Feinberg

baratariaBy Eugene Hickman. My name is Eugene Hickman. My wife and I have been commercial fishermen living in Barataria, Louisiana for 25 years. I also am a United States Coast Guard licensed charter boat captain. I ran a charter boat for a company, in exchange for free housing and a boat slip for my commercial fishing boat on the company's property. On days I didn't have charters I would fish commercially.

Tecumseh, the great Shawnee leader, once said, “Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.”

I believe in these words, during the dark times in which we live. It seems more than coincidence that so many people have been drawn together to stand against the tyranny now provoking our people in so many forms, across the nation and globe.

Yesterday, a contingent from the Gulf Coast joined twelve thousand people in a nonviolent protest against dirty energy at the White House.  The advocates are trying to stop President Obama from approving the  Keystone XL pipeline.  If built, the 1,700-mile pipeline will stretch all the way from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, where "tar sands" sludge would be refined into oil.

In considering triumphant philosophy within the genesis of organizing any just cause, I submit to you an analogy based upon the game of chess. It is my hope, that you will consider the possible strategic implications, and fit them to your own need.  At least I would love to start a conversation, to identify each piece, be it person or organization, who would best fit the below scenarios.
 

Residents and clean-up workers exposed to the 2010 BP Oil Spill Catastrophe may experience adverse health affects for many years to come, according to a recently released review. 
 “The Adverse Health Effects of Oil Spills: A Review of the Literature and a Framework for Medically Evaluating Exposed Individuals,” written by Barry S. Levy and William J. Nassetta, analyzed 13 studies of health effects among clean-up workers and community residents exposed to past spills.


By Monique Harden and Nathalie Walker, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights. As the Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”), Kenneth Feinberg has denied all illness claims from the BP oil drilling disaster for lack of medical proof of causation.  However, Feinberg did not require such proof in his administration of the Agent Orange

Thanks to BP and Kenneth Feinberg, the fisherman and their wives of Alabama's coastal Coden community are still faced with standing in food give-out lines one year after the BP Oil Spill. This should make BP, Mr. Feinberg and our elected officials very proud to be in America. Will this be our community celebration two years later?  Standing in a food give-out line because our gulf waters are still polluted with oil?

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Feinberg