Friends of the Earth is exposing and fighting pollution and exploitation of our ecosystems. Our Clean Vessels campaign is cleaning up the cruise industry, protecting marine sanctuaries, and reducing air pollution from ocean-going vessels. The environment is for everyone, and a healthy and just world requires clean air and water.
Read the latest news and updates from our Air and Water campaigns:
By Caroline D’Angelo
The ongoing oil disaster has spurred debate on how to transition away from fossil fuels. Yet it’s a discussion that largely glosses over a crucial point– drilling for more oil is unnecessary. Even the most optimistic estimates for offshore drilling in America account for less than three years of the U.S.’ energy needs. Expanded drilling – which the Kerry-Lieberman bill calls for – is a wasteful and dangerous pursuit of more profits for oil companies, not a necessity. There are clean energy and transportation alternatives available now that can wean us off of our oil addiction.
By Scott Baumgartner and Ian Illuminato
Since the explosion of Deepwater Horizon, BP has been using dispersants as part of the cleanup efforts. But there are several problems with these chemicals. For one, they don’t actually clean up the oil. Instead, they break the oil down into tiny particles that sink below the surface of the water. And though not much scientific research has been done on dispersants, the research that has been done points to the conclusion that dispersants are toxic.
By Neesha Kulkarni
Even before the Deepwater Horizon disaster our oceans were under assault. Oceans are the source of more than half of the air we breathe and yet they are under constant threat from garbage dumped onshore and at sea, agricultural and municipal run-off, sewer overflows, oil spills, chemical dumping and ship pollution. And now they face the rising specters of ocean acidification and climate change. Every year, new species of fish are added to lists of contaminated seafood, more beaches are closed due to fecal bacteria contamination, and more animals die from ingesting plastic. It is no wonder that when BP’s CEO Tony Hayward dismissed the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico as a small matter in a big ocean and others say that the ocean can handle it, those assertions are met with disbelief and outrage.
By Kate McMahon
It took the ethanol industry a mere two weeks to start chasing the oil spill ambulance. Ethanol lobbyists hit the media and government circuits to claim that ethanol is the only currently viable way to reduce oil consumption. In an opportunistic letter to President Obama shortly after the oil spill, one ethanol lobby group, the Renewable Fuels Association, stated “the juxtaposition of a green American farm field and the copper-toned oil slick spreading across the Gulf is striking.” But in reality, ethanol was causing problems in the Gulf long before the oil disaster.
By Scott Baumgartner
On April 22, the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig sank off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers. Estimates show the amount of oil pouring into the ocean to be more than 19,000 barrels a day, far exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. It’s unquestionably the largest environmental disaster in the history of the United States, and the oil continues to flow.
Last week, BP's "top kill" effort, in which mud and other objects were forced into the blown-out oil well in the gulf to try and stanch the flow of oil, failed. Now, BP engineers are attempting to stop the gusher on the ocean floor by cutting the breached riser pipe on top of the well and placing a cap over the top of the newly-cut pipe. This strategy, if it fails, will most likely increase the flow of oil coming from the well.
As the failures pile up, attempts to plug the well become riskier and more desperate. And yet, the government doesn't have any better ideas to stop the spill. For years, officials have been lax on enforcing safety standards and protecting against disasters because they bought oil company assurances that offshore drilling wasn't dangerous.
There was already an ecological disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico before the notorious BP oil spill happened. A giant, expanding marine life dead zone created by agricultural runoff threatens fisheries and ecosystems. Corn ethanol production has contrbuted to the rapid growth of this dead zone, which will reaches the size of Massachusetts this summer.
Friends of the Earth is hosting a forum on short sea shipping, or regional shipping, at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, CA, on May 25, 2010. The forum addresses the potential environmental drawbacks and benefits associated with short sea shipping in the San Francisco Bay and along the California coast. The forum also considers how the maritime and landside sectors involved in goods movement operations, including short sea shipping, can enhance their environmental performance, especially concerning harmful air emissions.
Charleston, South Carolina is among a number of U.S. cities that have joined the fight against the rising tide of cruise ship pollution, after being informed by the South Carolina State Ports Authority that more than double the number of cruise ships would be visiting the historic city in 2010, and that a new cruise terminal is in the works. Last year 33 cruise ships visited the port of Charleston and this year a record 67 cruise ships are expected to call on Charleston. The construction of a new cruise terminal could foster even more cruise ship traffic in the future. Cruise ships bring with them air and water pollution, and a host of other problems that will impact the people and city of Charleston and the surrounding natural environment.
Click here to download Friends of the Earth fact sheets about the gulf oil spill.
On Thursday, April 22, the deep ocean oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to its sinking, the rig, owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased by BP, burned for 36 hours after a blowout in which 11 workers lost their lives.
This spill has become the deadliest and most massive in the history of the United States, officially eclipsing the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill on May 27, 2010. It shows that oil drilling is inherently dirty and dangerous.
