Grand Isle, LA - It has been 72 days since the April 20th explosion of BP's drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 people. Since then, roughly 30,000 gallons of oil are spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a blown-out well every day. Some total the spill at 140 million gallons so far. 30,000 gallons per day is hard to imagine. But for the Americans living on this precious shoreline, it is very real. And it is strangling their livelihood. Fishermen, Haulers, Beach-goers, small business owners and even tourists are having to find alternatives to their normal way of life. The oil spill could send this region into a financial tail spin that would greatly affect all of America and every American in unforeseen ways.
Everyday Americans want to help solve this problem but are being denied the access and chance to show their inventions and solutions. We are waiting for our leaders, someone, to tell us what to do and where to go to get to work. But after 72 days, many of us are in the Gulf and beginning to take matters into our own hands. We can no longer just sit around and wait for Washington or BP to act to save our shores. Americans have ideas on how best to solve this problem and clean up the waters.
A ton of time is being spent to plug the hole in a way that BP will be able to cap the well and use it again. But as Bill Clinton suggested, why aren't we blowing up the undersea well? Why do we need to worry about using this well ever again? Blowing the well up would allow BP and the Obama Administration to spend much more time on stopping the oil from reaching our shores and killing the marine life that depends on these waters for survival. Just yesterday, a large pod of dolphins were found dead and floating in the Gulf, an apparent drowning from the oil slick.
The Obama Administration needs to start using this dramatic and sad event to educate Americans on the dangers of continuing to rely so heavily on oil. Our reliance on Middle East oil has caused many conflicts for the U.S. Much of our leaders' time and energy has been spent on the political maneuverings of oil, not to mention the enormous cost of wars and the many lives that have been lost because of it. It is imperative for the President to start explaining the consequences of our dependence on oil. We need to be put on an oil diet immediately.
Americans can solve most any problem if we are allowed to tackle the problem. And here in the Gulf of Mexico we are not being allowed to put our ideas to work. Just yesterday, Wisconsin based Monterey Mills' CEO Dan Sinykin was one of those everyday Americans denied access to oil drenched beaches. Sinykin has spent quite a bit of time and money trying to show BP executives and our politicians his industrial fabric that dramatically soaks up oil. The video of Sinykin's biodegradable fabric has been racing around the internet because once you see it, you are compelled to help get Monterey Mills access to the Gulf.
Why aren't we allowing people to clean up the oil before it gets to the shore?
President Obama needs to explain his decision to deny Americans access to the beaches and therefore allow the oil to sweep onto shore. BP needs to explain why they aren't reaching out to everyday Americans who have incredible inventions and ideas - and who want to help. If our politicians are unwilling to start leading then we the people need to elect new leaders that will. We don't have time to waste.