No doubt you’ve heard about the British Petroleum oil spill disaster that seems certain to become one of the great environmental catastrophes of modern times. It will cause great destruction to the environment, wildlife, and people who live along the southern (and possibly eastern) coast of the US. What can you do? We’re going to copy some suggestions from the Huffington Post for how you can donate your time and money to help contain the damage, and possibly help prevent future calamities like this one.
- Oxfam America is working to help affected communities with financial assistance, as well as protect local wetlands and marshes. Make a tax-deductible donation to Oxfam America.
- You can register through OilSpillVolunteers.com to volunteer or join a cleanup organization.
- The BP Volunteer Hotline has set up numbers if you need to report injured wildlife or damage related to the spill. You can also request volunteer information at 866-448-5816.
- The Oiled Wildlife Care Network is providing volunteer information, though help from private citizens is not being requested at this time.
- Global Green plans to spend the coming months working to protect injured wildlife and to lobby Congress to enforce tougher regulations on the oil and coal industries. Volunteer with Global Green or donate to support these efforts.
- The National Audubon Society is asking concerned citizens to donate or volunteer. Sign up to get trained and volunteer to help local birds.
- CrisisCamp set up a conference call for Friday afternoon — follow the notes of this meeting, containing volunteer information with nonprofits and information from government organizations. You can also follow the CrisisCamp oil spill Twitter list for updates.
- The National Wildlife Federation has a message you can send to President Obama to urge restoration of Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands. They’re also asking for residents to upload photos to flickr and tag them SPILL_NW10.
Other resources:
- Alabama Coastal Foundation
- City of Biloxi official site
- City of Ocean Springs
- Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana
- Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
- Mississippi Governor Barbour
- Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
- National Animal Health Emergency Response Corp
- Oil Spill Crisis Map
- Pascagoula River Audubon Center
- State of Louisiana’s Emergency web site
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello and Serj Tankian. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans
of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. 
Substantially, the question of the Gulf oil pollution is certainly a burning question. Your post is worthwhile contribution to this hot oil desaster. One has to watch it in depth. In fact I do not concur with some small things in general Im fully on your way. I am looking forward to forthcoming updates, which eventually brings hope and slows down the oil desaster.
It’s terrible that it takes an incident of this magnitude to push the decision makers towards regulation. Even then, it’s possible we will not see it…
bp says they wil clean this up. come on have you ever been in there restrooms they cant even keep those clean
My culture is drowning in oil and I want so badly to do something to save it. I have friends in NOLA willing to do promotional work (expert promo people) CAN ANYONE HELP US ????
Make BP pay. I will write my congressman, my newspapers and BP to petition that they pay me what I make now and pay for my room and board so that I can go down there and help. They should pay everyone. No one should have to volunteer or donate. Make BP pay.
BP is the 4th largest company in the WORLD. They are a bloodsucking corporation worth $200 Billion dollars. BP has a horrible track record of not following safety codes while violating human rights. Although I appreciate donations and volunteer efforts, NO ONE should do either. This is BP’s Oil disaster they need to pick up the tab for everything.
I live in the great city of New Orleans and we are having a PROTEST tomorrow, Sunday May 30th. I have a feeling it won’t be the last! Corporate Executives and Gov’t official’s heads should be on the chopping block. “We the People” are sick of paying for their horrendous mistakes while they rake in enormous profits and carry on business as usual! Their Greed and dirty deals are killing our livelihoods, our people, and our planet, and it needs to STOP NOW!
You made certain nice points there. I did a search on the matter and found nearly all people will go along with with your blog.