Rocky Kistner's blog

More than a year after the BP well was plugged, Gulf coast residents now face an oil threat from a new direction; a proposed 1700-mile pipeline that would provide a steady stream of raw Canadian tar sands crude from Alberta to huge polluting refineries in Texas. That’s raised the ire of Gulf residents who refuse to be the dumping ground for more dirty and dangerous oil industry operations.   

For more than a year, I’ve watched Gulf Coast residents suffer through the worst oil spill in history, their lives turned upside down by the shock and emotional trauma of BP’s oily assault. But through these agonizing times I’ve also grown to love and appreciate the Gulf environment and its people. I’ve vowed to take my two young daughters to witness firsthand the beauty of the bayou threatened by the encroaching waves of the Gulf.

Exactly a year ago, former White House energy advisor Carol Browner informed the world that 75% of the oil from the worst oil disaster in history had been cleaned up, evaporated and dispersed or burned off. “Mother Nature did her part,” Browner told the world.

Louisiana shrimp buyer Dean Blanchard has seen plenty of crazy things during his life in the bayou. But his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets the day he watched a mother dolphin pushing her dead baby calf  towards him as he stood on the commercial dock of his once thriving seafood business on Grand Isle.  

A year ago to the day, I attended a packed town hall meeting deep in the Louisiana bayou featuring newly-hired BP claims administrator Ken Feinberg. The faces in the crowd were diverse and anxious; Cajun, Vietnamese, African American, all pressed together in the sweltering heat, trying to find out how to salvage their lives after the worst oil spill in history.

When my colleagues released NRDC's annual Testing the Waters  report documenting pollution problems across the nation’s coastlines, the last thing they expected was this jaw-dropping Orwellian tweet to pop up on their computer screens:

When members of Congress want to figure out what’s really going on in the Gulf these days, it’s easy to tell if they just want to make political statements or get to the truth of the matter.

This week political statements ruled the day. Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, turned tradition on its head by first trotting out Gulf politicians and businessmen intent on bashing Obama administration oil drilling policies. The man responsible for ensuring drilling safety was allowed to speak---last.

The first week of Louisiana’s crucial brown shrimp season is nearly over and the reports from fishermen are not good. A government source confirms catches are down dramatically and some fishermen say they have given up because the price of gas is high and the price they’re getting for Gulf shrimp is low.

Laurel Lockamy has seen her share of dead sea life washing up on the beaches of Mississippi. Like a few other residents, she’s toted her camera along wherever she goes, documenting the dolphins, sea turtles, red fish and plethora of dead birds that seem to be washing in unusually high numbers.

Sometimes in history there are moments you have to ask yourself; can this really be happening? The fires spreading across the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, the toxic goo seeping into houses at Love Canal. Each time, the pubic reacted with outrage and politicians got the message. New laws were passed to ensure public health and our environmental resources were better protected.

So wouldn't you would think that after the largest oil blowout in US history those lawmakers would be falling over themselves to pass new laws and keep this from happening again?

Not this time.