Pres. Obama–reverse your decision on offshore drilling on U.S. coasts

As the U.S. Coast Guard, BP experts, Louisiana emergency crews and now even the Defense Department fight desperately to save the ecologically fragile and economically priceless marsh and wetlands areas now threatened by the BO/TransOcean oil spill, state governors and legislators along the Atlantic and NW Pacific coasts (and maybe at some point, the Great Lakes) as well as their residents should  send a message loud and clear to President Obama that offshore oil drilling carries risks far too great to threaten our shorelines.

The fire and platform collapse has created an environmental disaster and Louisiana and Mississippi are once again in the cross hairs. According to experts, including BP itself, as much as 5,000 barrels of crude oil a day is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico and drifting straight towards the marshes where song birds and shore birds rely on the rich nutrients of a coastal marsh land. Fish and shellfish make their homes and provide a living to scores of the little people (not the fat cat corporations). Tuna, dolphins, even whales are in jeopardy.

Even the experimental controlled burns create a serious pollution problem and threaten the underwater species. The price tag is about $6 million a day for the cleanup efforts with total costs, including the loss of the rig, expected to top $1 billion, and 11 people are dead. But that $1 billion is far less than the economic and ecological havoc this oil spill will wreak along the coastal wetlands.

Back in 1969, California’s Santa Barbara experienced a similar catastrophe. A few days after it began, a group called Get Oil Out (GOO) was founded in Santa Barbara. Eventually, its efforts led to the banning of offshore drilling along California’s coastline.

Get Oil Out is still in business at http://www.getoilout.org. Though it’s focus has been California, it may be the right time to broaden its mission.

Now it’s our job to see the beautiful, thriving shorelines of places like coastal Georgia (I love the Golden Isles area) and its barrier islands, Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia and on up the coast don’t face an identical crisis in the future.

Let’s tell Mr. Obama to forget his plans for more off shore oil drilling off of U.S. Coasts. He’s worried about energy. I am worried about our precious coastlines and their future.