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Tonight's editor: ellinorianne
Even though BP CEO Tony Hayward would rather you nevermind those giant plumes under the water, they are there and they are affecting sea life, as told in this heart wrenching article, Dying, dead marine wildlife paint dark, morbid picture of Gulf Coast following oil spill
When we found this dolphin it was filled with oil. Oil was just pouring out of it. It was the saddest darn thing to look at," said a BP contract worker who took the Daily News on a surreptitious tour of the wildlife disaster unfolding in Louisiana.
His motive: simple outrage.
"There is a lot of coverup for BP. They specifically informed us that they don't want these pictures of the dead animals. They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence. It's important to me that people know the truth about what's going on here," the contractor said.
"The things I've seen: They just aren't right. All the life out here is just full of oil. I'm going to show you what BP never showed the President."
...
He said he recently found five turtles drowning in oil.
"Three turtles were dead. Two were dying and not dead yet. They will be," he said.
As the boat headed back amid the choppy waves, a pod of dolphins showed up to swim with the vessel and guide it to land.
"They know they are in trouble. We are all in trouble," the contractor said.
Emphasis mine
We can get a certain insight into the long term effects of oil spills on wildlife because of the survivors of the Exxon Valdez incident that took place more than twenty years ago.
Nuke, a sea otter than survived that spill was kept at an aquarium in Seattle until she had to be euthanized last week because of health problems. These health problems were thought to have to do with her exposure to oil that eventually left her with an immune disorder and other issues.
Nuka, the aging otter at the Seattle Aquarium, survived one of the ugliest environmental catastrophes.
She has battled a startling host of health issues since she was pulled as a pup from Alaska's Exxon Valdez oil spill, covered in crude.
Nuka suffers from nasal mites, dermatitis likely due to a compromised immune system, and unexplained spasms.
"Literally, her rear flippers tremor from time to time, and her front paws will tremor from time to time," said Traci Belting, the aquarium's curator of mammals and birds. "(She has) poor fur quality, which is critical to otter for their insulation."
Source
Of course those who cared for Nuka can't say for sure that her health issues are solely related to her exposure to oil but they know that she probably wouldn't have survived in the wild as she was. This of course makes us thing, for those who survive the oil at first, will they survive the after affects, will they have affected immune systems, will they have issues that go beyond initial exposure? So many questions.
The Daily Show returned to the air after a two week break and of course, they had something to say about the Oil disaster, I had to share.
Here is the clip
Cenac - The Spilling Fields - Oil Leak Containment Ideas
If BP doesn't get a handle on the oil spill, regular Americans are ready to step in and plug the hole.
And Treehugger had a Oil Spill Emotions Captured in Ironic Photo
This image sent in by an alert reader captures the oil spill in a nutshell: high emotions provoking outraged action, the BP logo besmirched, and all of us wishing that someone could just phone "Restore America" to make it all right again.
In Climate change news, it's not cool (as mentioned in this weeks, This Week in Climate Change: Murky Air, Murkier Politics), it's not cool at all. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reports that at total of 88 new daily high temperature records were set on May 26 in the U.S., following 164 on the previous day.
A total of only 34 low temperature records were set on the 2 days. For the week ending yesterday, the ratio of heat records to cold records was about 2:1. Although January and February were relatively cold, May is continuing the trend of the last 3 months for the number of heat records to far exceed the number of cold records.
Alternative energy seems to have met its match when it comes to wind power, NIMBY's don't want it on land or sea, and now it seems that they don't want it on the Great Lakes either. I would love to wake up to such a thing and know I was affluent enough to own such property and lucky enough to support alternative energy sources. But then again, I actually like the look of wind farms. Go figure.
"The location was specifically chosen in order to capitalize on the most profitable areas with shallow water depth, high average wind speed and proximity to the grid connection point," SouthPoint's project description reads.
Aside from the aesthetics of placing wind farms in Lake St. Clair, there are practical issues for area residents. Jennifer Hoover of Beverly Hills owns a home in Canada along the southern shore of Lake St. Clair and isn't happy about the plan.
"It's frustrating -- you pay a premium for the land because it sits on the water and then you pay those taxes each year," said the 46-year-old, who works as a property manager. "And they can just come in and, on their own whim, decide to throw 50 windmills out in front of our homes."
ON the food front, we have more issues with Mother Nature that we should be concerned about. According to Alternet, More than a third of U.S. managed honeybee colonies -- those set up for intensified pollination of commercial crops -- failed to survive this past winter.
Bees of course provide so much besides honey, they are the reason we can grow crops because they pollinate many different fruits and vegetables that we eat and are vital to the entire food chain. We need our bees.
Experts now believe bees are heading for extinction and are racing to pinpoint the culprit, increasingly blaming pesticide usage. U.S. researchers have reported finding 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax, and pollen. New parasites, pathogens, fungi, and poor nutrition stemming from intensive farming methods are also part of the equation.
Three years ago, U.S. scientists unraveled the genetic code of the honeybee and uncovered the DNA of a virus transmitted by the Varroa mite—Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV)—found in almost all of the hives impacted by CCD. Researchers have also found the fungus Nosema ceranae and other pathogens such as chalkbrood in some affected hives throughout the country. Other reported theories include the effects of shifting spring blooms and earlier nectar flow associated with broader global climate and temperature changes, the effects of feed supplements from genetically modified crops, such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and the effects of cell phone transmissions and radiation from power lines that may be interfering with a bee’s navigational capabilities. (Last year, a study revealed that a contaminant from heat-exposed HFCS might be killing off the bees.) However, according to a recent congressional report on CCD, contributions of these possible factors have not been substantiated.
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Few organic beekeepers have reported bee losses, suggesting that natural and organic bee keeping methods may be the solution. In addition, organic farmers who maintain wildlife habitat around their farms are helping to encourage bees to pollinate their crops. “The main difference between our farm and our conventional neighbors is the amount of wildlife and insect habitat that we have around the edge of our farm,” said Greg Massa, who manages Massa Organics, a fourth generation 90-acre certified organic rice farm near Chico. Massa started growing organic almonds six years ago, and works with a small, organic beekeeper in Oregon who brings in 30 hives to his farm. Massa’s farm has a large wildlife corridor which has been revegetated with native plants and covered in mustard, wild radish, and vetch, a favorite of bees and also a good nitrogen source for his rice crop.
THANK YOU! I want to thank everyone who supported me here for my Netroots National DFA Scholarship!. It was announced today that I won!
Heather Pritchard, who brings the blue to the predominantly red Orange County, found inspiration in blogging, and is going back to school to be an ecologist so she can advance what she feels is our number one priority – the environment
Eco-series line-up:
(All times Eastern!)
Today's eKos diaries:
Author | Diary | Time | Tags |
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KJG52 | BP, US Government, Delay, Deny and Defend | 06/02/10 01:42AM Pacific | ekos, BP, Thad Allen, Secretary Salazar, President Obama |
jamess | Other Dispersants, Twice as Effective, Half as Toxic, and Not yet Used | 06/02/10 03:33AM Pacific | BP, Dispersants, Gulf of Mexico, Corexit, Dispersit |
khowell | BP's Disaster - Turtle Hurdles Edition - ROV #37 | 06/02/10 07:47AM Pacific | BP, Top Kill, LiveBlog, Mississippi, Biloxi |
Earthfire | Diary on YouTube "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" removed by author.... | 06/02/10 08:29AM Pacific | DK Greenroots, eKos, Newt Gingrich, oil spill, Drlll baby Drill |
Crashing Vor | Things You Can Do to Help the Coast | 06/02/10 10:54AM Pacific | Louisiana, oil spill, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, eKos |
RLMiller | This Week in Climate Change: Murky Air, Murkier Politics | 06/02/10 01:43PM Pacific | Recommended, This Week in Climate Change, TWiCC, ekos, climate change |
slinkerwink | BREAKING: New Offshore Drilling Project Approved! | 06/02/10 02:19PM Pacific | eKos, oil spill, MMS, Ken Salazar, BP |
citisven | You can't wipe that spill with a Kleenex® | 06/02/10 02:45PM Pacific | ECSTASY, eKos, simplicity, BP, oil disaster |
Yesterday's eKos diaries:
Author | Diary | Time | Tags |
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scorpiorising | Fisherman Files Restraining Order Against BP | 06/01/10 03:33AM Pacific | Gulf River of Oil, Barack Obama, Kathleen Sibelus, Louisiana fishermen, BP |
jamess | How BIG is 12 Thousand Barrels, anyways? | 06/01/10 06:29AM Pacific | Gulf of Mexico, BP, Oil Spill, Deepwater Horizon, Loop Current |
Something the Dog Said | BP, Bad Processes And Profit Equal Disaster | 06/01/10 06:37AM Pacific | BP Oil Disaster, 6 Sigma, Process Improvement, Safety, Corporate Culture |
khowell | BP's Disaster - Mississippi Gulf Coast Edition - 1 June (Tuesday) Diary #29 | 06/01/10 06:47AM Pacific | BP, Top Kill, LiveBlog, Mississippi, Biloxi |
mcgee85 | New WPA for the Gulf oil spill | 06/01/10 06:57AM Pacific | WPA, oilspill, disaster, eKos |
slinkerwink | UPDATE: Obama Sends Attorney General Holder To Gulf Coast | 06/01/10 08:33AM Pacific | eKos, BP, oil spill, 2010, DOJ |
Cedwyn | BP Shares Drop 17% and that's before litigation. | 06/01/10 08:39AM Pacific | BP, eKos |
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse | "Oil Spill Threatens Native American Land" | 06/01/10 10:43AM Pacific | environment, BP, oil gusher, ekos, Recommended |
Ellinorianne | UPDATE - Building the Berms Isn't As Easy As It Sounds - BP CEO Would Like his Life Back! | 06/01/10 11:27AM Pacific | President Obama, Berms, Oil, ekos, Environment |
icebergslim | (Video) Reality and inconvenience for BP CEO Tony Hayward settling in | 06/01/10 12:12PM Pacific | BP, British Petroleum, Oil Commission, Obama Administration, Barack Obama |
LaughingPlanet | Hike On! Yosemite endures, endears | 06/01/10 12:40PM Pacific | Hike On!, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, John Muir, CCC |
Fishgrease | Fishgrease: Problems with Money Shot | 06/01/10 02:16PM Pacific | Recommended, Gulf Oil Spill, BP, dkos fucking booming school, deepwater horizon |
mark louis | Renewable Energy Round-Up | 06/01/10 03:24PM Pacific | Renewable Energy Round-Up, eKos, solar energy, biomass, biofuels |
The Cunctator | Holder: We Can Investigate BP While It Cleans Up The Crime Scene | 06/01/10 03:57PM Pacific | oilpocalypse, BP spill, BP, eKos |
gmoke | Bicycle Diaries | 06/01/10 08:04PM Pacific | bicycles, cities, urban design, transportation, music |
icebergslim | President Obama? A Kanye Moment? | 06/01/10 09:59PM Pacific | BP, British Petroleum, Barack Obama, Kanye West, eKos |
Muskegon Critic | The Poisoned Pennsylvania Town, Abandoned in 1984 | 06/01/10 10:22PM Pacific | Recommended, Centralia, coal, coal fire, energy |
About eKos
The Idea
This project was inspired by the Earth Day @ DKos Blogathon. In case you missed it, we had 31 participating environmental diaries, all of which were linked to in the Mothership. During the event we had several requests for an eco-mothership diary series in the mould of the Earth Day effort.
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