"Consequences of spills can last for decades"

The oil spill (which has now began reaching the coastline) started on April 20 when the BP drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. Two days later it sank and left oil gushing into the ocean. With multiple conflicts surrounding the issue of stopping the ever-growing spill and getting rid of as much of it as possible before it reaches the coast, people and scientists have felt a growing stress on how they can save the coastline. Since the spill is so large and is growing everyday, we're are facing a "long-term poisoning of the area. Ultimately, this will have a multi-decade impact." The oil spill in Alaska in 1989 consisted of 11 million gallons of oil, and still today one can find oil lying under rocks on beaches. The ultimate damage of the oil spill we are dealing with today can not be officially determined, it all depends on how much reaches the coast. The coast could face much more damage than Alaska's coast did because it is made up of mostly marshland and has calm waters making the oil much more difficult to clean up. One of the big issues with this oil spill is that from the Gulf of Mexico we get 40% of the U.S.'s seafood supply. Some say the damage will last from two- five years, but as we know from the Alaskan beaches, the damage can last much longer than that!

Sometimes I just have to wonder how people come up with ideas... who just randomly thought to drill for oil in the ocean? First, I have to say that I'm glad this spill happened before President Obama's oil drilling plan started, and I hope that this puts a huge gap and prevents or at least puts more restrictions on this drilling. I have seen some footage of the oil spill in Alaska and people trying to clean up from it... I know that it was a lot of hard work with long hours and that many animals and plants suffered greatly, not to mention how it affected the whole ecosystem. I honestly don't really care about the oil spill today will affect the seafood, how the spill, once it reaches the shore, will destroy a large amount of the seafood the U.S. consumes. I don't like and therefore don't eat seafood, but I know that with this loss, many people will not be happy and it could be possible that some businesses will have to suffer a lot and pay more to import seafood which people won't like as much, lose business, and some may go bankrupt. What I'm more concerned about is the coastline and how it will affect the ecosystems and habitats in those areas. Especially with much of the coast being marshland, the oil will affect it that much more with the calm waters and such. Just think of all of the poor animals that will not be able to escape and the plants that will have a slow death, like you being wrapped in plastic with no air holes, just left sitting there to die. I really hope that people will learn a lesson from this and move forward- in a positive direction. There obviously needs to be greater restrictions for oil companies: more check-ups or replacing more often or routine checks to make sure things are working properly... something needs to be done. Or, I have an idea, let's not drill in the ocean anymore and use that money instead to find ways where we can be non-dependent on oil! People need to focus on helping the environment and earth and not be so selfish. Resources will not be there forever, so let's preserve them so the future can live just as great lives as we have.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/03/oil.spill.environmental.impacts/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29