Here's a new item to add to the long list of expenses that are putting our country into deficit spending: cleaning up oil spills. While we keep hearing that companies like BP are on the hook for the costs of cleanup, in truth, much of the cleanup will be paid for by the U.S. Treasury itself. As it turns out, BP and other oil companies can write off the costs of cleanup, forcing about a third of the billion dollar cleanup tab to come out of the Treasury. So, besides the normal billions of dollars that we already forego each year by giving tax breaks to some of the richest companies in the world, now we have billions more that those who spill oil into our oceans can get from our bank account even after committing one of the most heinous environmental crimes imaginable.

Thankfully, Congress is taking notice, but will it have the political will to end this ridiculous giveaway? So far, Big Oil and its allies have been all too effective at preventing any legislation whatsoever from passing in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Spill. Today, Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) introduced the "Oil Spill Tax Fairness Act" to end the practice of allowing oil companies to take tax breaks after they've caused an oil spill. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the bill could save the Treasury more than a billion dollars a year by placing cleanup costs squarely on the laps of those that made the mess.

Remember, these are companies making record profits. Today, Exxon announced that it earned $41 billion in 2011, up 35% from 2010. Yet there seems to be no end in sight for the broader slate of tax gimmicks that result in billions of dollars lost to the Treasury each year. At the very least, these bad actors should pay to clean up their own messes. I have nothing against writing off business expenses, but a major oil spill is not, and never has been considered a normal "cost of doing business." Nor should it be. Killing workers, devastating marine life, including dolphins, corals and endangered sea turtles, shutting down fisheries, making people sick, and destroying the cultural fabric of coastal communities should never be considered just a cost of doing business. And companies like BP that take tremendous risks with our resources certainly should not be rewarded for doing so.

Congress and the Administration should be doing much more in response to the Gulf Spill, like imposing real safety requirements, lifting the horrendously low liability cap, ending tax handouts to oil companies, and ultimately moving us away from offshore drilling. But at the very least passing the "Oil Spill Tax Fairness Act" would be a good first step.

The ocean is the single biggest feature of our planet.

From one million miles away we resemble a small blue marble, from one billion miles a pale blue dot.

The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface, holds more than 80% of its biodiversity and 90% of its habitat.

Phytoplankton in the ocean provide more than half of our oxygen and provides the basis of the primary protein for more than a billion people.

More than half a billion people, mostly artisanal fishers, owe their livelihoods to the seafood industry.

Humans have derived unmeasurable inspiration, joy, recreation and relaxation from the ocean for millennia.

But we have treated the ocean poorly, and its decline in recent decades has been catastrophic for our planet and its people.

We have put too much into the ocean, in the form of oil, sewage, fertilizers and pesticides, antibiotics, plastic pollution, noise and increasing levels of CO2.

We have taken too much out of the ocean by subsidizing and encouraging inefficient and destructive overfishing, bottom trawling, long-lining, purse seining, dynamite fishing, irresponsible aquaculture and illegal hunting.

We have destroyed the edge of the ocean -- places like wetlands, kelp forests, mangrove forests, river deltas, coral reefs and seagrass beds -- where diversity and abundance once thrived, now turned into dead zones growing in size and number.

As a result of our behavior, the wildest animals and most remote beaches on the planet carry plastic in them, coral reefs are on the verge of disappearing, shark populations have been decimated, the ocean is warming and becoming more acidic and fisheries are predicted to collapse globally.

This situation will only continue to spiral downward, unless we listen, learn and change.

To slow, stop and then reverse this trend will take immediate, widespread and drastic actions, not isolated, small and incremental adjustments.

The control large corporations have over our political processes must be severed, bold legislation enacted and new behavior patterns widely adopted.

We need an Ocean Revolution.

The passionate individuals, organizations, expertise and solutions needed to do this exist around the world.

What is needed is a massive boost in personal and political will alongside strong actions and louder voices.

It is our coast and our ocean.

The time is now to Occupy The Ocean.

[Repost this anywhere you like, adding to it as you will.]

If you were BP, wouldn't you wait for the right time to go back to the U.S. government to ask for more permits to drill? What would seem like a good time to do that? Surely, it wouldn't be when oil is gushing uncontrollably from a BP site on the cold, dark ocean floor, or a day when oiled birds were washing up on beaches. Certainly fisheries closures wouldn't still be keeping Gulf fishermen from working, and people wouldn't still be rebuilding their lives, after losing jobs, and even loved ones following the explosion.

I picture BP coming back for more drilling rights on a bright, sunny day, with clear blue skies, birds chirping and butterflies fluttering around. Flowers would be blooming, and green marsh grasses would be swaying with the fresh breeze. The kind of day when it seems as if there is not a care in the world.

Sadly, that's not how the Gulf looked yesterday, or today. BP's announcement that it wants more drilling permits came on a day when the Gulf still looks more like a traumatized post-disaster site than the pretty picture of recovery we so hope for. Everywhere we look we see reminders that the oil is not gone and people and wildlife are still suffering.

Just two weeks ago there was a large oil sheen spotted in the Gulf, not the first since the Deepwater Horizon of course, but one which was tracked back to an area near two abandoned wells. There are about 27,000 such wells in the Gulf with the potential to leak at any time, and oftentimes do so unnoticed since they are neither monitored nor adequately inspected.

Then, just last week, a new oil sheen was found near the site of the Deepwater Horizon. BP's initial response was less than helpful, but independent chemical analysis showed that the oil looks an awful lot like theirs. The sheen can't really be explained by a passing boat, or a leaking rig. A natural seep is a very low odds possibility, not to mention a convenient theory for BP. But many believe this oil may be coming from the well, either from the abandoned riser, or from a leak springing from a fracture caused by the blowout. BP has no good explanation. They say they don't see the sheen. But it's bad timing to be asking for more drilling.

Maybe they couldn't see the sheen because far from being a clear, sunny day, the ocean is stirred up thanks to Hurricane Lee. Lee isn't the first hurricane to hit the area since the spill, and it won't be the last. It's a reminder that more permits for drilling in the Gulf may not be such a good idea. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita famously led to numerous spills in Hurricane Alley. When there's a hurricane threatening the existing Gulf rigs, it may be a bad time to ask for more permits.

And finally, anyone who did think it might be a nice beach day may have been disappointed to be greeted by a fresh new batch of tar balls on the shoreline. BP oil? Authorities are not yet sure. But one thing is for sure: it wasn't the first set of tar balls to wash up, and it won't be the last. Especially not if BP and other oil companies continue to insist that their right to drill trumps everything else in the Gulf. Oh, and one other thing: It's probably not a good day to ask for more drilling rights.

WASHINGTON -- Sea level has been rising significantly over the past century of global warming, according to a study that offers the most detailed look yet at the changes in ocean levels during the last 2,100 years.

The researchers found that since the late 19th century – as the world became industrialized – sea level has risen more than 2 millimeters per year, on average. That's a bit less than one-tenth of an inch, but it adds up over time.

If the current actions contributing to a multifaceted degradation of the world's oceans aren't curbed, a mass extinction unlike anything human history has ever seen is coming, an expert panel of scientists warns in an alarming new report.

The preliminary report from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) is the result of the first-ever interdisciplinary international workshop examining the combined impact of all of the stressors currently affecting the oceans, including pollution, warming, acidification, overfishing and hypoxia.

“The findings are shocking," Dr. Alex Rogers, IPSO's scientific director, said in a statement released by the group. "This is a very serious situation demanding unequivocal action at every level. We are looking at consequences for humankind that will impact in our lifetime, and worse, our children's and generations beyond that."

The scientific panel concluded that degeneration in the oceans is happening much faster than has been predicted, and that the combination of factors currently distressing the marine environment is contributing to the precise conditions that have been associated with all major extinctions in the Earth's history.

According to the report, three major factors have been present in the handful of mass extinctions that have occurred in the past: an increase of both hypoxia (low oxygen) and anoxia (lack of oxygen that creates "dead zones") in the oceans, warming and acidification. The panel warns that the combination of these factors will inevitably cause a mass marine extinction if swift action isn't taken to improve conditions.

The report is the latest of several published in recent months examining the dire conditions of the oceans. A recent World Resources Institute report suggests that all coral reefs could be gone by 2050 if no action is taken to protect them, while a study published earlier this year in BioScience declares oysters as "functionally extinct", their populations decimated by over-harvesting and disease. Just last week scientists forecasted that this year's Gulf "dead zone" will be the largest in history due to increased runoff from the Mississippi River dragging in high levels of nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers.

A recent study in the journal Nature, meanwhile, suggests that not only will the next mass extinction be man-made, but that it could already be underway. Unless humans make significant changes to their behavior, that is.

The IPSO report calls for such changes, recommending actions in key areas: immediate reduction of CO2 emissions, coordinated efforts to restore marine ecosystems, and universal implementation of the precautionary principle so "activities proceed only if they are shown not to harm the ocean singly or in combination with other activities." The panel also calls for the UN to swiftly introduce an "effective governance of the High Seas."

"The challenges for the future of the ocean are vast, but unlike previous generations we know what now needs to happen," Dan Laffoley of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and co-author of the report said in a press release for the new report. "The time to protect the blue heart of our planet is now, today and urgent."

HAVANA -- Cuban scientists calculate that median sea levels around the Caribbean nation will rise more than 30 inches by the end of the century due to global climate change, official media said Friday.

Models predict the sea will rise 10.6 inches (27 centimeters) by 2050, and 33.5 inches (85 centimeters) by 2100, Abel Centella, scientific director of the country's Meteorological Institute, was quoted by Communist Party daily Granma as saying.

"Demon Fish: Travels Through The Hidden World Of Sharks" is a new book that explores the way humans and cultures around the world interact with the ocean's top predator.

Written by Juliet Eilperin, national environment report for The Washington Post, the book gives an up-close look at understanding both the mystery and power behind these creatures and the large imprint they've cemented in the human mind long before "Jaws" came on the scene.

"This is the shark book for the person who wants to understand both what sharks are, and what sharks mean. Bite into it,” author and president of Blue Ocean Institute Carl Safina says.

Check out some photos from "Demon Fish" below, and pick up a copy of the book to learn more.

ABOARD THE STEVE IRWIN — A boat operated by environmental activists was steaming toward Libyan waters Friday, hoping to stop illegal fishing for bluefin tuna – through confrontation if necessary.

The Steve Irwin, which is owned by the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, could enter Libyan waters as early as Friday night, said Locky MacLean, the first mate. There, it will rendezvous with the Brigitte Bardot, a faster, smaller Sea Shepherd boat that is currently tailing two unidentified purse seiners – boats that catch tuna with large nets that they draw closed like purses.

By Brian Skerry:

When the recent quake hit Japan, I was on board a ship in Indonesia, watching in horror as the disaster played out. Since then, as a diver and underwater photographer, I have been thinking a lot about the devastation--especially the radioactive water and waste that have entered Japan's coastal waters, threatening the marine wildlife that calls these waters home. While the leakage has stopped for the moment, the long term consequences remain unknown.

In 2008 I spent over four months exploring the waters of Japan and photographing wildlife in the nation's diverse marine ecosystems, from the frozen winter seas off Hokkaido to the tropical waters of the Ogasawara Islands and the temperate realms of Suruga Bay near Tokyo. In each location, my dives were like swimming through the chapters of a fairytale where a compelling cast of characters lived together in picturesque undersea settings. In Suruga Bay, located south of the Fukushima nuclear plant, I was especially struck at how two vastly different worlds can coexist in the essentially the same place. Stretching on my wetsuit and walking into the sea each day, I left behind a world bustling with cars, trains, jets and crowds of people and found myself submerged in place that was teeming with wildlife. Marine catfish swirled in schools over volcanic sands, moray eels slithered over soft corals and a tiny yellow goby peered out at me from its soda can home. It is a world that few ever visit, yet is vital to all.

The currents and gyres that bathe Japan's islands with nutrients now carry radioactive particles further into the sea, and those particles are being consumed by marine wildlife. Recent reports have stated that sand lance that live off the coast near the power plant have been found to contain radioactive counts millions of times higher than normal. In talking with my friend and colleague Dr. Jon Whitman, an evolutionary marine biologist at Brown University, I learned that radiation is concentrated as it moves up the food chain, so as other animals prey on species such as sand lance or even seaweed, the problem gets magnitudes worse. Migratory species will carry elements such as caesium in their bodies far from Japan, where this radioactive food chain could plausibly continue and multiply.

Although much of my work these days is focused on marine conservation, my National Geographic magazine coverage of Japan's ocean wildlife was originally produced simply to take readers to a unique place and introduce them to spectacular animals. In hindsight, perhaps it will serve as a visual record of how things looked in the days before the disaster.

Photos below are from Brian Skerry's upcoming book, "Ocean Soul," available November 15th.

Brian Skerry is an award-winning National Geographic photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. His work has also been featured in countless publications worldwide including Smithsonian, BBC Wildlife, Esquire and Audubon. Brian frequently lectures on photography and conservation issues having presented at venues such as TED Talks, The National Press Club in Washington, DC and the Royal Geographical Society in London. He is a regular guest on programs such as TODAY, CBS Sunday Morning and Good Morning America. Brian resides in Massachusetts with his family.

Scientists with Conservation International (CI) have discovered nine potentially new marine species while conducting a survey of the waters surrounding the Indonesian island Bali. Among the discoveries are eight potentially new species of fish and a potentially new species of coral.

The marine survey, part of CI's 20-year-long Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) was conducted at the request of Bali's government to assess the health of the reefs. The survey, in addition to one previously conducted by CI in 2008, documented 953 species of fish and 397 species of coral, according to a press release from CI.

From the press release:

Among the potentially new species documented were two types of cardinalfish, two varieties of dottybacks, a garden eel, a sand perch, a fang blenny, a new species of goby and a previously unknown Euphyllia bubble coral. Further study will need to be done to confirm the taxonomy of each species.

The survey concluded that the reef is recovering, with a seven-to-one ratio of live to dead coral, but that serious protection efforts were still needed. In particular, the team observed a severe depletion of commercially important reef fish, and only witnessed a handful of sharks. Plastic pollution was also widely noted.

The discovery of 9 potentially new species further emboldens the group's recommendations for marine protections. Check out photos of the discoveries below!

Remember climate change? Remember Copenhagen, the climate summit, and half a million people in the streets? Remember the scientific reports? Remember the predictions? Remember the headlines? The campaign promises? The strategies to offset and mitigate the impact of CO2 emissions on human health, the atmosphere, and the ocean? How long ago was it? Six months? A year? More? It might never have been.

How can we meet challenges if we can't remember what they are? As far as the news media is concerned, the story is archived behind any new urgency no matter what the data. The subject of climate is no more. The deniers have prevailed through shrill contradictions, corporate funded public relations, personal attacks on scientists, and indifference to reports and continuing data that still and again raise critical questions to fall on deaf ears.

In the US Congress, any bill or suggested appropriation that contains the keyword climate is eliminated, most probably without being read. There is no global warming; therefore there is no need for the pitiful American financial support of $2.3 million for the International Panel on Climate Change. There is no problem with greenhouse gases, so there is no need for legislation that enables the Environmental Protection Agency to measure further such impact on animal habitat or human health. There is no need for support for the research and development of alternative renewable energy technologies. There is no need to protect the marine environment from oil spill disaster. There is no need to protect watersheds and drinking water from industrial and mining pollution. There is no need to fund tsunami-warning systems off the American coast. There is no need to support any part of a World Bank program to prevent deforestation in the developing world. There is no need to maintain NOAA's study of climate change implication for extreme weather. There is no need to fund further climate research sponsored by the National Science Foundation. There is no need to maintain EPA regulation of clean water; oh, and by the way, there is no need for the Environmental Protection Agency. Put it to vote today in the US House of Representatives, and they would blandly and blindly legislate that there is no need for the environment at all.

What do we need? Jobs, jobs, jobs, it is said. To that end, we can start by eliminating jobs that don't advance our political agenda, by ignoring scientific demonstrations and measurable conditions that foreshadow future job destruction, by promoting and further subsidizing old technologies that make us sick and unable to work successfully in our present jobs, by building the unemployment roles so that the ranks of the jobless will reach levels unheard of since the Great Depression, and by compromising the educational system that is the only hope for those seeking training or re-training for whatever few new jobs may actually exist.

What does this have to do with the ocean?

The health of the ocean is a direct reflection of the health of the land. A nuclear accident in Japan allows radioactive material to seep into the sea. A collapse of shoreside fishery regulation enables the final depletion of species for everyone everywhere. Indifference to watershed protection, industrial pollution, waste control, and agricultural run-off poisons the streams and rivers and coasts and deep ocean and corrupts the food chain all along the way. Lack of understanding of changing weather compromises our response to storms and droughts that inundate our coastal communities and destroy our sustenance.

There is a reason for knowledge. It informs constructive behavior; it promotes employment and economic development; it makes for wise governance; it improves our lives. Are we drowning in debt? Or are we drowning in ignorance? I can't remember.

Ted Danson is well known for his acting career, but lesser known is his driving passion for the oceans.

Danson has long been fighting for the conservation of the world's oceans and serves as board member to Oceana. His latest book, "Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them," details the dire problems the oceans face, and what needs to be done to protect them.

In today's episode of AOL's "You've Got...," Danson heads to The American Museum of Natural History in New York City in hopes of teaching young kids about the dangers the oceans face.

Danson's plan to recruit these members of the new generation as the next ocean activists, however, doesn't quite go the way he intends...

WATCH:

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy has concluded that it would have been dangerous to stop an underwater training blast believed to have killed three or four dolphins last month off San Diego Bay.

Navy divers monitored the area for marine mammals for more than 90 minutes on March 4 before placing a charge on the ocean floor, the 3rd Fleet public affairs office said Monday.

BILOXI, Mississippi (By Leigh Coleman) – Scientists confirmed on Thursday that they have discovered oil on dead dolphins found along the U.S. Gulf Coast, raising fresh concerns about the effects of last year's BP oil spill on sea life.

Fifteen of the 406 dolphins that have washed ashore in the last 14 months had oil on their bodies, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists said during a conference call with reporters.

The oil found on eight of those dolphins has been linked to the April 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists said.

"It is significant that even a year after the oil spill we are finding oil on the dolphins, the latest just two weeks ago," said Blair Mase, southeast marine mammal stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries.

Since mid-March, 87 dead sea turtles have also been found, although no visible traces of oil have been discovered on the carcasses, said Barbara Schroeder, NOAA Fisheries national sea turtle coordinator.

"But we do not have very much information about how oil products find their way into turtles," she added.

The Gulf is home to five species of sea turtles, all of which are considered at risk of extinction.

In February, NOAA declared "an unusual mortality event" after a spike in the number of dead dolphins washing up in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

There have been 153 deaths this year, 65 of them newly born or stillborn calves, NOAA officials said on Thursday.

Some experts had speculated that oil ingested or inhaled by dolphins at the time of the spill had taken a belated toll on the marine mammals, possibly leading to dolphin miscarriages.

Eleven workers were killed when the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, and an estimated 5 million barrels (206 million gallons) of crude oil spewed into the Gulf over more than three months.

NOAA officials and other experts say they are bracing for the wave of dolphin deaths to grow as the bottlenose calving season -- when some 2,000 to 5,000 dolphins in the region typically bear their young -- reaches full swing in coming weeks.

Samples have been sent for testing to determine whether the oil spill contributed to the dolphins' deaths so far.

The U.S. government is keeping a tight lid on the lab findings due to the ongoing civil and criminal investigation involving BP.

"Because of the seriousness of the legal case, no data or findings may be released, presented or discussed outside the (unusual mortality event) investigative team without prior approval," NOAA stated in a February letter that was obtained by Reuters.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Tim Gaynor)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.