Rise from the Ashes...

...of a disaster.

My entry for *yuumei's Oil spilling awareness contest.
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Over 1000 birds.
Over 400 sea turtles.
Over 50 marine mammals.

These are the confirmed victims of the the great BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. And there are more to come.

I guess most of you know about the current oil spill disaster, already. For those of you who don't, here's a summary.
The offshore oil drilling rig exploded on April 20th, and yet it is still spilling at around 800,000 to 4,200,000 US gallons of crude oil every day.
Why did this happen?
Because BP had no clue what they were doing and the officials of MMS (Mineral Management Service that’s part of US Department of interior) didn't do a proper job at checking the security.
After the explosion it took 3 days for BP to realize that there was even a leak. When they found out, the first thing they tried to do was to lie about the amounts leaking out into the water. Still they weren't very concerned, and took their time to try and find a solution. Every measure they've tried have failed, and all they've done is wasting time.
They're predicted to be done by August! Yes, no sooner than that!

And the worst part is, this have happened before. In 1979, another oil disaster took place in the same gulf as this. BP's "Top Kill" strategy was a repeat of a strategy that was used in 1979, and which failed. Apparently they haven't learned a thing from history.

This is the largest offshore oil spill in American history. Not only is BP not doing enough to stop the spill, they chose to use Corexit 95, a highly toxic skin burning chemical banned in the UK, as the oil dispersant. Now, not only are there deadly oil floating around, but also over 60,000 gallons in toxic plumes of burning chemicals as well. On May 19th, the NEPA ordered BP to find a less toxic dispersant within 24 hours but BP ignored them and continued to use Corexit. BP chose to use Coretix not because it's effective (it's not, there are plenty of better chemicals to use) they chose it because they had a business deal with the Coretix maker. BP is being cheap and not caring about the consequences. Not only is the fishing industry in ruins, but the lasting environmental impact can go on for decades.

Oil have already washed up on the shores of several islands and killed many birds, turtles, and fish, endangering over 4,000 species of birds and marine life.
Due to the loop current, the oil can be spread all the way to Florida.

Here are a number of sites where you can sign petitions or donate!
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Please take action and help ban offshore drilling once and for all! Let us not repeat the same mistake again!

Resources:
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This is also posted on:
Livejournal: [link]