The Caste of Awareness.

While we were away, we were heroes, to people we met on the road, and to folks back home. People here and in other places across the country stated openly that they thought of us as doing this for all of them. They called us warriors, angels, knights.

Along the way, there was some sudden, sharp difference of opinion that caused some friendships to sever (all on facebook, and no huge losses – or surprises) but for the most part, there was either relatively sensible devil's advocacy or complete, enthusiastic support for what we have been trying to do. The bad stuff taught us lessons. The good stuff kept us going – has literally kept us both alive* – and I thank you all for it. As you read this, please remember that all of that is NOT forgotten, as I am obviously still here to write this side of it. <3

I've found that when you're in a tense, scary situation, you tend to make judgements quickly. It's important. A survivor would probably also learn to be flexible in their ideas and opinions, and learn to be a good judge, but humans are very flawed and the most difficult time to think and judge quickly is when you are in a tense, scary situation. So in other words, error happens. However, when you prove to people that they do have some control over their own personal margins of error, well, sometimes they don't like that.

You can change yourself. You can change the world around you. Not can, you DO. The breaths you take affect the air around you, every decision you make, your consumption, your waste, to the very cells flaking off of your skin affect the environment around you. And everything affects everything else. This isn't mysticism or god or aerie-faerie bullshit – this is basic, 3^rd grade science. If you learn to make conscious choices, you can have at least some say in the effect you have on things around you. But it's just easier for us to say 'That's just how it is.' and continue to destroy ourselves and each other. There are people out there who can see someone suffering and not care, but I don't want to know those people for any longer than it would take for me to be able to identify them again. There are also people (and I think this is most of us) who, if we are in a place where whatever is happening doesn't seem real, then we can convince ourselves that it's not happening up until the last possible second (or beyond in many cases*). I can understand not only the preference for that, but in some cases the effiency, but in THIS case, it is unforgivable and unacceptable.

We are in the midst of the worst disaster to ever hit America. When 911 happened, people came together like GANGBUSTERS! Stars, everyday Joes and Janes, Fire and Police Departments all over the country – all over the WORLD poured out love, prayer, support, donation, work. When we believed someone else had done this terrible thing to us, we were OUTRAGED. We still are, as the millions of dollars and manpower we're pumping into the Middle East proves.

Now, we are facing something unimaginably worse than that, something that we are in part, hugely responsible for ourselves, and all we can do is fight about it***. This one, we just don't seem to want to own, even though our own families, friends, neighbors and strangers just like us, with kids and pets and car payments are down there experiencing fear, doubt and suffering worse than they have ever known, and this is just the beginning of it. Where are the concerts, where are the stickers and waving flags and songs by Idols to raise money? Where is the heartwarming outreach? I guess it's busy. It has to take out the trash.

This is not one of those situations where we can tell ourselves that there is nothing we can do. At this point, it is morally wrong to do absolutely nothing, even if that thing is just doing your best to watch, limit and conserve the oil and oil-related products that you use and don't shop at companies who drill unsafely. Millions of good American people are going to be affected by this. Hundreds of thousands are already out of work because of this. Human death has occurred because of this, 13 so far, and sickness is beginning. I've heard a lot of people ask why we should worry about Haiti when there are bad things happening here. Where are those people now that your own good neighbors are in MAJOR trouble and it's our fault? Will you help now?

I can offer my yard for emergency evac camping. I can encourage the people I know to be aware of the REAL health hazards, possible dangers and need for a serious evac plan now. I can write to my representatives every day stressing how important it is that government health care, evac mobility and water and air testing plans be installed there NOW, and be working NOW and prepared for whatEVER.

I can raise money for the things I see that need it – Louisiana Bucket Brigade offers FREE buckets to communities who want to do their own air testing and someone has to pay for that. Perhaps we could help them raise enough money to fund that and do water testing as well. I can not let the unimportant bad stuff get to me (the important bad stuff, I just have to stay strong enough to live with), I can look for every possible opportunity to help, connect others who can help and need help, and I can pray.

I'm sad for the losses of friendship and understanding. It's hard to explain to people that you understand WHY they would want to be in denial or think this is all crazy, fictional media crap, or just flat-out not want to know. It makes it easier to understand why some of those closest to me are having the hardest time hearing me out – which, I have to tell you, really, really sucks – it's because they know me, and have some idea of how hard I can fight for something. I even understand why some friends have verbally attacked me. I know what fear and helplessness can do. But there is no way I can let any of that stop me, or even get to me too much. I am amazed at what seems important, or more precisely, at what seems Unimportant to me now.

I can say sincerely that I am sorry for the break in your regularly scheduled programming, at least as far as myself and my attitude and behavior are concerned. Believe me, I wish I was the same old me, talking about the same old stuff... but those days are over. And they're over for all of us, even if we don't know it yet.

I'll be here for you. And there are others too. Just say when you're ready.

*Not only in the sense of feeding and housing us, but in helping to beat back the terrible self-destructive depression that not only are all 3 of us (and how many more) prone to, but that ANY sane person could not avoid in the face of this disaster.

**DON'T SWIM IN THE WATER. HAVE AN EVAC PLAN. GET A VAPOR RESPIRATOR.

***and, to quote Amanda, “Use !@#$ing hair?!” to try to help. Where IS the !@#$ government support?!?!?! These are conservative Christians suffering and DYING down there! For YOUR SUV's OIL! Does it not count if they're Catholic?  

Home, but not really Here...

Last night, trying to cope with the normalcy of being home, trying to debrief a little, I was journaling and making notes and I started to write: 'I have just taken the most important step of my life.'

- meaning going down to the Gulf and coming to terms with the fact that I would be giving my life to this cause. But then I knew that wasn't true. Every step I have taken has been important. Everything I've ever done, everything I do, good and bad, minute or slightly less minute, has had SOME kind of impact on the world and on the lives and others. And I believe that the same is true about every living being on the planet. What will it take for us to become conscious of our impact?

If the horror of the disaster itself isn't enough, and the hell-visions spewed out by the media, desensitizing and agitating us endlessly aren't enough, if the fact that YOUR children or your FRIENDS children will bear the burden of all of our shared ignorance and greed isn't enough, or the fact that our economy is going to be shattered and ravaged beyond belief isn't enough, or the fact that our social system will not be able to cope with a toxic human disaster this big (and it IS toxic and it IS beyond most of our comprehension at this point, in the BEST case scenarios), then what WILL it take?

 [Ed - Three weeks ago, Enid Sisskin of the Pensacola area testified before the U.S. Congressional committee that just voted, with plenty of help from Jeff Miller and other Republican and some Democratic congressmen, to expose Pensacola Beach to off-shore Gulf drilling. Here is the full text of her prepared testimony, re-formatted for the web.]   - Reposted from the Pensacola Beach Blog

"HR 4761 unnecessarily complicates the existing state role, in fact, and entangles the Governor and the state legislature of a coastal state in an onerous and time-consuming process that repeatedly imposes an unnecessarily high burden of proof, and very tight deadlines that are unlikely to be achievable, upon the Governor and state legislature of each state."

-- Enid Sisskin, Ph.D., June 14, 2006

Drilling Rigs - Part 3:
"Unmanageable, Ill-Conceived, and Unnecessary"

Enid Sisskin, PhD
Director, Gulf Coast Environmental DefenseTestimony Before the
Committee on Resources
United States House of Representatives
Hearing on H. R. 4761
June 14, 2006
Minerals Management Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents acknowledge that the Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico are already experiencing severe environmental stress, and have been for a number of years. Large areas experience over-enrichment, low dissolved oxygen, toxin and pesticide contamination, shellfish ground closures, and wetland loss.

Degradation of water quality is expected to continue due to contamination by discharges and spills, due to eutrophication of waterbodies, and due to hydrologic modification. Contamination coming from point and nonpoint sources and accidental spills entering the water system from rural and urban sources can be both localized and pervasive.

Sixteen-hundred contaminants have been measured in the Gulf's waters by USEPA. These contaminants include hazardous and toxic wastes, petroleum and petroleum products, pesticides, synthetic organic compounds such as dioxin, and metal and inorganic chemicals such as cadmium and mercury. The USEPA goes even further, saying:

"Water quality is deteriorating, seagrass beds are dying, fish stocks are declining, the numbers of sea turtles, marine mammals, and coastal birds are decreasing and coastal wetlands and estuaries are disappearing."

Another report, this one by the Center for Health and Global Environment, in 1998, also said that the Gulf of Mexico is more stressed than previously thought, and the health of the people and the economy of the coastal communities are at risk.

These declines are for the most part, caused by humans. In Environmental Impact Statements for lease sales and drilling permits, the MMS and USEPA admit concern about the long-term and regional effects of some of the wastes that would be discharged into the Gulf of Mexico by drilling rigs.

In spite of some of the testimony you’ve heard, drilling, whether for oil or natural gas is a dirty, polluting business. Each rig discharges drilling muds and cuttings and produced water, as well as producing trash. Again, according to the environmental documents, these waste discharges could affect biological communities by smothering living organisms or through toxicity, causing slow growth, decreased species abundance, or altered reproduction.

Specifically, discharged muds have been found to cause heavy metal, mercury and cadmium, sediment contamination. Documented biological effects on benthic organisms from drilling discharges include elimination and inhibited growth of seagrasses, declined abundance in species, altered community structure, and decreased coral coverage. Localized effects on benthic marine organisms in proximity to OCS drilling sites have been measured, causing altered community structure, and changes in abundance lasting for ten years, or in some cases, permanently.

Fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and coastal and marine birds will be expected to be impacted by the drilling discharges, pollutants and trash from OCS operations. Any pollution in the effluent could poison and kill or debilitate these organisms and adversely affect the food chains and other key elements of the Gulf ecosystem. In the case of endangered sea turtles, any loss of individuals could impact species survival, again according to the USEPA. In addition, the actual burial of pipelines would probably cause irreversible structural impacts on the seafloor, particularly in areas where hard substrates would be encountered.

The cumulative impacts of the discharged muds and cuttings on the live bottoms of the Eastern Gulf would add to long-term regional offshore water quality degradation. USEPA estimates the annual discharge of contaminants in drilling muds and cuttings over the entire northern Gulf to be 748,000 tons.

The regional impacts of the discharged drilling muds and cuttings are unknown. According to the EPA, averaging estimates on annual inputs, drilling muds and cuttings and produced water discharges from the entire OCS oil industry would contribute about 1.65 billion pounds per year and 44 million pounds per year of contaminants. According to the EPA, full determination of long-term impacts can not be calculated.

Another potential impact is from spills. There’s a new urban myth – that there have not been any spills from drilling rigs in years. Unfortunately, that’s just not true. Just a year ago, almost to the day, a 560 gallon spill from an Amerada Hess drilling platform washed up on the Breton National Wildlife Refuge oiling more than 800 pelicans in the rookery and killing almost 500 of them.

According to the MMS, due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 113 drilling platforms were lost and 146 hurricane-related oil/condensate/chemical spills were reported, six of at least 1,000 barrels (42,000 gal) were identified, the largest being 3,625 barrels (152,250 gal). Based on historical spill events, it is expected that elevated concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons measurable in the water column would be gone as early as 6 months after the spill event, but residual water quality effects could occur as long as two years after the spill.

If a spill were to reach our sugar white beaches, within a few months to 2 years after cleanup, although disturbed beach configuration would adjust to approximately predisturbance conditions, some oil that penetrated to depths beneath the reach of the cleanup methods would persist in beach sands and could be released periodically when storms and high tides resuspend or flush through beach sediments. During hot, sunny days, tarballs buried near the surface of the beach sand could liquefy and cause a seep to the sand surface.

Any further decrease in water quality, increase in trash, or oil spills will have catastrophic effects on our beaches and our economy, just recovering from the last two hurricane seasons. That’s why the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce as well as 26 Florida cities and counties have all come out strongly against drilling. These cities and counties represent more than 8 million Floridians who are aware that our economy depends on a healthy environment.

The bill we are here to discuss will lead to significant adverse impacts to the coastal communities. For 25 years, the OCS Legislative Moratorium and the longstanding Presidential OCS Withdrawals, have protected the coasts. They represent a bipartisan, bicoastal consensus and provide the most important cornerstone of US coastal protection. The OCS Legislative Moratorium was once again included in the FY 07 White House Budget Document this January, continues to enjoy the support of the President, and was just sustained on the House floor last month.

HR 4761 would immediately rescind the Legislative OCS Moratorium nationwide, in all US coastal waters for both oil and gas drilling, and would reverse the Presidential OCS Withdrawals off of the Florida Gulf Coast. There is no justification, nor any public mandate, for this attack by HR 4761 on these popular protections for America's most sensitive coastal waters.

There is also no need to grant states any additional "veto authority" over the renewal of the Legislative OCS Moratorium each year beyond the clear existing ability that each state obviously already has to "opt-out" through the efforts of their own congressional delegation. The House delegation from any state could, right now, openly work to exempt their own state's coastline from continued protection in any given year.

HR 4761 permanently writes all Members of Congress out of the decision making process as to how, where, and when expanded offshore drilling takes place off of their state. HR 4761 unnecessarily complicates the existing state role, in fact, and entangles the Governor and the state legislature of a coastal state in an onerous and time-consuming process that repeatedly imposes an unnecessarily high burden of proof, and very tight deadlines that are unlikely to be achievable, upon the Governor and state legislature of each state.

State legislatures are not in session year-round in most states, making gaining concurrence at multiple junctures between a Governor and a state legislature unnecessarily complicated at best, and often virtually impossible. HR 4761 pits one state against adjacent states who may want to keep their coast and fisheries clean and unpolluted, and punishes states who choose to protect their coastal-dependent economies with continued legislative measures.

States rights are seriously eroded in other ways, as the siting of transportation corridors through state waters, for subsea pipelines or tankering of crude oil from offshore rigs, would be pre-empted by the federal government in provisions contained in HR 4761.

As previously stated, the EPA and MMS agree that coastal states that have long suffered damage to their coastal zone as a direct result of the adverse impacts of federal offshore oil and gas drilling have a legitimate right to receive a fair and equitable share of federal receipts derived from federal offshore lease bonus bids and rents and royalties. Scientific studies tell us that extraction of oil and gas has caused significant subsidence (sinking) of coastal wetlands along an extensive portion of the Gulf Coast. The oil industry has cut deep channels for pipelines and for drill barge and vessel access to wellheads and other petroleum facilities, while sequential tropical storms have further eroded important coastal wetlands by scouring out these dredged channels and thus made coastlines even more vulnerable to storm damage.

Money from the industrial activities that caused that damage should clearly be channeled to fix the damage; however, there is no legitimate justification for arbitrarily designing an allocation formula for directing federal OCS receipts to states in a manner that bribes states to accept new federal offshore drilling and more drilling closer to shore, or that punishes all states that make the legitimate choice to continue to protect their coasts from these same kinds of massive adverse impacts.

It is obvious that all federal OCS receipts directed to states and localities should be utilized to mitigate damage from OCS activities, not to construct additional damaging infrastructure to attract even more drilling or to build inappropriate and harmful projects that further degrade the coastal zone, so strong standards for the use of the money by states and localities is an absolute necessity, but is lacking in HR 4761.

What is being promoted as a new category of so-called "gas-only" offshore leasing is unmanageable and ill conceived, and HR 4761 grants undue discretion to the Secretary of the Interior in deciding what combination of gas and liquid gas condensate would be deemed a "gas-only" lease. To provide a Governor and a state legislature with only 180 days in which to react to an "accidental" discovery of crude oil on what was originally promoted as a natural gas lease, or else the "gas only" lease would automatically become an oil and gas lease, is simply not practical, when most state legislatures are not in session throughout the year.

Further, most of the adverse impacts of offshore gas drilling operations are virtually identical to offshore oil drilling operations, with the sole exception of the probability of creating a large oil spill. Liquid gas condensate is highly toxic to virtually all marine life on contact. Routine ocean dumping of spent drilling muds containing cadmium and mercury, random discharges of "produced waters" sometimes containing radium, and daily discharge of toxic hydrocarbons like benzene, toluene, and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH compounds) occurs from either gas rigs or oil rigs.

The worst part of this it is unnecessary when there are faster, cheaper and cleaner alternatives. Our country contains less than 5% of the world’s gas and oil reserves and uses 25% of the world’s petroleum. We cannot drill our way to energy independence. It’s only through conservation, increased efficiency, and use of a combination of alternative, renewable energy sources that we’ll ever be self sufficient.

Unfortunately, the routine water and air pollution and potential damage from spills and accidents don’t respect state boundaries. The Gulf is already stressed, and bringing rigs up to a line or an arbitrary distance on a map won’t stop damage that will be caused by drilling to Florida’s coastal communities.

The forecasters are predicting another decade of active hurricane seasons and we on the Gulf Coast, as well as communities along the East Coast, can expect storms with potentially severe damage to our environment and economies. We certainly don’t need to add the pollution from oil and gas operations to compound what nature will send us.

It's Love, and It's Worth Fighting For.

Sandy's working on a film, and as always in that industry, her schedule is weird right now. She's staying a little bit across town with AJ, to have some time together and to make it easier to get to set. Thus her lovely little house being open to wayward hobos*, hurray!

We were hoping since we finally got a whole nights' sleep and had a (ahhhhh) relatively easy day today, and don't have to get Q onto the LA Swift Bus until the decadently late hour of 8:00 am tomorrow that maybe we could stay awake long enough to hang out with her after she got off at 10:00. We were both getting a little noddish when AJ called, but knowing we could see them woke us right up. We felt brave enough to adventure out into the surprisingly quiet city streets. Our navigation skills are up to par, we are learning patience, the road names are memorable, and if you DO get lost, it's a treat to see another tiny slice of this strange and gorgeous city.

AJ lives on the corner of St. Charles and 2^nd, not too far from Sandy. When we got there and the doorman automatically buzzed us in, I felt like I was on a tv show. We went up to his floor, watched the last few minutes of the Lakers/Celtics game, and then all went up to the roof.

When the door opened, I was struck like first love. Like a hurricane. Like finding out Santa's not real. Like the best hit of the best drug ever. I was simultaneously elated and devastated the minute I stepped out of the hall onto a wide, wooden deck, nine stories above what is unarguably one of the most beautiful, spectacular, unique, inventive, lush, decadent, delicious, dirty cities on the planet.

A big crescent moon is lording over the entire sky tonight. There are just enough scraps of cloud to make it almost comically picturesque. (It only took me seconds after the initial gasp to think of Miyazaki-San.) We were just a few miles behind the line where the trees of the garden district run into the crescent of the quarter. Close to his building, for miles around it was mostly dark, a forest of glorious oaks**** spread out like a glittering net above the streets with all the beautiful, old buildings showing beneath. We could see into the lit windows and lofts of other late night people, we could hear the near and distant sounds of life. The deck went all the way around the building and so there is a panoramic view of the entire city there, from the Greater New Orleans bridge, brilliant with light, to the dark, smooth shape of the super-dome, like a planet surrounded by the rings of the highways, and all the way back. City entire. From the gleam of the river and the glow of the Quarter, to the silent edges past the levees where the smoke-stacks stand guard, we could see it all.

I was stunned. I still am. I told AJ and Sandy that this was hands down the best thing I'd experienced on this trip. Being able to soak in that view, that way, at my leisure, to look and long and wonder for as long (well, almost. ;) as I wanted, to let my eyes drink in the lights alone, was … well, like I told AJ – some people want to go to a spa, I want to walk around that deck on a night like this.

At first I thought I was being selfish. We've seen and experienced so many amazing things on this journey, how could I be so impressed and comforted by this singular, selfish thing? But then I realized – it's not just the physical beauty, it's this CITY. It's the kind of people, and lifestyle and culture that can create a city like this. It's this weird, funky, colorful, stubborn, gritty, amazing place, like ALL the coastal communities – but this city is their King. I have joked all along this journey that we should start the NCSCC – the National Coalition to Save Coonass Culture - that they were the major endangered species here, but this shouldn't be a joke. When Katrina hit, the rest of the world got their first little concentrated glimpse inside the Spanish Moss Curtain, but sadly then, they saw so much of the dark side. In the recovery effort, they got to see a little of the strength and ingenuity of the people here, but it wasn't until the Super Bowl this year that America got a little more of an idea about the brilliant side of the Gulf Coast. Neither Hurricane Katrina nor the Saints victory happened to just New Orleans. The whole Gulf Coast (and in some cases, some small enclaves of expats in other places) were all affected. The scope of what's happening now (and Texas and the East Coast, beware - you are going to find out) is going to reach from this blazing city down to the tiniest little inlet communities and this time, it could be fatal.

Looking out over the whole city, the feeling I was struck with was love. Harder than I've ever fallen in love with any person (almost as much as Luna ;), I just felt like protecting it. Giving it my all. Cheering it on, cleaning it up, whatever it takes. And not just as New Orleans, but as the Crown of the Coast. I realized that all these wonderful, beautiful communities are all tied together, first, by their unique way of life and now by the unavoidable fallout from this disaster and I knew suddenly, and without a doubt why I came on this journey. From places like Holly Beach and Opelousas and Baton Rouge, all the communities that comprise GNO, and Ponchitoulas, Buras, Bogalusa, Ocean Springs, Kiln, Dedeaux, Pearl River, Pascagoula, Fairhope, Mobile, Magnolia Springs, Daphne, Foley, Spanish Fort, Pensacola, Appalachacola and on – they're all connected by something other than the Gulf, something other than the disasters that have hit this place so hard - the people and lifestyle of the coast. They all share a culture that is not like anything else in the WORLD, much less anything else in this country, and it is possibly the second biggest crime of all that this unnatural disaster may destroy it before the rest of the world had a chance to even know what it's really all about. No one outside the region really knows the passion and generosity of these people, the almost childlike trust. The shades of skin and accent, the ability to turn anything, even nasty swamp bugs into something useful (and tasty!) and trash into something beautiful, the perseverance and even eventual CHEERFULNESS and HUMOUR in the face of things that would keep others from even CONSIDERING trying, no one can understand until the have truly been immersed in Gulf Coastal Culture.

Watching Quincy and Chris B. (who is from New Jersey) learn to quickly adjust and adapt to this way of life and then be consumed by the openness and beauty and abundant generosity of it in these weeks has really opened my eyes to this aspect of what's at risk here. It's love. And it's worth fighting for.

*I'm taking it back.

**This is such an understatement that it is RIDICULOUS – but I DID get some work done, volunteer and domestic.

***I am shocked to find out what a bumpkin I still really am, even at almost 42.

****When Katrina hit, people were worried that the oaks might die from the polluted, standing flood waters. I was worried about that too, and that inspired the beginning of this poem. It was comforting to look down on the summer city and see them all so lush and thriving. 'Life will find a way.'

Oil Boom Shortage? Grassroots May Be Final Hope

Those long orange snakes of plastic and rubber now so ubiquitous on the evening news; where is it all coming from? Some has been flown in on Air-force transport planes from state stockpiles in Alaska, some from Washington State, but maybe not for long. Sure, there are manufactures making the stuff too, and because the need grows more urgent by the hour many factories have ramped up production to levels unmatched in their histories. Some companies are even asking how long they can keep up with this kind of demand. On NOLA.com yesterday, Nick Naayers, vice president of American Boom & Barrier in Cape Canaveral, Fla., said he can make a little less than a mile per day but is worried about finding raw resources in the quantities necessary to keep up with demand.

There’s not enough out there for the magnitude of this spill. You’re not going to be able to make enough. Look at that coastline. We’re making everything we can, as fast as we can. It’s all going up there. But nobody’s going to maintain this amount of boom in stock.

In a May 12th press release, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal stressed the state’s need for more booms.

On our visit to Terrebonne Parish yesterday, I stressed the need for more boom in Terrebonne, Lafourche, and St. Mary parishes and the other areas of our coast west of the River. These areas need more boom quickly to protect their coast. I want to be very clear that we need more boom in Louisiana. Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, Jefferson, and St. Bernard parishes all have outstanding requests for boom with the Coast Guard. We are again today urging the Coast Guard and BP to put this boom where it is most immediately needed.

Rep. Charlie Melancon has told WDSU.com, “Our Louisiana fishermen…, were facing a severe shortage in boom material, hindering their ability to protect our coast.”

U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, national incident commander for the spill, told the Wall Street Journal on Friday the government might have to pull supplies of boom from other parts of the country. And in a separate WSJ piece from the same day Adm. Allen went on to say,

I’m talking about looking at boom the same way as we would look at manufacturing across the industrial base, maybe on a wartime footing—because boom is going to become that important, because everybody wants it, needs it and is trying to get it,

Peter Lane, president of boom and oil spill equipment manufacturer Applied Fabric Technologies in New York, told NOLA.com on May 7th,

he doubted that all the boom manufacturers in the western world would be able to produce half a million feet of hard boom in a year’s time. Good luck., he said, They aren’t going to find millions of feet,

Now, DHR and the Department of Environmental Protection are discouraging private residents from laying hairbooms themselves while holding the line on accepting hairbooms for delivery and distribution through authorized channels. Yesterday a release from Tallahassee DHR listed rules for homeowners which on the surface even sound threatening,

• If a boom is placed by a private citizen, that individual assumes responsibility for the boom, including the chance it could dislodge into the water or be harmful to wildlife.
• Booms placed by private citizens that become impacted by oil are the responsibility of that individual and require special authorization for removal and proper disposal.
• Alternative absorption methods, such as placing hay bales, homemade hair booms, sandbags or other technology along the shoreline, are not advisable as the overall debris from disposal of such methods would increase and could cause serious long-term damage.

If Deepwater Horizon Response and the DEP are afraid to use hairbooms and other low-tech, proven grass-roots sources because they may seem desperate then so be it, the situation calls for desperate measures. And besides, they should know, people need to feel like they can take part in this. We need something to do other than wait for a black tide to roll ashore. What’s wrong with families and children cutting their hair and saving it? If it only soaks up some of the oil great, that’s some-more that won’t kill a bird or a turtle’s egg.

Take part and help out!

Matteroftrust.org
Alabama Gulf Shores Zoo
Audubon Society
Sierra Club
Save Our Shores Foundation
Help Save the Gulf Shores
Oiled Wildlife Rescue Volunteers

There’s a lot more out there, just ask me!
ChrisBunny! Blog

"We live in an oil-dependent world, and have got to this level of dependency in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process – without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities, which will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies, to keep money in the local area."
                                                                                                                      - from The Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins 

From the Transition United States site:

Why Transition?

We are living in an age of unprecedented change, with a number of crises converging. Climate change, global economic instability, overpopulation, erosion of community, declining biodiversity, and resource wars, have all stemmed from the availability of cheap, non-renewable fossil fuels. Global oil, gas and coal production is predicted to irreversibly decline in the next 10 to 20 years, and severe climate changes are already taking effect around the world. The coming shocks are likely to be catastrophic if we do not prepare. As Richard Heinberg states:

Our central survival task for the decades ahead, as individuals and as a
species, must be to make a transition away from the use of fossil fuels –
and to do this as peacefully, equitably, and intelligently as possible”.

The Transition movement represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people and communities to take the far-reaching actions that are required to mitigate the effects of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. Furthermore, these relocalization efforts are designed to result in a life that is more fulfilling, more socially connected and more equitable than the one we have today.

The Transition model is based on a loose set of real world principles and practices that have been built up over time through experimentation and observation of communities as they drive forward to reduce carbon emissions and build community resilience. Underpinning the model is a recognition of the following:

• Peak Oil, Climate Change and the Economic Crisis require urgent action
• Adaptation to a world with less oil is inevitable
• It is better to plan and be prepared, than be taken by surprise
• Industrial society has lost the resilience to be able to cope with shocks to its systems
• We have to act together and we have to act now
• We must negotiate our way down from the “peak” using all our skill, ingenuity and intelligence
• Using our creativity and cooperation to unleash the collective genius within our local communities will lead to a more abundant, connected and healthier future for all.

The Transition Movement believes that is up to us in our local communities to step into a leadership position on this situation. We need to start working now to mitigate the interrelated effects of peak oil, climate change, and the economic crisis, before it is too late. Together we can make a difference.

Vision

Our vision is that every community in the United States has engaged its collective creativity to unleash an extraordinary and historic transition to a future beyond fossil fuels; a future that is more vibrant, abundant and resilient; one that is ultimately preferable to the present.

Mission 

Transition US is a resource and catalyst for building resilient communities across the United States that are able to withstand severe energy, climate or economic shocks while creating a better quality of life in the process. We will accomplish our mission by inspiring, encouraging, supporting, networking and training individuals and their communities as they consider, adopt, adapt, and implement the Transition approach to community empowerment and change.

The Transition approach is based on four key assumptions:

1. That life with dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable, and that it’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise. 

2. That our communities currently lack resilience. 

3. That we have to act collectively, and we have to act now to build community resilience and prepare for life without fossil fuels. 

4. That by unleashing the collective genius of our communities it is possible to design new ways of living that are more nourishing, fulfilling and ecologically sustainable.

"Thank you so much for all YOU are doing. It means a lot for someone to come this far and "GET IT!" We need more people like you. When you are down here you are more paralyzed by the scope - you shut down and lose hope. Having y'all here does give us hope - if that makes sense! Thank you again!!!"   -  Kelley Wolff Lyons


Today was the first "normal" day we've had in two weeks. We didn't have any major obligations other than laundry, grocery-shopping, making dinner and making calls and plans for the rest of the trip. We even had time to watch junk tv. We've all been on the raw edge since before we left - it's why I decided to make this trip in the first place - and we've had more than a few stressful, emotional moments (in some cases hours) since this news first broke, but we've managed to hold it together and just do what needed to be done. More than one person we've talked to has said they've just managed by focusing on whatever's next and we certainly understand. We've driven for more miles than we could count, struggled to stay in touch, make appointments and get interviews, camped in frankly stupid conditions, had blistering days working in the sun, been lost (literally and figuratively) and scared, had car problems, minor injuries, sunburns, been bug-ridden beyond belief, had run-ins with BP employees, Coast Guard, Wackenhut guards and faced the irreparable heartbreak of seeing the devastation up close, feet in oil, watching little shoreline creatures struggling to their inevitable deaths. All of that has taken a brutal toll on our mental and emotional balance, and I believe we will be dealing with the scars from this for the rest of our lives, but as hard as all of that has been, this day has been the hardest. 
When you are working, moving, writing, posting, doing something, you can focus on that and feel like you are making an impact. Even if it's just shoring up someone else's effort or emotional balance, you can concentrate on something other than your own feelings and the overall, overwhelming reality of all that is happening here. But when the time came to try to relax and regroup, the big picture began to sink in. I couldn't help but wonder, after all I've seen, learned and experienced, how I could just be going about such mundane business while the world around me seems to be dying, just like those little crabs and other creatures I watched struggling on the oil-soaked beach. I can't help but wonder how, if, I will be able to return to normal life after seeing grown men cry, watching small volunteer groups work furiously to beat the black tide, feet from the incoming oil, listening to a 6 year old boy who is obsessed with what is literally happening in his own yard, seeing people's lives be completely destroyed and understanding that they are completely lost and have no idea what to do next... 
What I am doing here is SO small. I consider myself to be a realist, and I can't help but wonder if I am really making ANY difference, if there is any point to this at all. I am just one little infinitesimal "David", facing a savage "Goliath" the size of Cthulhu's* big brother. This realism is one of the many reasons that this 'day off' went by in a fog. Just like every other day, I just did what I had to get done, but my heart and mind were heavy. I guess I'm lucky that my dogged little internal optimist won't give up though. She tells me that if ALL the Davids band together and just keep throwing rocks, there's a chance, there's at least some HOPE. Sometimes, I want to tell her to shut heck up and just let me sleep - forever - but she's loud, and ultimately I believe that she's right. I'm not sure where that optimism originally comes from, and I figure it's best not to question it at this point, but I sure know what keeps it going. It's all of you. People like our hostess, Amanda Bacon, local resident, activist and business owner Kelly Lyons, who posted that precious note on my Facebook page today, and of course all of our friends back home, along the Coast and across the country who have cheered us on, sent donations and otherwise helped us keep our heads above water. Even before we began this journey, the people in our own community back home in and around Tryon and Asheville, NC rushed to support this sudden, last-minute endeavor without question, offering supplies, donating their hair for booms, loan of gear, and helping us raise the money we needed to get here and stay on the road. As we were getting ready to leave, it's as if we were packing little pieces of home to bring along with us. We were grateful then, but at the time we really had no idea how important that would be, spiritually speaking, when the reality of this finally hit us.When things have been darkest, I have pictured our little place on the Pacolet, dear friends around the bonfire, the sweet, hopeful faces of the people who came out to help us when they found out we were leaving, and of course, all the kids we know and spend time with there. This is THEIR future we're dealing with here in the Gulf. As soon as we made the decision to stay on and realized we would need more funds to keep us going (needless to say we are all missing out on paid jobs while we are here) I bit the bullet and posted a 'donations' button on my blog and within 24 hours, we had at least enough money for gas to get us through the next week and then home, sent from friends and even strangers, all over the country, even though many of them are struggling to make ends meet themselves. We have had notes, calls, cheer-leading from every corner, on Chris' birthday, a complete stranger from northern Alabama dining next to us with his wife and teen-aged son overheard me talking on the phone with my oldest girlfriend  about what we're doing here and paid for our celebratorily expensive seafood dinner without us even knowing until after they were long gone. People have opened their homes and hearts to us, opened their mouths to tell their stories to us, and opened their eyes to what's happening here at our request. These things, all of these things, are like the booms holding the black oil back from our hearts. 
We cannot thank you enough. I don't know how we would manage all that we are trying to do without all of this help and love, and I don't know how I could go on if I couldn't do something. 
There's no way to know for sure yet whether anything we're doing is helping to save the Gulf, but we seem to be helping save others and we are definitely saving ourselves. I'm glad we'll be going back home with our eyes wide open, even if it hurts. I'll take pain over oblivion and ignorance any day - the pain will remind me to never, ever give up.

Photo by Chris Riddle

*Cthulhu is one of the central Great Old Ones of the Lovecraft Mythos. It is often cited for the extreme descriptions given of its hideous appearance, its gargantuan size, and the abject terror that it evokes. Cthulhu is often referred to in science fiction and fantasy circles as a tongue-in-cheek shorthand for extreme horror or evil.

A young artist/activist at the Perdido Pass rally, Orange Beach, AL:

This whole journey so far has been something I will remember and feel proud of for as long as I live, but the last 24 hours in particular have been completely life changing for me. Yesterday morning we drove to Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge to help plant grasses and other plants to hold down newly built dunes, put there to protect the rich and varied wildlife that inhabit this beautiful beach. The headline on their home page is heart-breakingly ironic in the face of what's happening there: "Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge: A safe haven for wildlife." While we were there working with the incredibly dedicated volunteers from the park and the Southeastern Wildlife Conservation, black waves began to roll in. We had begun to see helicopters by the dozens flying over while we were all digging in the 113 degree heat index, and by the time we began to wrap up the planting, the little specks and globs had become solid black beaches.  

I'm sure every one of you can understand how devastating it was to see this first hand. To be standing at the edge of my world and seeing what looks like Armageddon rolling in. We were already physically wiped out from the heat and the labour, and so this was almost more than we could handle. We shot footage and as we walked back, the work crews started to come in and set up, but even before we could make it to the boardwalk, a thousand yards away maybe, they had already been instructed to stand down. They told us that themselves. The coast guard were there too. Right under the tents with the workers. 

After we left Bon Secour we came back to get cleaned up and ready to go hear Riki Ott speak to the people of this local community. Riki consults with individuals and organizations in the spill affected areas, both as a toxicologist and as an individual who lived through the Exxon Valdez incident. She is the nations' leading expert on recovering from this kind of disaster and we couldn't have felt any better if Wonder Woman had shown up (not even if she looked just like Linda Carter :). She spoke honestly and candidly and some of what she had to say was hard to hear, but she didn't scare us either, or make us feel hopeless. She made us feel as if the power to make a change was in our own hands. 

Riki stayed at the same wonderful place where we're staying outside Fair Hope, and this morning we all walked down the boardwalk to breakfast. We talked to fishermen along the way, and some BP employees putting out more boom around the nice hotels' piers and beaches (they were deploying none around people's homes). Riki asked me to take some pictures for her next Huffington Post article. I said "Ok!". After that, we all headed down to a boom building, showed Riki the ropes and then picked up the floating hair boom bags that Amanda designed and Quincy put together last night for a test in the bay. Then we all headed to Perdido Pass for a protest rally the people of Orange Beach were holding there. I drove Riki so she could write on the way. I have to tell you, that was a pretty proud moment for me. I also got to hear her give a live phone interview in the car before she disembarked to speak to the waiting crowd at the rally. It was amazing to see so many people standing up and speaking out, and I could tell that Riki and the other speakers galvanized them. I was proud to be a part of all that too.

After the rally, we headed back, me to sort and send photos, Chris and Q to shoot more testing of solutions for safe oil dispersion. While Q and I were working, they called us into the den because Amanda, our hostess, was being featured as the lead story on the Pensacola news. This is OFFICIALLY the first time that successful use of the hair booms has been featured ANYWHERE in the media in this disaster, and this lifted all our spirits immensely. Amanda looked like she was about to crack this morning, and by this evening her energy and ideas were back, the sparkle in her eye had returned, and we all felt a little like heroes, and as if we could face another day.

Blessed be.

http://sossaveourshore.com/

"The BP disaster is still going....every day the estimate of the amount of oil spilling from this huge leak is increased. As you read this, here on the Gulf, this monster is invading our beaches and wetlands . Please help.... Volunteer at our "Boom-b-ques", spread the word, buy a T-shirt from this site (all proceeds go to defraying the costs which are great), send us your hair and/or panty hose and PRAY!"

There is a monster in the Gulf - unleashed from the depths by BP offshore drilling.  It threatens the way of life of millions of Gulf Coast residents and thousands of miles of beaches and wetlands.  The wetlands are critical to the gulf coast environment and, once gone, are irreplaceable.  The oil is already, as of this writing, invading the wetlands of Louisiana and threatens the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coasts.
This is a story about a disaster of unprecedented proportions... but it is also a story about a community's response.  As residents of the Gulf Coast we can't stop the leak - but we CAN protect or at least minimize the damage to our wetlands and beaches.  The time to prepare for this is NOW.  The SOS Save Our Shores organization is a community-based group preparing for the disaster by creating  oil-absorbent hair booms for use in the critical shoreline.     In addition to alerting the residents of the Alabama Gulf Coast to wildlife assistance training and volunteer programs, the group, composed entirely of volunteers is heavily involved in building miles of hair booms to protect critical shorelines.  Hair Boom Demo
 If you have a passion for sunsets on the bay - or shrimp boils in the evening at the beach, or a love of the wildlife in the Alabama wetlands join us.  Click on members and join our website.  Help if you can.  Donate, contribute or volunteer.  We can't wait til the oil hits our shores.... we must act now.
 WE NEED YOUR HELP!   Miles of these super-absorbent, environmental-friendly booms are needed.  We need hair (animal and human), panty hose and, most of all, VOLUNTEERS!