GULF OIL DISASTER
Damage from BP oil spill lingers a year later
BP Spill's Next Major Phase: Wrangling Over Toll on Gulf
"A year after the worst oil spill to strike U.S. waters, oyster beds are struggling along the Gulf of Mexico, the dolphin population is experiencing what the federal government calls an "unusual mortality event," and red snapper with rotting fins are showing up on fishing lines."
Oil & gas industry spills happen "all the time"
"Next week marks the anniversary of the beginning of the BP oil disaster. It should have been a wake-up call for the industry and the federal government. Instead, spills, leaks and explosions still happen every day.
A six month CBS News investigation found that spills of crude oil and toxic chemicals last year alone were three times the amount of the Exxon Valdez spill."
OIL/ENERGY POLICY
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar worried about bills to speed permits for wells
Surfrider and nearly 50 other environmental organizations are worried about this too. See the letter we submitted here.
House gets moving on offshore drilling
"A pair of House panels will delve into offshore drilling legislation Wednesday amid a warning from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that GOP proposals reflect "amnesia" about last year's massive BP oil spill."
ALTERNATIVES TO OIL
A Cleaner Energy Future
"Virginia's existing tourism and fishing sectors rely on clean beaches and healthy marine habitat, and would be jeopardized by developing a dirty fossil fuel industry on our coast, or worse, by the devastation of an oil spill. Investing in affordable alternatives to oil and in greener transportation systems will generate nearly four times more jobs than spending the same amount on oil energy resources, according to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Center for American Progress."
