July in Wisconsin means the annual Oneida PowWow near Green Bay over the 4th of July weekend to celebrate life and friendship and culture, among other summer events enjoyed by residents and visitors. This year is the World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa, and while the USA team was eliminated in the “knock-out” bracket, hope springs eternal for fans of the remaining teams worldwide as “the beautiful game” celebrations are played out to the championship match on July 11.
Not to rain on any parades, of course, but another event continues into July this year that is anything but “celebrating life” or “the beautiful game” or other seasonal joys and felicities. In fact, it is a “knock-out” event, but a woefully tragic one not to be celebrated—the Gulf Oil Spill.
I’d much rather focus on the fun and positive Oneida PowWow and World Cup Tournament, but I can’t help thinking more and more about the unchecked British Petroleum gusher that has precluded millions of residents and tourists from enjoying summer fun on beaches of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. I can’t put my head in the sand, or else I’d suffocate in crude oil like so many pelicans, turtles, and flounders.
Here are some by-lines from media coverage on the Gulf Oil Spill, which continues unabated since the April 20 explosion (ironically during Earth Day week celebrations) that killed 11 workers at 11pm on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico 52 miles southeast of the Louisiana port of Venice, with estimates of 60,000 barrels (42 gallons per barrel of oil) daily gushing into the Gulf of Mexico (all media entries below sourced from www.Gulfoilspill.net, and be sure to check out the real-time Oil Spill Counter):
- Sunday, June 27, 2010 Frustrated by boycott, station owners want BP help
- Monday, June 28, 2010 Alex in the gulf – oil interactions uncertain
- Friday, June 25, 2010 Costner cleanup device gets high marks from BP
- Thursday, June 24, 2010 Oil moves into Mississippi Sound, prompts skimming operations
- Tuesday, June 22, 2010 Deepwater Drilling Ban Lifted by New Orleans Federal Judge
- Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Oil spill could be up to 60,000 barrels a day
- Sunday, June 6, 2010 Gulf oil spill: Wildlife toll grows as more oil washes ashore
- Tuesday, June 1, 2010 Gulf Oil Tracker Estimates Number of Gallons Leaked into Gulf
Again, when will we switch to solar-based, renewable fuels and appropriate green technologies for a sustainable future? In the meantime, “WaterWorld” film star Kevin Costner, who testified before the US Congress recently about mitigating the Gulf Oil Spill, is deploying “Ocean Therapy Solutions” centrifuges mounted on barges that can process 600,000 gallons per unit per day to separate 99% of the oil from seawater to help in oil recovery and environmental clean-up. Now back to the Pow Wow and World Cup games—or to the Jimmy Buffet concert on July 1 in support of the Gulf coast residents (human and other forms of life) in Gulf Shores, Alabama for some summer fun.
Thanks, Kevin and Jimmy and all you parrotheads out there!
Best regards,
GEM Education Center Blog 