Subject: Fwd from Sierra Club President Robin Mann re "Request Comments: Gulf Crisis - thoughts?"
Re: Request comments: Gulf Oil Crisis - thoughts?
Hello Wayne, Jeanette and others on this list --
Sierra Club members across the country are angered and frustrated by what is unfolding in the Gulf. And while I certainly agree there is more to do, I want to make sure you are aware of what we
are doing, and how you can help build on that. Sierra Club has actually been dominating the media and mobilizing pressure on the administration and Congress in responding to this crisis. Two overarching objectives have guided this work: first, frame this issue and draw maximum media attention to it as a "crisis" and not just a spill [as BP has sought to do], and second, ensure not only maximum pressure on the administration and Congress to address the immediate emergency and long-term recovery needs of the communities and natural systems, but also that this disaster changes altogether the politics around oil. All of the Club's capacities -- communications, online organizing, field organizing, and the law program -- as well as our conservation staff and new ED have been working in overdrive, since the disaster began, in support of those objectives. A major effort has gone into helping our activists create the groundswell against offshore drilling and for getting the country off oil. Across the country chapters and groups and individual activists have conducted and are planning "Clean it Up" events. A major emphasis is on encouraging and supporting self-organizing. Check out the Take Action page from the Club's public website --
www.sierraclub.org/oilspill -- for information about those events and planning your own, as well as other materials for activists. And if you haven't seen the Rush Limbaugh attack on the Club, Mike Brune's response on Hardball, and our efforts to maximize that opportunity, it is not to be missed! Go to
www.sierraclub.org You will also see the ticker running estimating the amount of oil pouring into the Gulf. And our Climate Crossroads social networking site is reaching out to engage as many people as possible in getting involved in demanding that we move the country away from dangerous oil drilling and away from oil altogether.
A longer term campaign is in development, but meanwhile we are ramping up the second phase of this oil disaster response which will go through July 4, aimed at maximizing pressure on the administration to commit to getting the country off oil. This will include reaching out to influentials to pressure the administration, engaging thousands of new activists, and holding visibility events to build public demand for ending our oil dependence. Christina Yagjian, of the Global Warming and Energy Team, whom most of you know as the host of the bi-weekly Energy Activist calls, will be part of that effort. I encourage you to send her your ideas and suggestions for making this mobilization a success. I have copied her on this response. I am also copying Dave Scott, our new national Vice President for Conservation. I know he will want to ensure that all of our activists have the support and the tools they need to be fully engaged in driving this effort forward.
Regards,
Robin
On May 23, 2010, at 7:23 AM, Jeanette MacNeille wrote:
National Crisis Team taking daily action sounds like a very good idea.
Anyone else willing to write to the club leadership to request it? Or can we self-organize? SC has some sort of action going already, it probably could use an infusion of grass-roots interest and time. I've gotten several emails requesting LTEs and calls to legislators.
Best,
Jeanette
On 5/22/10 10:14 PM, Wayne Kenton wrote:
Jeanette
...
it is high time the SC National call a Crisis Team into action to start taking daily action!...
...
First, let’s demand the national Sierra Club get it message together! This needs to be a daily thing not when they feel like it IMHO.
Wayne
From: Jeanette MacNeille [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 9:15 PM
To: Wayne Kenton
Cc: 'Chp & Grp Global Warming Energy Chairs'; 'Pennsylvania Conservation Committee list'
Subject: Re: Request comments: Gulf Oil Crisis - thoughts?
Wayne,
No joke - -it's a bad scenario. I guess I need some ideas on *how* to make more noise. Already wrote to the legislators.
Maybe it would help to call members to encourage LTEs and to legislators. I think SC sent out a couple of messages recently requesting LTEs on this. Certainly much more could be done.
Best
Jeanette
On 5/22/10 10:42 AM, Wayne Kenton wrote:
Friends,
Please take a deep breath, read, think and respond, this is an extremely scary situation which may include unthinkable actions needed to solve a problem growing beyond belief. If we don’t start to stop this it won’t matter soon what clean up happens, and we may have already passed that point. I welcome any corrections of my suggested thoughts, my often interrupted thoughts, and calculations, this is too important a debate that needs to be started..!
A national mess, worse by the day, so where is the urgency?
May 22, 2010
Just a thought by W. Kenton
The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 released an estimated 250,000 barrels (10.8 million gallons) into Prince William Sound one of the richest wild life and fishing grounds found anywhere. Today, 21 years later this once vital and rich nature wonder is just a shadow of its former self, with oil and tar still to be found. Prior to last month this was known as the largest and most devastating human-caused environmental disaster ever to occur in history (1).
Since the explosion and sinking on April 20 of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP, government, and/or media estimates have reported repeatedly that approximately 5,000 barrels a day are being released into the Gulf of Mexico (2). Since this past weekend estimates of 210,000 gallons are being extracted through an inserted pipe in the ruptured well, admittedly a very small amount of the overall leak. (3)
Some noise has been made in the last few days that the oil leak is much larger per day than estimated and reported. Additional multiple leaks have been reported but where is the national coverage, where is the urgency, where is the science and fact reporting? Today another story has estimated that 4 million gallons per day (95,000 barrels daily) is actually pouring into the Gulf, much of it unseen (4). If multiplied by 30 days that is 2,850,000 barrels since the explosion have poured into the surrounding ocean. Said another way, 11.4 times the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster have been released into the Gulf in the last month alone; the equivalent of one disaster every 2.6 days.
Reports of oil reaching the Gulf Loop Current and oil washing up in the Keys is now a fact, and so is predicting the oil will make its way in the Atlantic Gulf Stream currents and be carried to every beach along the East Coast in the very near future.
I have one question, where is the national emergency and who is calling for more action? Are we completely dependent on BP to solve their disaster, or shouldn’t we be demanding much more action from everyone! Back in 1989 the response as I recall it was all over the national media and government stepped in under then President Regan. Is it me or was our response then far more aggressive, caring, and complete then what we are seeing today? The clean up in Alaska two decades again fell far short and was in itself a disaster, maybe it was all media hip I recall then, but my goodness where are we headed today with an event now calculated at many times that size?
Possible leak solutions have ranged from the stupid plugging it with golf balls to the scarcest using nuclear blasts (5) (6) to seal the wells nearby geology. Recent reports suggest that we could still be faced with the same leak or rate until August or more, that is 4 months, and that is if their Band-Aid attempts actually work someday. Based on performance to date it is clear regardless how difficult it may be, BP is way over their heads and only trying; they have no real solution or the talent or urgency to get it done any time soon!
It is high time that this national crisis be elevated to the highest levels in the most urgent manner and to get the best national talent and resources working on a solution today. It is time that BP turn over all technical data to the public, immediately start Sandia National Labs modeling solutions on their super computers, and get the Department of Defense engaged; this is a national crisis. Yes, media noise indicates that this may all be happening slowly in the background but again we cannot stand by idly; this event is killing the Gulf of Mexico for generations to come, placing the entire Gulf Coast on a countdown to destruction, and threatens the entire Atlantic Gulf Stream Region and eventually the Northern Caribbean Basin.
It is time to remove this solution from private industry, clearly unable to handle this growing mess, elevate this to the crisis level that it is and to mobilize all resources! Sorry BP you destroyed our ocean and national well being, once again we are paying the price for poor leadership and understanding. Call your Congressman today and demand the most immediate response and our best national talent possible be called upon. Enough is enough; we are past needing real action, get mad and get making the calls to Congress to get this stopped.
Footnotes:
Sources indicate these tests did not yield the results sought and actually created a geologic cap that seal off much the desired area, exactly what is needed today but nowhere near on the same scale. Russia has also used this technique with mixed results. Two down sides are clear, 1. Conventional explosive yields are not enough, 2. The oil exposed to the a nuclear blast becomes radioactive rendering unsellable, thus is the quest saving the oil or the ocean, not sure if it is that simple or even a choice still.
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