Chelsea Green

Download a Copy of 'Not One Drop' and Donate to Global Green USA In response to the BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill Disaster, Chelsea Green will make the book Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill available for free download on Scribd.com, indefinitely. In exchange, we are asking that readers donate as little as $1 to Global Green USA, a non-profit dedicated to the support of those most affected by the disaster. Note from Riki Ott: "Most importantly, my publisher, Chelsea Green, and I are giving these e-books away for free in hopes that you will donate $1, $5, $10 or more to Global Green USA (http://globalgreen.org), an environmental non-profit with a mission of reconnecting humanity to the environment in order to create a more secure & sustainable future. Global Green opened a New Orleans office almost 5 years ago, in response to Hurricane Katrina, and is leading the green rebuilding of the city by creating healthy green schools, homes and communities that save money, improve health and help fight global warming. "In response to the Gulf oil spill, Global Green is co-chairing the local Green Collaborative-a network of 65 organizations working to build a strong green economy in Louisiana-to assess the greatest needs to help in the clean up, and to support those families devastated by the spill. Funds will go toward delivering healthy food and support for the fishermen and families whose lives depend on a thriving coastal economy. "If 100,000 people download and give even $1, we'll be able to raise a significant amount for the relief efforts. At $10/download, that's a million dollars! Just hit the "Donate Now" button beside Not One Drop on Scribd. Funds will go toward mitigating social trauma from the spill, because I remember how much the Exxon Valdez hurt my town, Cordova." Download the Book and Donate via Scribd Here! WATCH: BP's Gulf Coast Oil Spill Hits Louisiana Wetlands The worst-case scenario is happening in Louisiana. Oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is washing up on the fragile coastal wetlands. The brown sludge is set to destroy "every living thing there," according to Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser. From the Huffington Post: (AP) - AT PASS A LOUTRE, La. - A chocolate-brown blanket of oil about as thick as latex paint has invaded reedy freshwater wetlands at Louisiana's southeastern tip, prompting Gov. Bobby Jindal to step up calls Wednesday for building emergency sand barriers. Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser led a flotilla of media to inspect the oil encroaching on remote wetlands lining Pass a Loutre, near where the mouth of the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig disaster had been lapping at the coast before. But this was not the light rainbow sheen or the scattered tar balls seen in previous days. Jindal, sitting at the edge of an airboat, swept a handheld fishing net through the mess and held it up. It was coated with brown sludge, which had stained the lower shafts of the leafy green reeds sticking up to eight feet out of the water. "This has laid down a blanket in the marsh that will destroy every living thing there," Nungesser said. Jindal said there had been indications of such coastal contamination from aerial observations on Tuesday. Wednesday's trip confirmed the incursion. "The day that we've been fearing is upon us today," he said later at a news conference in the coastal town of Venice, about an hour away by boat. WATCH: Not One Drop Author Riki Ott Discusses the BP Spill on Anderson Cooper 360 Here's what you're not hearing from BP: it will take decades to get rid of the oil in the Gulf spill. The health consequences for residents of the coast will be severe and long-lasting-and even more acute for cleanup workers directly exposed to the oil. And the marine wildlife may never fully recover. In Monday's edition of The New York Times, marine toxicologist Riki Ott (Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill) discusses what we can do to avoid future catastrophes. Avoid Dispersants ONE of the oil industry's favorite tools in fighting oil spills is chemical dispersants - indeed, over 300,000 gallons have been used so far in the Gulf. But as anyone who studied high school chemistry knows, like dissolves like: crude oil responds only to oil-based solvents, which are extremely toxic. The first dispersants, released in the late 1960s, were quickly shelved because they turned out to harm wildlife more than crude oil did. Drums of Corexit 9527, a dispersant used to clean up the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, came with warning labels: "prevent liquid from entering sewers, watercourses or low areas." Little has changed in 20 years. Even worse, spraying dispersants in the Gulf in an attempt to minimize the oil's damage to the coast would kill shrimp eggs and larvae and young fish in the open water. They can linger in thewater for decades, especially when used in deep water, where low temperatures can inhibit biodegradation. Dispersants may sound like a good idea, but they're bad news, and their use should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. - RIKI OTT, marine toxicologist and author of "Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill" . . . [Read more] Ott also appeared on a recent episode of Anderson Cooper 360 (via Crooks and Liars). In the clip below she and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley explain some of the ecological and economic consequences of this latest man-made environmental disaster. COOPER: Joining me now is Riki Ott, who is a marine toxicologist with the Earth Island Institute, also presidential historian Douglas Brinkley - Brinkley. Riki, Rush Limbaugh and Gene Taylor say this is just going to break up naturally. A, is that true? And, B, does it mean we should just let nature take its course? RIKI OTT, MARINE TOXICOLOGIST, EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: It's going to break up naturally. We're - same as in Alaska. We're going to probably wait 40 years or 50 years before it all breaks up naturally. So, it's a matter of rate. And what we're going to see here probably in Louisiana, with a little bit warmer temperature, maybe a little bit more rapid degradation, maybe a little less than 50 years, but who knows how much less. COOPER: All right. So, leaving it to nature take its course clearly doesn't make any sense. . . . [Cick here or on the above image to watch the video]

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