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As Congress stumbles through an embarrassing year-end game of fiscal brinkmanship, the world continues its slow burn toward unchartered and dangerous territory. It’s a future that threatens us all with more cataclysmic storms, punishing drought, mind-boggling Arctic ice melts, and more ferocious fires and floods. Scientists say future years to come will only get worse as we continue to spew billions of tons of climate-altering carbon pollution into the air.  

This letter was originally sent to U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier by Dr. Michael Robichaux on November 26th, 2012. Dr. Robichaux is a physician in Raceland, Louisiana, who operated a detox clinic for people who became ill after exposure to BP's oil and dispersant.

Indian Santa is a short documentary about, as the name suggests, Indian Santa. The tradition was started in 1985 when Hurricane Juan devastated the Houma Indian communities along the Gulf Coast. The Houma families received little help after the storm, and presents were going to be absent from many Houma children's Christmas.

Next week I’m going to share a post all about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of BP’s $4.5 billion criminal settlement with the federal government.  But today I just want to give thanks.  Not for the settlement itself, but for us, the citizens of and advocates for the Gulf Coast, and all the work we’ve put in to insist that BP be brought to justice and that our communities be made whole.

An oil platform explosion and fire today near the site of the nation’s greatest offshore oil spill in history—BP’s Deepwater Horizon—sent shivers up the spines of many Gulf residents as the U.S. Coast Guard reported that 11 crewmembers were flown to area hospitals and two crewmembers were still missing as of Friday evening. News reports said four workers were critically injured with burns.

Crossposted from Colorlines. News reports say that BP has entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice for criminal penalties for the 2010 BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. According to The Washington Post, BP has agreed to pay $4 billion over five years for their role in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drill, which led to 11 workers dying and a lot of Gulf fisherfolk put out of work.

I had hoped to write a full article concerning my thoughts on the subject of the BP Settlement Fairness Hearing held Thursday, November 8, but I (along with 3 others) was wrongfully accused of “live streaming audio,” and forcibly removed from the federal courtroom. I won't go into that now, but you can read Ada McMahon's article for more information.

Three BP oil disaster survivors and community advocates were forcibly removed from the fairness hearing on the BP class-action settlement yesterday, moments before the federal court heard objections to how that settlement would compensate people made sick by the disaster. The fairness hearing allowed U.S.

Down in the Louisiana bayou, people have first-hand knowledge of the kind of suffering a maelstrom like Superstorm Sandy brings. After the titanic tempest slammed into northeast coastal communities, killing more than 100 and making thousands homeless, people in the Gulf could feel their pain.

Watching the last two years unfold has been both eye opening and heartbreaking. Earlier this week, as I sat with a twenty-seven year old mother of three from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, we went over the many health-related issues she and her family are dealing with. Her ten-year old daughter has severe stomach issues, breathing issues, skin issues, horrible headaches - there are very few days that come and go that she feels well.