Things Words Cannot Fix
Stolen in its entirety from the marvelous jblaque's LJ. I urge you to steal it too, because…well. Yeah.
• Experts say that the Gulf's highly endangered sperm whale population is in serious peril, and the loss of as little as three females (by inhalation and/or ingestion of the crude and its fumes) could ultimately wipe them out forever.
• Whales are just one of the many endangered species facing total devastation.
• Several media outlets are now reporting that their access to the spill area is being "strangled off" by BP as the oil giant continues to suppress and/or misrepresent the truth about the magnitude of the disaster.
• Americablog reveals the serious, growing health hazards to those involved in the clean-up efforts (and, ultimately, thousands of people living along the coast).
• Energy expert Mark Simmons is just one among many who posit that nuking the site may be the only way to stop the gusher.
• Craig Medred covers the technology that the oil industry (most notably, BP) doesn't want to talk about.
• Gulf fisherman are now describing the event as "the apocalyspe" of their industry and way of life.
• Alabama and Mississippi – helplessly and hopelessly – await the inevitable.
• Independent scientists and researchers say it's not the oil at the surface that poses the biggest danger to our ecosystem, it's what lies beneath.
• NPR gives us a haunting (and horrifying) preview of what will forevermore be known as "The Summer of Oil."
• Meanwhile, BP's latest grasp at straws could make matters far worse than they already are.
• At least one Gulf fisherman – stricken by oil-related illness – has BP's number. We need 10,000 more just like him.
• Already facing more than 100 lawsuits, BP has wasted little time in shopping for sympathetic judges.
And finally – please read David Gergen's plea to President Obama to take command of the situation (including many steps the White House can take right now to help manage this nightmare).
P.S. Please pass these updates along in your LJ, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This very well could be the most important news story of our lifetimes. Don't let it die.