News and Views — Gulf Oil Spill and How it Effects You

With the damage already done in the United States Gulf Coast region now the furious race is on to clean up the 210,000 gallons of oil spilling out of a tube every day into this area of the world. It has been kept somewhat quiet on the state of emergency scale but to me there is nothing more threatening.

If the oil should reach the Gulf Stream currents and be carried up the coast there is little containment possibility once it hits the Atlantic ocean. So what does that mean?

Coastal regions could begin seeing oil balls wash up on shore (so far only a small number have been seen in a few Gulf states which is encouraging) which would lead to the closing of millions of beaches just before the warm summer weather is going to hit. But most importantly, the marine life, plants and water itself will all be compromised. This is a big staple of our own food supply and a scary prospect that it could be impacted so heavily.

According to a recent AP article:

Yikes!Â  So what can we as individuals do to help with this tragic situation?

There are a few things the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) suggests trying:
1. Donate to the cause — By simply texting the word “wildlife” to 20222 a $10 donation will be made.
2. Volunteer for the cleanup efforts — for those in a position to head to the Gulf this is a fantastic way to really get in there and help.Â  The NWF is looking for ground volunteers, you can read about it and sign up here.Â  Or if you see wildlife that has been oiled please call (866) 557-1401.
3. Speak out and get the word out that we are all looking for safer alternatives to oil!Â  Posting blogs, reposting articles, talking about this crisis and really getting educated will make all the difference as we work to educate others.Â  Read up on the benefits of wind power, solar, hydro, etc and start talking about it!Â 

The more we spread the word on reduced energy consumption and our lessened need to create new petroleum based products, the less we will need to turn to oil for our own consumption.Â  I encourage everyone to read up and spread the word on this man made disaster while there is still time to contain it.

This post was written by

chuckastone – who has written posts on Eco Etsy.



  1. The thing that upsets me about counting on BP cleaning up the mess they have made is that they need to continue being a profitable oil company in order to have the continued supply of money to get the job done. Just when additional folks are thinking seriously about alternative sources of energy, the long-reaching power of oil-oriented businesses seems never-ending. I agree that they should take full financial responsibility, I just don’t see how they can do that without continuing to drill. It seems like a real catch-22.

  2. You got that right Karen, I figured if anyone was interested I’d at least give the info that the NWF shared on their website but you are totally correct that the big, rich companies should be the ones responsible for everything here. Sadly though 9 times out of 10 it is the everyday human that gets a better job done. There is no way to even gauge the repercussions of this, the Valdez spill was nowhere near this level and wasn’t as precarious to a major ocean current.

  3. I also posted today about the oil spill and about my anger. I am also baffled as to why we have to donate to the clean up. BP should be responsible for the clean up as well as paying those poor fishermen who will lose their income. The wildlife and human suffering as result of this disaster will go on for years. BP, Transocean, and Halliburton should be totally responsible for all the economic loss as well as any rescue and clean up efforts.

  4. Interesting article published about 15 minutes after mine :-) The Atlantic is in danger of being compromised any day now.