I grew up in one of the most beautiful places. Montrose, Alabama. My family lives on Mobile Bay, and I spent my childhood exploring the many bays, rivers, streams and creeks near my home. Starting at age 7, I would spend whole days exploring the local waters and shorelines with my little 13 foot boat. What existed naturally in my own backyard was truly utopian. Now, all the beautiful trees, wildlife and pristine waters, all will see the thick black and red oil within these next days. It brings a deeper ache than I can express.
As I flew out to the spill last Friday with my father (he’s a pilot), I wasn’t prepared for what I was going to witness. Here are some notes I took during the flight as we approached the source of this disaster:
“We are starting to smell oil…the pungent smell burns my nostrils and I feel nauseated to the core of my being….oh my God…red streaks of oil are everywhere…thick black near the well…it is crude oil and it stretches as far as I can see…I am sick…I can’t feel my own body or distinguish any of my feelings right now… this is the worst and most saddening situation I have ever seen in my life…The boats are randomly skewn about, and they are so disorganized! The cleanup efforts look completely haphazard and ineffective. It is utter chaos down there! Boats randomly placed, pulling booms that are simply swirling the oil around in circles! I really don’t feel alive right now…this is a horrible dream…why the heck didn’t BP have to have a plan in place for a disaster like this?!”
It was so much worse than I could have ever imagined and not even close to what the media has been portraying. I couldn’t even take it all in. I saw miles and miles of crude oil pouring from the Earth’s core to the ocean’s surface, red as blood, where it then proceeded to move eerily and ominously with the current toward my home. Before I even registered sadness, tears poured down my face. My entire body cried. I felt so helpless looking down at that uncontainable and chaotic mess. I will never be able to clear that picture from my mind.
This disaster could have been prevented, yet it wasn’t due to BP’s own negligence and a weak national energy policy. What’s outrageous is that BP is doing everything they can to avoid assuming responsibility for this spill. How dare they try and sidestep responsibility for the worst disaster in the Gulf’s history?!?!?!
Over 4 million gallons of crude oil are destroying the Gulf coast and innumerable wildlife habitats while also crippling local economies – this is destroying my home.The time of giveaways and loose regulation of the oil industry must end.
I hope with all my heart that this disaster will be a huge wakeup call. Things must change. We must all work to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and be involved in a clean energy revolution. Congress needs to ban offshore drilling and President Obama needs to provide unwavering support to end offshore drilling.
Please talk to your friends. Talk to your neighbors. Start organizing yourselves. Become involved with these serious issues we are facing. If we continue on our current path of carelessly extracting fossil fuels like oil and coal, rather than harnessing clean, renewable energy like wind power, we will see many more tragedies like the BP oil spill.
From the disaster zone,
Brinkley Hutchings
Still photos taken during the flight
Imagine the difference we WILL make once we focus on the SOLUTIONS instead of the problems.
NOW is a KEY moment that we learn about and PUSH for CLEAN ENERGY – something we ALL want and need. Please note that bird and bat friendly wind turbines are currently being used successfully. While this disaster is in the public’s eye, let’s make the most of it. Instead of being depressed about the Gulf Gush, let’s get ANGRY, INSPIRED AND MOTIVATED!!! Once we globally SWITCH to clean energy, there will never be another oil spill again!!! CLEAN ENERGY NOW!!! CLEAN ENERGY NOW!!! CLEAN ENERGY NOW!!!
Jackie Eco
The most important part though is to stay close to your family and friends and neighbors. You will all need each other to brave the battle you are about to embark on. 21 years later, we are in a better place – emotionally — our waters are not healed, but our hearts are slowly mending. We still love the place we live – just like you. It will always be that special place – no matter what we do to it.
Our hearts broke too, when we heard the news about what you face. All we kept thinking was ‘have we learned nothing since 1989?” Keep posting, keep writing, keep doing what you need to do to survive.
All the best from up north.
I thank you for your letter and I will start today to push all the persons I know to help stop the corrution that is the true cause of this devastation… Thank you so much for your letter and your time.
A beautiful – if heart-breaking – read. Your voice came through and I heard you. Like many who are responding, I am a mother with three children and I am just flabbergasted at what our generation (and those before us) have done to this earth.
That said, many of us are picking up the reigns and doing our possible best to try and change things, try to rectify situations and right many of the wrongs that have happened over the past 100 years or so.
I’m sorry, honey, for my part as an almost-40-year-old in the destruction of our beautiful home on Earth and I vow to you – and to my own children, and all those out there whose futures are effected by our actions – to do everything I possibly can.
Don’t give up, stay strong, stay focused, keep up your good work. I am in CT and you are making a difference.
-Cristina D. Johnson, CPC
Its people that put government in place they are the only ones that can make changes through policy and enforcement, and accountability of industry.
Hear in British Columbia, we fight the same battle with fish farms that are destroying, not only the environment but our wild stocks as well, our Government turns their backs on this as well.
Brian
but head up … from my view, I would say this is a part of world wide war… the war of money and companies which want to make money independent from any consequences.
The problems all over the world are growing day by day, but the politicians are blind for this… they talk and talk nonsense…
You see the result of their doings in front of you door…
They ever told us ‘money makes the world go round’ …but at last we can not eat the money and we can not getting happy by having it …
We live from nature and we should never forget…
But human race seem only to learn when the ‘child was falling into fountain’ we would say in german
Every day we hear about destroying nature or war or other human self-made problems and we know to solve this fuc… problems, but we do not.
But however, we should not getting depressed or frustrated by all the problems, we must stay together and we have to walk on and learn to take more responsibility for our doings…
I know this is for the moment not a big guess or help and I can imagine what you feel this days…
I will show your letter to other people, Gert
This is for real:
http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/
I was sadder than I had already been (which was VERY sad), and read the piece and watched the video with tears running down my face. I was sad for the Earth, the wildlife, the ocean and all her creatures. I was sad for the people of the area who will lose their beautiful surroundings and many jobs. I was most empathetically sad for this family of environmentalists, who obviously were already trying to take good care of their world, to have to face this enormous devastation right in their own region. The helplessness and hopelessness is almost too much to bear!
The next feeling (as is usually the case with me) was one of renewed commitment. This is why I write to you. I felt glad that I was not alone — nor are you. We are all on this journey together. Hard as it might seem to believe right now, the shock and grief will calm to a manageable level, but the fire to do something will remain at a stronger level.
May you feel the energy of the untold millions of people who are understanding and sharing in your grief and all finding the things they, too, can do to help clean up this mess and work hard to see it never happens again. It won’t be easy, but it is too necessary to ignore!!
I was also heartened to read the words of a young person who has made such a strong commitment to care for her world. It brings hope to us older folks to know there are young people who ‘get’ that we have to pitch-in together to affect a change in how things are done. I applaud you, and hope, if you ever feel you are alone in caring, you will remember I wrote to you.
I will now go to share this link with others in my networks on fb. It is a good thing you have done!
Gratitude,
Mary
This tragedy is so painful, so sickening. The only hope I have is that it will continue to break the hearts of humans wide open so that we can move together toward better ways of living, in relation to the Earth and to one another. Thanks for daring to expose your vulnerable heart, Brinkley.