AN EXTRAORDINARY CRISIS REQUIRES AN EXTRAORDINARY RESPONSE –
THE PEOPLE MUST ACT TO STOP THE GULF CATASTROPHE
The BP oil blowout is an environmental catastrophe, bringing great peril to marine and wildlife in the Gulf and threatening ecosystems of the planet. The spill is still out of control and spreading. It jeopardizes communities and livelihoods. The government and BP have proven unable and unwilling to stop the disaster, protect the Gulf, or even tell the truth.
The people must come together now to stop this nightmare.
Millions are sick at heart and looking for ways to act. Many individuals and groups have spoken out, offered suggestions, volunteered to help, protested. BP and the government – pursuing their own interests – have ignored people’s ideas, blocked public participation, suppressed and harassed scientists, and prevented people on the Gulf from taking initiative to keep oil away from shore.
This must not continue. We’re building a broad, determined, and powerful peoples’ response. Its mission: to get out the truth and mobilize mass independent action to stop the oil blowout, clean up the oil and prevent it from hitting shore, protect and treat threatened wildlife, repair all devastation and protect peoples’ health and livelihood.
We’ll open avenues for many more people to act, starting now – on different fronts and in different ways — with a shared sense of urgency. We seek to enable scientists and environmentalists, people directly affected and those concerned, and a wide range of activists to step forward now – and galvanize many, many more, across the Gulf and beyond.
The world is watching. We must not allow the Gulf and oceans to be devastated. Our mission is nothing less than stopping this catastrophe.
The Emergency Committee to Stop the Gulf Oil Disaster:
504-644-7214
DEMANDS
1) Stop oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Full compensation, retraining, and new employment for all affected.
2) Immediately end use of dispersants. Fund all necessary scientific and medical research on human and environmental impact of dispersants and make public all findings. Immediately begin remediation of damage caused by dispersants.
3) The government and entire oil industry must allocate all necessary resources to stop and clean up the blowout gusher, prevent oil from hitting shore, protect wildlife, treat injured wildlife, and repair all devastation. Full support, including by compensation and a major public works program, must be given to peoples’ efforts on all these fronts and to save the Gulf.
4) No punishment to those taking initiative independent of BP and the government to protect the environment and public health; no gag orders on people hired, contracted, or who volunteer. Those responsible for this crime against the environment and the people should be prosecuted.
5) Full mobilization of scientists and engineers. Complete transparency and disclosure of all information and documentation, including scientific and technical data, concerning every aspect of this disaster.
6) Full compensation for all losing livelihood and income from the disaster.
7) Immediately provide all necessary medical services to those suffering direct and indirect health effects from the oil disaster. Immediately protect the health of and provide all necessary equipment for everyone involved in clean up operations. Full disclosure of medical and scientific studies concerning the impacts of the oil disaster.