHorizonResponse.com, which includes hotlines to volunteer opportunities.
2. Adopt a bird -- The International Bird Rescue Resource Center (IBRRC) has an ongoing adopt-a-bird program where you can help ducklings, egrets, and pelicans that have been effected by this oil spill and other disasters (see image below).  Perhaps due to legal requirements, sometime in the past few days the IBRRC changed their donation page to note that “BP has committed to paying for the clean-up and wildlife rescue efforts in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. While your donations cannot be used to fund bird rescue operations in this spill, IBRRC welcomes support for its ongoing programs to rescue and rehabilitate aquatic birds by donating, becoming a member or adopting a bird.”  In any case, the IBRRC appears to be on a mission worthy of your support.
3. Get a haircut -- A unique way to support the oil spill cleanup effort is to get a trim at a barbershop or salon that sends off your clipped hair to be used in those oil containment booms we’ve seen all over the news. The non-profit Matter of Trust provides further information and the following video offers a little insight into this unique way to help:  

   www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAou7qy4BvE

4. Make noise -- Although you can submit suggestions on stopping the oil spill and/or limiting the damage to the Deepwater Horizon Response site (apparently BP’s suggestion box has been overflowing for some time now), you should also be sharing your thoughts with both your locally and nationally elected representatives. If you think the government response has been lacking, if you want better oversight of offshore drilling, or if you’re tired of multi-national corporations polluting our oceans (all of the above?), make yourself heard.  Review our Contact Your Government article from last year, which provides an easy way to get in touch with your mayor, governor, congressperson, senator and president in a matter of minutes.
5. Stay informed -- Several sites keep you up-to-date on the oil spill, but some of my favorites include the LBB’s Oil Spill Crisis Map, the National Wildlife Federation, NOAA, and the sad but true Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report from IBRRC.  Most news outlets will give you top-level information on BP’s response, but these sites will give you more detailed information that shows the true breadth and impact of the disaster.

If you have any other suggestions on how individuals can help the oil spill cleanup effort, share your thoughts below.  And if you’re in need of a laugh at BP’s expense, check out the Twitter feed of their “public relations” consultant, Terry (@BPglobalPR).  During this dark and absurd time, we need all the levity we can get.  Best of luck.

- Matt

——————————--

After a few quick Google searches, not surprisingly I found that there was a whole area of study out there ready to quench my curiosity, which can be roughly summarized as carrying capacity.  Now I have to admit, I suppose I initially thought about San Francisco’s carrying capacity in light of the opinions that some day soon, “the big one” will shake the City so hard we are cut off from civilization for an extended period of time and/or the western-most half of California will slip into the ocean.  For the record, I don’t find either option satisfactory.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t track down much information on the carrying capacity of San Francisco.

What I did find, were some really cool resources over at PBS NOVA, called World in the Balance.  It appears to track and analyze both current and historic world population growth, including fun graphs like Human Numbers Through Time and interviews from global population experts in Voices of Concern.  I’m still reviewing the World in the Balance site, so I’d recommend checking it out on your own, but I have learned one thing so far: As of the writing of this post, other than you there are 6,811,060,305 people in the world.  Don’t worry, Mom still thinks you’re very important.

- Matt

———————-

-

With so much apparently at stake, members of Congress have headed back to their constituents to explain the contents of the bill and hear about their hopes and fears of the plan.  Unfortunately, meaningful dialogue has been impeded by an organized “shouting down” of congressional Democrats at these town hall-style meetings.  While I am all for protesting and public displays of dissent, meaningful debate is clearly not the intent of these groups (Note: I use the term “groups” here, not “mobs”, which I feel is being inaccurately used as a Democratic talking point to build support for the healthcare bill) and it’s unfortunate questions can’t be answered in the forum.  These individuals come to the meetings with the impression that they know all they need to know about the proposed reforms.  Principally, they believe this bill will result in a single-payer system and ultimately, is just more big government intrusion into the lives of citizens.

But who’s informing and organizing these groups?  Clearly, this can’t be a random gathering of concerned citizens, right?  Last night, Chris Matthews had on a representative from FreedomWorks, the principal group behind these shouting-sessions:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKPHkljrzzU

Then, the next question is, who’s really behind this “non-profit, non-partisan” organization?  With former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey running Freedomworks, Rachel Maddow tracked down the link between his other role as Senior Policy Advisor for DLI Piper and a large pharmaceutical company, The Medicines Company:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W8BbJXjda8

Surprised?  If these protesters are scared or angry over what may be in the health care bill, then I applaud them for trying to be heard.  But if they are being fed inaccurate talking points from a company with a vested interest in stopping health care reform that would bring competition to the industry, then that is a problem.

Take from it what you will, but in every national debate, remember to follow the money.

- Matt

==========

-