Who would write an article about anything environmental today and not mention the terrible Gulf oil spill caused by BP Oil Company’s platform explosion? That’s a rhetorical question, of course, because that spill is the most important thing in the news today.

This terrible spill has decimated the Gulf coast seafood industries of Louisiana and Mississippi and there is no telling how far the spill will spread. It could even go around the bottom of Florida and up the Eastern seaboard. If it does this, the seafood industry will be destroyed. What will happen to all of the people whose livelihood depends on this industry? They stand to lose their homes and the boats and their livelihood. Then the restaurants that depend on those fishermen to provide all of the seafood for their businesses will be losing their businesses. The loss of the seafood industry will affect the boat builders. This disaster is going to affect a lot of peripheral professions that no one has foreseen.

When BP is paying recompense to the shrimpers, the oystermen, the fishermen what will be their basis? Will they pay for the lost wages based on their individual income taxes or will there be some sort of basis schedule set forth for them to follow? These people have been out of work for two months and still haven’t been recompensed. How long are they supposed to go without money and the ability to provide for their families?

Over sixty days and the oil leak has still not been stopped. No one is taking control. The EPA says it needs to “study” the situation. Shouldn’t someone step in and clean up what is possible to clean up without waiting to “study” it? Shouldn’t the government take a chance on the ideas of the people who have offered help in the clean up? It couldn’t get any worse and the ideas might work. What are we thinking? There is plenty of time to castigate the Mineral and Mining bunch for not overseeing things or the EPA for not being stricter on BP. That time is not now. Now is time for cleanup anyway we can get it done.

If something does not happen to stop the leak and to allow us to clean up the oil that is accumulating on our shores up and down our coastline, this disaster could ruin our country. How is the government going to fix something that nature took so long to build originally? The marshlands will be killed. The birds and animals will be killed. The seafood is already dying and won’t be breeding again anytime soon. When this is finally over our beautiful pristine white sugar sand beaches will look like the cracked earth of the Sudan. Nothing will grow there. The people will have to move away and find new professions. This is an environmental disaster that is the worst in our generation. Hopefully, it will be the last.