Actions to Take Against Drilling and Gushers

Forsarded by Joanna
....So, while there might not yet be opportunity to help scrub oil off of animals, we can definitely use your help! This goes back to what Dean Wilson, of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, said in a meeting earlier this week, “keep [the impact] away from the eyes, you will keep it away from the hearts.”
We need to make sure people around the country know how bad the situation really is and that they continue to see and hear about it. We also need to make sure the President and our elected officials continue to hear from people around the country. We need to make sure that the oil is cleaned up completely and that BP is held fully accountable. We need to urge them to take action to never let this happen again, which includes preventing offshore drilling in new waters. This disaster makes it clear that the risk is just too big, especially when we have other solutions to meeting our energy needs. Check out our reports that outline how we can use efficiency measures, solar, and other alternative energy measures to meet our energy needs while reducing our pollution.
So, here are 5 specific actions you can take to help:
1. Take a picture of yourself with your message to President Obama about the spill, include your name and what city you live in. Send the message to me. Look at some more of the pictures I have already collected. Then send this to your friends and ask them to do the same!
2. Tell the President that he should reject new drilling off of America’s coast by clicking here and filling out our petition. We have already collected over 25000 signatures, but we need thousands more.
3. More needs to be happening to solve the current crisis – we need the federal government to stop letting BP run the show. Call or email your senators and representatives and ask them to do more to make sure that BP is using all available resources to clean up their mess. You can look up their contact info here. Send me a note & let me know how it goes!
4. Write letters to the editors of your newspapers. Here is the letter to the editor (mentioned in a previous update) if you need an example. Check out your paper – read the articles on the spill & write a response that emphasizes how we need to clean this up & never let it happen again! Send me copies of the letters you write so I can share them with other people.
5. Send around the link to the interactive incident map – it’s a great way to see and hear from citizens reporting what they see on the ground.
Heather Emmert
Gulf States Field Organizer
Environment America
Office 504-861-4427 ** new phone number
Cell 817-312-0079