I can no longer grieve without actually doing something. I know this may be an excercise in futility, but I really needed to put the following outline down on paper, and would love for it to change, grow, expand, and get better. The long term needs from this environmental catastrophe will be huge, and I am thinking there could be a way of creating an upswell of positive action from people all over this country.
I know many of you will say that something like this is already in the works, but after seeing the behind the curve responses from Alabama and now Florida, maybe we should be creating a really smart program that pushed forward would make the people behind the controls start a larger, long term program now, rather than later. After the recent images that have broken what's left of my grieving heart after great personal loss, LATER is not an option.
I have signed up on the existing national volunteer registry at (866)-448-5816, I was told that if I already had the specialized training they could use me now(I do not, so I got on their email list). I received an email from Horizon Call Center letting me know someone will contact me if and when I am needed. I feel this is not being proactive for the scale we are now looking at. I had to look on the internet myself about how to get hazmat training and it can be done online and takes about 40 hours at around $350 for the course. Training for animal cleanup is much more involved, and the places that do that are scattered around the country, and I do not know if BP has setup special animal cleaning training sites in Louisiana or if they are still relying on the established groups coming from out of the area. If we keep going at this 3 steps behind we will not be able to save nearly as much of our national treasures. Below is a blog entry from the National Wildlife Federation website that really has me worried:
Jennifer I'm in the same boat you are in. I live near the effected area and want to help but what I have been getting from a lot of groups is you are not trained so you can't help but give us a donation. If you want to help you probably would do better getting hired on by BP. I doubt you would work with directly with cleaning wildlife but they are the only ones cleaning oiled areas. It's like if you are not a BP employee the only thing you can do is look for oil and notify them. Here is a bit from an email I got from LA Gulf Response they are planning a pre clean in west Louisiana almost Texas: Thank you for your patience in allowing us to respond to the BP Oil Spill with a coordinated and safe volunteer program. We’ve received numerous emails asking why volunteers haven’t been mobilized to assist with oil removal at this time. First, many areas of Louisiana that have been impacted by oil are sensitive marsh areas that are only accessible by boat and require professional training for oil remediation activities. Second, BP is only using trained and paid contractors to handle oiled material on beaches and shorelines. Third, we do not want to detract from the use of a local and contracted workforce that may rely on compensation for clean-up related activities to supplant the interruption of their previous income.
BP being in control of the cleanup must end. They will be perfunctery and reactive while great suffering goes on almost unabated. The local need for paid jobs on the cleanup will in my opinion become stressed as this situation goes on and on and outside workforces as well as volunteer positions will be greatly needed as burnout happens locally.
So, the following is a beginning outline of what could be a new civic or conservation corps. I have originally done this in a mindmap but converted it to an outline. I am looking for great infusions of enhancements, changes, overalls etc...
Plan for Long Term Coastal Rehab
What/Why
A.Produce a huge, Civilian Corps, so over the long term we can save
what we can-proactively
1.A huge Job Producer
2.A Path for Volunteers to really participate
We are now looking at years of cleanup and animal welfare
programs
How
A. Have Central Command Center org, interconnecting existing non-
profit environmental groups, animal welfare teaching orgs, hazmat
teaching orgs and other groups as part of the plan acting as a co-
ordinating arm with government
1. Central Hub Call Center/Volunteer/Worker Registration
a. TV/Internet Ad Campaign to Sign Up
The sooner we start, the more we can save, both the
environment and animals
Example of how it could work for job seeker:
1. John Doe sees ad on tv for 6 month work cleaning beaches or
cleaning animals. He goes online to Hub website, registers
online, and receives individual id number to be printed out,
along with a barcode of that number so he has that paper/barcode
for future use/tracking.
a. There could also be jobs for admin/logistics and general
support
2.John then clicks on link either to show participating hazmat
training companies or University/environmental/vet groups that
provide animal cleaning schools.
3.John signups up for online course in Hazmat cleaning(aprox. 40
hours) and receives certificate to clean oil and other hazards.
When he signs up he uses his id and that can be tracked by the
participating company to get paid by government/BP after John
completes training
a. Participating training company goes to Hub website, clicks on
employers link, signs in with employer id and enters John's id
under certification completed
b. John goes back to Hub website, puts in his id and the
possible sites needing his work come up along with the time
frame needed. John signs up for one of the sites and time of
job start, and then gets a list of participating hotels etc
where there are discounted worker/volunteer rates
c. John shows up at site area, checks in to sleeping
quarters with his id to get discount and when he gets to
work site,his name will be there with site
administrators.
d. John gets to work
Example of how it could work for volunteers:
1. Volunteer stints would be shorter and logistically used in a
more fluid manner where unseen shortages or quick change of
needs occur
2. Internet registration and id would be same except it would be
through volunteer link. Would still go thru training if
necessary, but would receive e-mail updates on cleanup needs
and time frames, and would go into Hub website and signup for
one that works
a. the id could be tracked to the government/BP who then pays
out
And yes, I do believe we can force this type of program into a reality, whether it is an amalgamation of ours here or something someone in the government is working on - a long term action plan/netork must get going like yesterday.
Thanks for trying with me.