Although it’s less obvious during winter, with the fields and forests having gone dormant, Texas’ historic drought continues to claim casualties.
Trees, especially, remain at risk because they use the winter months to grow root systems, and the moisture in the soil will determine whether they’ll recover from 2011′s record drought and heat.
Tags: · Louisiana, Oklahoma, save trees, Southeast, Texas, Texas Trees Foundation, US drought, US Drought Monitor, watering trees
If you’ve been wondering what it’s like for shrimpers on the Gulf Coast these days, six months after the devastating BP oil spill was stopped, you won’t hear definitive answers.
While recent tests have shown that shrimp from the gulf are safe to eat, Gulf Coast shrimpers live with daily apprehensions. They know the ecosystem they depend upon has been damaged, and soon harvests could be diminished.
Tags: · Acy Cooper, BP oil spill, Bridge the Gulf, greenrightnow.com, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, NRDC, shrimpers, StoryCorps
While the BP Gulf Oil Spill has been relegated to history in the minds of many Americans, the people who live and work on the Gulf remain deeply affected.
In this latest installment of Stories from the Gulf: Living with the BP Oil Disaster, a joint project of the Natural Resources Defense Council, StoryCorps and Bridge the Gulf, shrimpers Darla and Todd Rooks talk about how the spill has threatened their livelihood and tainted the sea life they depend upon.
Darla reveals that she has considered suicide, and what persuaded her to persevere. She and Todd detail how the couple now live on their shrimp boat, unable to afford lodging on land.
Tags: · BP Gulf oil spill, BP oil disaster, bp spill, Darla and Todd Rooks, Fishing, greenrightnow.com, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, shrimp
The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a new directive to BP on how the company should manage recovered oil, contaminated materials and liquid and solid wastes recovered in cleanup operations from the BP oil spill. The Coast Guard, along with the Environmental Protection Agency — in consultation with the states — said it will hold BP accountable for the implementation of the approved waste management plans and ensure that the directives are followed in the gulf coast states.
Tags: · Alabama, approved waste management plans, BP, Environmental Protection Agency, Florida, Gulf oil spill, Louisiana, Mississippi, U.S. Coast Guard
The message of Hands Across the Sands, its founder likes to say, is simple: Say ‘No’ to oil drilling and ‘Yes’ to clean energy.
To make that point crystal clear, thousands of Americans are expected to line up on beaches tomorrow (June 26) at 11 a.m. to join hands and show their solidarity on that point. The gatherings will last 15 minutes. Organizers will take a photo of the group, and then members will disband, leaving only their footprints behind.
Tags: · Alabama, beach, beaches, BP, BP oil spill, bp spill, Florida, gulf coast, Gulf of Mexico, Hands Across the Sand, Hands Across the Sands, Louisiana, Mississippi, oil, oil drilling
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
While the world scrambles to find clean energy solutions, somewhere, every minute of every day, saws buzz through a forest, cutting down one of nature’s antidotes to carbon pollution.
Saving forests in the Congo will help save endangered gorillas (Photo: John Martin)
Tags: · Amazon, Arkansas, Congo, Conservation Fund, Conservation International, deforestation, habitat restoration, Louisiana, Mississippi, Mississippi River Valley, Nature Conservancy, Northern California, rainforest, restoring forests, sustainable forests, The Walt Disney Company, tropical forests
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift