Gulf Recovery: How To Help

by Pam LaPier

I am so proud to be included in the Gulf Recovery Blogathon. I was a lurker for many years here at Daily Kos until the day the Deep Horizon oil rig exploded and ripped a gash into Mother Earth causing her blood to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Since that day I have spent my time on Daily Kos deeply immersed in the Mothership and her child ROV's finding comfort and commiseration with people who have shown me that America will always have hope as long as such people exist.

I have watched with tears in my eyes and pain in my heart as wildlife came out of the ocean covered in oil and struggling for life. The loss of every one of the creatures who have died in this unparalleled disaster leaves us poorer and sadder. I have watched as the fishermen and oystermen's livelihoods have been destroyed and the Gulf Coast way of life decimated.

Below the jump you will find a list of organizations that I have been compiling for months. Please consider donating or volunteering to help support these organizations who spend their lives trying to help people, wildlife and even family pets recover from disaster. Thank you.

continued at Daily Kos...

Gulf Recovery: Dispatches, Day #2

by Project Gulf Impact

Yesterday we spent the day indoors (thankfully) at Louisiana State University interviewing professors from schools across campus. We spoke with experts that represented a range of disciplines, from toxicology to ichthyology. Despite their diverse set of backgrounds, we heard one message loud and clear: our future is uncertain. The need for funding for rigorous research, for both today and years to come, is crucial. As we continue to fight traditional media's assertion that the oil is gone, the situation in the Gulf grows more dire.

When asked what message the scientists and professors wished to convey to the world, they unanimously answered: “the oil spill is not over.”

continued at Daily Kos...

Gulf Recovery: Who Cares About Health Effects?

by mogmaar

This diary is part of the 3 day Gulf Recover blogothon.  Thanks to all participants!  Enjoy!

BP has given $1.3 million to candidates and members of congress since 1999.  That's not even that much, compared to the $3.9 million that Exxon has given, or the whopping $4.4 million that Koch has given in that time. (Check the amazing dirtyenergymoney.com that launched yesterday for more juicy details.)

These are direct contributions, not including money funneled into 501c3 'educational' efforts or to libertarian think tanks.  That's before Citizens United opened up the gates.  This is normal operating procedure in Washington, and what does it buy the oil companies?

continued at Daily Kos...

Gulf Recovery: Invisibility Cloaks & Time Warps

by boatsie

Meerkat Beam Up by rmanoske

Scene. Berkeley, CA. Backyard of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, April 21, 2010. 2:59 AM. PST.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu's red iPhone rings as he completes a metaversal portmanteauvian pole vault in the yard outside his Northern California home. The Nobel-prize physicist has been expecting the call.

"Mr. President."

"Chu. We're waiting for you. Bring the names. Every name associated with that that damned $500-million energy deal you Beserkerly guys signed with BP. Now."

Just seconds later Chu, dressed in his B-Dry 7 tie-died mesh shorts and "Nothing But Air" tee, vaults into  his  fluorescent resonance energy transfer unit, punches the polymer optical tweezer app on his iPhone and shouts the password.

"Meerkat"

He's gone.

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Gulf Recovery (I): Introduction

by noweasels

Good afternoon.  Welcome to the Gulf Recovery blog-a-thon: a three-day series about what we can do to assist the citizens, wildlife and eco-systems of the Gulf Coast.  Through diaries on a wide range of subjects –- by an incredible team of writers -- we hope to promote awareness of the continuing crisis caused by the devastating deluge of oil that has overwhelmed the Gulf since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on Tuesday, April 20, nearly four months ago.  

Hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents have seen their livelihoods, if not their generations-old ways of life, threatened or extinguished.  Thousands –- perhaps tens of thousands -- of shorebirds, reptiles, amphibians and marine mammals are dead or suffering.  An entire eco-system is in danger.

It would all sound at least marginally hyperbolic, were it not all true.

There is so much to do.  And, as a community, we can accomplish so much. Please join us by reading, recommending, commenting -- and by taking action through the links provided.  

continued at Daily Kos...