National Wildlife Federation Announces Young Reporters for the Environment USA Winners

May 3- The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the U.S. host of the international Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) program, announces the 2013 middle and high school winners of the Young Reporters for the Environment USA (YRE USA) competition. The YRE USA competition had a prestigious jury panel of professionals possessing expertise in the fields of environmental conservation, sustainable development, journalism, photography, videography, and education.

The Young Reporters for the Environment USA program is part of a rapidly-growing international network of international youth engaged in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It is coordinated by the Foundation for Environmental Education and currently operates in 27 countries.

Click on the article link above for more information on this year’s winners.

For more information on Young Reporters for the Environment, please go to: www.yre-usa.org.

To Protect Great Lakes from Ballast Water Invaders National Wildlife Federation Asks for Restraining Order

May 2- The National Wildlife Federation is asking a federal judge to stop the EPA from implementing a rule that would prohibit the State of New York from strengthening protections against non-native species introduced by ballast water discharges.

The motion was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“The people, businesses and communities that have paid a steep price from aquatic invasive species deserve strong protections that shut the door on ballast water invaders once and for all,” said Marc Smith, senior policy manager at the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center. “Our action today seeks to stop the EPA from blocking efforts to get the State of New York to do enough to prevent the introduction of more aquatic invasive species.”

The stakes are high in the effort to protect the Great Lakes. Ballast water invaders have altered the Great Lakes ecosystem from top to bottom and cause at least $200 million per year in damages and control costs.

National Wildlife Federation Announces 2013 Results for the Campus Conservation Nationals Competition

May 1- The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) in partnership with Lucid Design Group, the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Alliance to Save Energy, announces the 2013 results for the Campus Conservation Nationals Competition (CCN), the largest nationwide electricity and water reduction competition on college and university campuses.

From February 4 through April 26, 2013, students, faculty and staff switched off unused electronics, took shorter showers, and turned off lights in common areas, all to see who could save the most. Participants organized events, utilized social media, and launched creative marketing campaigns to motivate their peers to take personal actions and encourage changes in building operations. Through thousands of direct actions and collective effort, CCN participants demonstrated that personal actions can significantly reduce energy use and advance the sustainability of their schools.

To learn more about the results of the competition, visit CompeteToReduce.org/results

May Is Garden For Wildlife Month

April 29- From bird watchers to butterfly lovers, people across the country are transforming their gardens into havens for wildlife in celebration of National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife Month and its Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program.

“May is a wonderful time to get gardening and a great time to attract some of nature’s most beautiful creatures to your yard,” said David Mizejewski, Naturalist and Personality for the National Wildlife Federation. “Taking simple steps in your garden to encourage wildlife is not only personally rewarding it also provides myriad benefits to animals and ecosystems.”

This year’s Garden for Wildlife Month’s feature species is thehummingbird, which was the winner of a recent online survey to select this year’s feature animal. Hummingbirds are a prime example of the beauty one can expect to see as a result of careful planting. 

For more information about Garden for Wildlife Month, gardening tips, resources, and certifying a Wildlife Habitat with NWF, please go to: www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife.

New Report: Heavy Rain Exacerbating Farm Runoff, Worsening Toxic Algae Blooms In Lake Erie

April 29 – As the Great Lakes region experiences massive flooding due to weeks of heavy rain, a new report from the National Wildlife Federation examines how intense rain events are exacerbating farm runoff and contributing to record toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie that impact public health, drinking water supplies and wildlife. The report warns that the storms driving harmful algal blooms will only become more common due to global warming.

“Lake Erie is experiencing a one-two punch of heavy rains and farm run-off that is influencing the magnitude of toxic algal blooms,” said report author Melinda Koslow, regional program manager at the National Wildlife Federation’ Great Lakes Regional Center. “Global warming will only exacerbate this urgent problem. Thankfully, there are solutions to help farmers and communities protect our Lakes, environment and economy.”

 Read the report at: www.nwf.org/TakenByStorm

New Radio Ad Thanks Sen. Collins for Saying No to Dirty Air Budget Proposals, Voting for a Clean Budget

April 29- The National Wildlife Federation launched a new ad in Maine today thanking Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) for her opposition to dirty air budget proposals, which would have gutted Environmental Protection Agency clean air standards that protect the health of Americans.

The ads will be accompanied by a “takeover” of the Bangor Daily News website Monday through Wednesday, and the Portland Press Herald website on Thursday. They express thanks for Sen. Collins’ opposition to cynical anti Clean Air Act amendments during Senate budget debates in March that would have blocked the EPA’s historic Carbon Pollution Standard, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS), as well as other clean air standards and public health protections.

“We are thanking Senator Collins for putting wildlife and public health ahead of corporate polluters’ profits,” said Jim Lyon, vice president for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation. “America’s sportsmen want our members of Congress to stand strong for our air, water, wildlife and public lands. Congress shouldn’t ever use the budget process to replace important clean air and water protections with dangerous, dirty and deadly pollution.”

Listen to the ad here.

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• Bloomberg News: Enbridge Expansion Could Turn Into Keystone-Like Fight
• Forbes.com: The Price Of Investing In Sin
• The Journal Sentinel :  Wildlife Federation sues to let New York State toughen ballast standards
• NorthJersey.com: May is National Wildlife Federation’s “Garden for Wildlife” month
• Equities.com: 300,000 Students Compete in Campus Conservation Nationals 2013 and Save Over Two Million kWh of Electricity and 1.6 Million Gallons of Water
• Denver Post: Creek spill an overdue wakeup call

 For more visit www.nwf.org/news

Three Years Later, Panhandle Leaders Say Gulf Restoration Could Be Economic Boon

Anchor-handling tugboats battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

For more information on the state of the Gulf, check out the report Restoring A Degraded Gulf of Mexico.

Three Years Later: BP Still Needs to be Held Accountable

April 18-Three years ago, on April 20, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and killed 11 workers. Two days later, the rig sank. Before BP finally capped the well, months later, 206 million gallons of oil had been released along with huge quantities of hydrocarbon gases.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

“Nearly three years later, the impacts of the Gulf oil disaster continue to unfold. Dolphins and sea turtles are still dying in high numbers. Just this month scientists announced the spill’s underwater oil plume caused a massive die-off of creatures at the base of the Gulf’s food web. It’s clear that we will not know the full fallout from the disaster for years.

“BP needs to be held fully accountable. The outcome of the ongoing trial must send an unmistakable signal to every oil company that cutting corners on safety is simply not a smart thing to do.

For more on the Gulf 3 year mark, check out the blog Deepwater Horizon: The Disaster that Keeps on Harming.

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

Remember the plume of dispersed oil that stretched from the wellhead and settled in the deep underwater canyon just south of the wellhead? It turns out the foul feature caused an oily sediment blizzard. Analysis of core samples taken from the canyon where the sediment blizzard came to rest showed the record die-off.

As the oil was flowing, David Hollander at USF was one of the first scientists to find that subsea dispersant application led to the plume of oily water. At the time, I was staffing Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) who sits on the Senate Oceans Subcommittee. Hearing what researchers like Hollander were finding, Sen. Nelson was gravely concerned about the impacts of dispersed oil particles on the Gulf food-web. He filed the Subsea Hydrocarbon Imagery and Planning (SHIP) Act to require the government to track the plume and develop a plan to clean it up. SHIP was never enacted.

Hollander was right to be concerned three years ago. Summarizing the results of the USF study, Hollander says, “Everywhere the plume went, the die-off went.”

Marine Foraminifera by Flickr user Pali Nalu

Gulf Killifish by Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, Louisiana State University

Gills serve fish the way lungs serve humans: they allow for oxygen to enter the bloodstream and remove carbon dioxide. In essence, they “breathe.” Healthy functional gill tissue has a uniform, parallel, accordion appearance. Louisiana State University researchers compared the gill tissue of killifish in an oiled marsh to those in an oil-free marsh. The results? The gill tissue from killifish in the oiled marsh was a mangled mess.

Reports that microscopic organisms and bull minnows were harmed by the disaster three years ago suggest there are more impacts to come. It took years after the Exxon Valdez oil disaster for the Pacific herring population to crash. Harm at the bottom of the food-web manifests incrementally. We may not know for years how top predators like tuna and dolphin will fare.

This week, BP began its defense in the Deepwater Horizon trial. One thing is clear: BP would like the American people and the Judge to believe the disaster is over. There is no doubt: BP will present a court case rivaling its public relations case in the court of public opinion. Gulf wildlife aren’t buying it. Neither should Judge Barbier, and neither should we.

Report: Gulf Wildlife Three Years into the Gulf Oil Disaster

April 2 –  As the three-year mark of the Gulf oil disaster approaches, a new National Wildlife Federation report gives a snapshot view of six important species in the Gulf of Mexico and makes recommendations as to how we can restore their habitats and the Gulf as a whole.

“Three years after the initial explosion, the impacts of the disaster continue to unfold,” said Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation and lead report author. “Dolphins are still dying in high numbers in the areas affected by oil. These ongoing deaths—particularly in an apex predator like the dolphin—are a strong indication that there is something amiss with the Gulf ecosystem.”

“The oil disaster highlighted the gaps in our understanding of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Ian MacDonald, professor of Oceanography at Florida State University. “What frustrates me is how little has changed over the past three years. In many cases, funding for critical research has even been even been cut, limiting our understanding of the disaster’s impacts. For example, we know that some important coral communities were damaged, but funding for the necessary follow up has not been there.”

The report’s release comes as BP and the other companies responsible for the disaster are on trial in federal court for violations of multiple environmental laws. The report describes different sources of restoration funding resulting from the disaster and provides initial suggestions for how this money can be used to improve the outlook for the species discussed in the report. 

• Click here to download the full report.
• Visit out NWF’s Facebook page to download and share infographics
• Read the Wildlife Promise blog about dolphin deaths in the Gulf

Conservation groups urge BLM to provide “Crown Jewel” Roan Plateau new lease on life

April 1 – A coalition of conservation and sportsmen’s groups has offered a range of management proposals intended to protect the fish, wildlife, backcountry and other natural riches that make the Roan Plateau a “crown jewel of Colorado’s landscape.’’

The 12 groups submitted the proposals to the Bureau of Land Management, which is writing a new Environmental Impact Statement after a federal court ruled that an EIS and 2008 plan failed to consider a more protective development option. The court also said the BLM’s analysis of the cumulative impacts of oil and gas drilling on the region’s air quality was faulty.

The groups’ comments submitted to the BLM Friday include a “Conservation Alternative,’” which would require companies to access gas atop the Roan from private land on the plateau’s southern edge. No new well pads, roads or infrastructure would be allowed on federal land. The proposal also would prohibit disturbance of the surface in important wildlife habitat and migration corridors at the base of the plateau. Provisions in the earlier plan intended to protect sensitive wildlife areas had built-in waivers that could have opened the land to construction.

Calling all Photographers: Enter to Win a Trip to the ‘Polar Bear Capital of the World’

April 1 – The National Wildlife® Photo Contest is now accepting entries for its prestigious 43^rd annual competition. Operated by National Wildlife Federation’s award-winning, full-color nature magazine National Wildlife, the contest celebrates the beauty of nature and provides funds to help the organization protect wildlife and wild places. Photographers of all levels of experience are eligible submit images in the juried competition and the popular People’s Choice Award. There also is a separate Youth category for children ages 13-17.

Winners will see their photos featured in the magazine alongside images by the world’s top nature photographers, as well as on the National Wildlife Federation website, nwf.org, and in the organization’s annual calendar. The Grand Prize is an expense-paid trip for two to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, to see and photograph polar bears.  First and second place winners in seven different categories will receive iPads and iTouches, or cash equivalents.

• For additional details and rules about the National Wildlife Photo contest, visit the “Learn More” page.
• To enter the contest, please go to: http://www.nwf.org/PhotoContest

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• CNBC: Leak near Colorado plant highlights pipelines problems
• USA Today: Americans back Keystone pipeline in new poll
• The New York Times: On the Montana Range, Efforts to Restore Bison Meet Resistance
• The Huffington Post: Gulf of Mexico Dolphin Deaths Point To Continued Effects of BP Oil Spill
• The Wall Street Journal: New requirements for ballast water dumped by ships
• Bloomberg Businessweek: WTI Oil Falls as Exxon Shuts Line
• The Globe and Mail: Arkansas spill shows potential for Keystone ‘nightmare,’ group warns
• Forbes: Entrepreneurs, the Environment, and Social Value
• WSJ Blog: Recent Spills Don’t Help Case for Keystone Pipeline

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

Like many of the 31 other dolphins examined in a recent study, Y12 was found to be severely ill: underweight, anemic and with signs of liver and lung disease. The dolphins’ symptoms were consistent with those seen in other mammals exposed to oil; researchers feared many of the dolphins studied were so ill they would not survive.

Seven months later, Y12’s emaciated carcass washed up on the beach at Grand Isle.

More than 650 dolphins have been found stranded in the oil spill area since the Gulf oil disaster began. This is more than four times the historical average.

Click for larger image, and be sure to spread the word on Facebook.

Read the Report

“Three years after the initial explosion, the impacts of the disaster continue to unfold,” said Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation and lead report author. “Dolphins are still dying in high numbers in the areas affected by oil. These ongoing deaths — particularly in an apex predator like the dolphin — are a strong indication that there is something amiss with the Gulf ecosystem.”

Restoring a Degraded Gulf of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Three Years into the Gulf Oil Disaster looks at how different species of wildlife across the northern Gulf are faring in the wake of the oil disaster.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called the dolphin die-off “unprecedented” a year ago.
• More than 1,700 sea turtles were found stranded between May 2010 and November 2012 — the last date for which information is available. For comparison, on average about 240 sea turtles are stranded annually.
• A coral colony seven miles from the wellhead was badly damaged by oil. A recent laboratory study found that a mixture of oil and dispersant affected the ability of some coral species to build new parts of a reef.
• Scientists found that the oil disaster affected the cellular function of the killifish, a common baitfish at the base of the food web. A recent laboratory study found that oil exposure can also harm the development of larger fish such as mahi mahi.

“Despite the public reations blitz by BP, this spill is not over,” said David Muth, Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program. “In 2012 six million pounds of tar mat and contaminated material from the BP spill were cleaned up from Louisiana’s coast. Justice will only be served when BP and its co-defendants pay to restore the wildlife and habitats of the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf of Mexico.”

Two Ways to Help

The high number of dolphin deaths is concerning, and wildlife across the Gulf continue to feel the effects of BP’s massive oil spill three years later. Residents of the Gulf and its wildlife need full restoration! Tell the Dept. of Justice to hold BP fully accountable for its actions>>

You can also help NWF protect wildlife, like bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf, by donating today.

NWF: State Dept. Keystone XL Analysis Fatally Flawed

March 1 – The U.S. State Department, which is overseeing the permit application for TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline issued a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) today. The SEIS release wraps up another stage of the highly controversial environmental review and kicks off a round of public comment that will eventually lead to a final decision from President Obama within several months. National Wildlife Federation has several major concerns with the analysis, but most objectionable is the claim that “approval or denial of the proposed Project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands.”

“This analysis fails in its review of climate impacts, threats to endangered wildlife like whooping cranes and woodland caribou, and the concerns of tribal communities,” said Jim Lyon, vice president for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation.

• For more, read our latest blog post on this issue: “Will Obama Go Back to 1984 on Keystone XL?“

Oil Spill Case: BP Needs to Be Held Accountable

February 25 - BP is facing tens of billions of dollars in penalties as the U.S. Department of Justice and the British oil giant get ready to start trial Monday over civil charges stemming from the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. However, a report in the Wall Street Journal today suggests that the Department of Justice may be considering proposing a settlement.

“The Gulf of Mexico is more than just a place where oil companies make enormous profits—it’s a public jewel where our children swim, where wildlife live, and where we get the food we eat,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.

• For more check out the latest BP blog:  ”BP’s Gulf Oil Spill Trial 101: A Primer“

New NWF Report Raises Questions on Need for Lake Michigan Diversion

February 25 – A new National Wildlife Federation report raises questions on whether a Wisconsin community needs to divert water from the Great Lakes to meet its water needs. The City of Waukesha is applying to divert Lake Michigan water. The application is the first since the passage of the Great Lakes Compact which bans diversions of Great Lakes water and promotes wise water use within the eight states and two Canadian provinces bordering the lakes. Many conservation groups view Waukesha’s application as precedent-setting.

“Our analysis finds that Waukesha might not need to divert Great Lakes water to meet its water needs,” said Marc Smith, Senior Policy Manger with National Wildlife Federation. “The city has options on the table that may satisfy their water needs. In short, they have not justified their need for a Lake Michigan diversion.”

• Download the full report: An Analysis of the City of Waukesha Diversion Application (pdf)

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• The Washington Post: Blocking Keystone XL won’t save the climate, State Department analysis says
• Wall Street Journal: Accusations Fly as Trial Over Gulf Oil Spill Begins (subscription required)
• NPR: Witnesses To Take The Stand In BP Trial
• UPI: Green groups want BP held accountable
• Times-Picayune: Environmental leaders weigh in on the start of BP oil spill trial
• Mother Jones: Top 4 Reasons the US Still Doesn’t Have a Single Offshore Wind Turbine
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: National Wildlife Federation questions Waukesha water request
• Detroit Free Press: Warmer winters bedevil moose in Minnesota
• CBC News: Warming Lake Superior stresses wildlife, observers say

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

An oiled brown pelican floats in the Gulf during the height of the 2010 oil spill. Photo credit: Louisiana Governor’s office.

One way or another—either through a ruling or a settlement—BP will be held liable for violations of federal environmental laws designed to protect the public from pollution.

So far, the evidence has confirmed some things we already knew from the multiple investigations into the disaster. BP’s corporate mantra that “every dollar counts” put profits over safety in the Gulf of Mexico.

The restoration needs of the Gulf are real, they are imminent, and they must be addressed now. But any final judgment or settlement that fails to adequately compensate for the losses and deter future recklessness would be an injustice for the Gulf and for the nation.

For those who  are watching to make sure BP is held accountable, here’s a summary of the basic trial process over the coming months:

Phase One

The main point that Judge Barbier is considering in this portion of the trial is whether there was “gross negligence” on the part of the BP and the other defendants. It matters because the law punishes gross negligence more strongly than simple accidents. Under the Clean Water Act, a finding of ordinary negligence would result in a fine of $1,100 per barrel, while gross negligence or willful misconduct could result in a fine of $4,300 per barrel.

Oiled sea turtle after the BP oil disaster. Photo credit:  NOAA.

The proceedings will focus on:

• Loss of well control — What actions prior to the accident led to the release of gas from the well?
• Fire and explosion — How did the gas reach the deck of the Deepwater Horizon and ignite?
• Sinking of the Deepwater Horizon — Why did the rig sink after the explosion and fire?

Judge Barbier will consider the evidence about what led to each of these occurrences to determine how unreasonable the actions of BP and its codefendants were before, during, and after the explosion. NWF’s legal experts believe that these factors will show that BP was grossly negligent.

Phase Two

The second phase will focus on two key issues from the time the oil rig sank to when the spewing well was permanently sealed.

• Source Control — What BP, Transocean, and other parties did to stop the release of oil and gas, including allegations that BP and Transocean were not prepared to deal with the blowout and uncontrolled oil release.
• Quantification of Discharge – Both sides will present testimony on how much oil was released into the Gulf from the time the spill began until the well was capped. 

Speak Up For the Gulf!

The Gulf ecosystem and its wildlife need restoration now. We hope to see justice for the Gulf in the form of maximum penalties under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act that will then used for crucial ecosystem restoration.

Help protect the Gulf’s wildlife! Ensure that the Department of Justice holds BP fully accountable for restoring Gulf habitat for dolphins and other species >> 

You can follow all the BP trial proceedings on the Mississippi River Delta Coalition’s Twitter and Facebook.

Striped dolphins swim through BP oil, April 2012 (NOAA’s National Ocean Service)

We’ll take a detailed walk through that history later. But first, the latest from the trial, where a senior BP official admitted on the stand yesterday that BP couldn’t be bothered to gather all available evidence during its internal investigation:

A BP team investigating the company’s Macondo well blowout that led to the explosion and fire that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in April 2010 never received the results of tests of a light cement used to plug the well from cement contractor Halliburton, a senior BP official leading the investigation said Wednesday. Mark Bly, BP’s executive vice president for safety and operational risk, confirmed during testimony Wednesday afternoon that senior BP attorneys repeatedly demanded the test results and samples of the cement used on the rig from Halliburton, but that they were not made available to BP investigators before publication of the company’s investigative report that bears Bly’s name. [...]

Asked if BP and other investigative teams should have received those results, Bly said, “Yeah, I think people should share information that can help us learn about accidents.”

THIS is the brilliant, no-expense-spared legal strategy that BP has been warning Gulf oil disaster victims about? Look out, out-of-work fishermen – if you don’t take our lowball settlement, we’ll go on the witness stand and tell everyone how forehead-smackingly inadequate & lazy our own internal investigation was!

Legal experts are questioning the sanity of whoever at BP decided to go to trial:

Early witnesses have hammered BP for an “every dollar counts” culture that put profits over safety in the Gulf.

Legal experts familiar with the case expressed surprised that it ever got to trial, and said negative attention from the trial could hinder the company’s efforts to recover from the disaster. [...]

“A day or so more of this bloodbath and BP will get weak in the knees, raise its current $16 billion offer to $18 billion and settle with the U.S.,” [Loyola University College of Law professor Blaine] LeCesne said Wednesday.

As the National Wildlife Federation’s John Kostyack has laid out in detail, even that $18 billion figure could be much lower than BP’s true liability.

Did you expect BP, one of the world’s largest and most profitable corporations, to make better decisions? Why would BP start making good decisions now?

In the very first public relations class I ever took, we were given Tylenol’s response to the 1982 tampering attack as the best way to confront crisis. Put public safety first. Be completely honest and transparent. Do all that right, and winning back the public trust will be worth more than a $100 million ad campagin.

Instead, at literally every step of the way, BP has put profits over people and wildlife, rash action over data collection, and obstruction over transparency:

• Gulf safety plans were copied & pasted from other plans in completely different parts of the planet
• BP officials ignored warning signs that might have averted the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers and gushed over 200 million gallons of oil and other hydrocarbons into the Gulf of Mexico
• BP officials gave the public oil gusher flow rates that were as much as 53 times lower than the true rate
• As hundreds of dolphins and sea turtles and thousands of birds died in the oil disaster zone, BP officials worked to hide the dead from reporters
• Even before the gusher was capped, BP CEO Tony Hayward whined “I’d like my life back,” then jetted off to a yacht race
• BP’s oiled wildlife hotline was at times comically inefficient
• Instead of reaching a fair civil settlement, BP used its media connections to try to get let off the hook from a full payment for its mistakes

Dozens of Gulf activists rally outside BP trial, February 2013

Take Action

Since the first days of the Gulf oil disaster, the National Wildlife Federation has been fighting for justice for the Gulf’s people and wildlife. “The Gulf of Mexico is more than just a place where oil companies make enormous profits—it’s a public jewel where our children swim, where wildlife live, and where we get the food we eat,” NWF President & CEO Larry Schweiger said this week.

Please take a moment right now to ask U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to hold BP fully accountable for the reckless damage it caused to the Gulf and the wildlife and communities that depend on it.

Holding BP Accountable: Oil Spill Trial Set to Begin Monday

The National Wildlife Federation hosted a teleconference with representatives from three of America’s leading conservation organizations to explore how much BP could be facing at trial, what this case means for restoring the Gulf of Mexico and what a just outcome for the American people would look like.February 22-With a February 25 trial date looming, BP and the U.S. Department of Justice will either reach a settlement or go to trial within the next few days.

For more on the BP Oil Spill, check out the Gulf Oil Disaster page.

You can also check out the latest BP blog “Speak Up for Gulf Dolphins”

Scientists are still investigating an unprecedented rise in dolphin mortality in the northern gulf. Photo by The Pug Father/Flickr.

But, unlike television, we cannot just write a new scene and magically heal the dolphins. NOAA scientists still haven’t concluded why dolphins are dying across much of the northern Gulf of Mexico, but an in-depth study of 32 dolphins in a heavily oiled section of the Louisiana coast found that many were seriously ill with a constellation of symptoms reminiscent of oil exposure in other mammals.

Congress to the Rescue — Seriously

The RESTORE Act, which became law last summer, gives us our best chance to comprehensively clean up the Gulf and improve habitat for dolphins and many other species of wildlife. Thanks to this new law, The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council will be holding hearings throughout the five Gulf States to discuss the development of their comprehensive plan to restore the Gulf ecosystem.

This plan will outline which ecosystem restoration projects will be implemented throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The Council is in an early stage of plan development and intends to release a draft for public comment in spring 2013. This money from the RESTORE Act gives us our best opportunity to heal the Gulf of Mexico, but there are some who would like to dip into the RESTORE Act’s dedicated restoration dollars and use these funds for “economic restoration,” a.k.a pork. 

Ensure that DOJ holds BP fully accountable for their actions>>

Speak Up in Person for Dolphins in the Gulf

Let the Council know that:

• We commend the Council’s commitment to directing 30 percent of the funds to ecosystem restoration under the comprehensive plan as required by the RESTORE Act.
• In addition, the Council should seek to influence state-specific plans to prioritize ecosystem restoration, and oppose any projects that have negative environmental impacts. This will ensure that state-specific projects enhance the environmental benefits of the broader comprehensive plan.
• While every ecosystem restoration project helps restore and sustain the Gulf’s natural resource-based economy, some purely economic development projects threaten to harm its environment. From the Gulf’s $41 billion recreational fishing impact to its $31 billion tourism industry, the region’s economy relies on a clean and healthy environment. Gulf ecosystems, and the rich resources they support, are also key to the broader national economy.
• In the spirit of the promises made by the President and leaders in Congress, we strongly urge the Council to tighten its focus on restoring the environment, and reject any project that undermines that goal.
• The people of the Gulf rely on meaningful environmental restoration, informed and supported by science, to support a strong and healthy economy now, and for generations to come. 
• Restoring the Gulf’s environment, cleaning up our coastlines and rebuilding our wetlands  will protect people and property from future hurricanes and flooding, create new jobs and  safeguard the fishing, tourism and other jobs that depend on a healthy Gulf of Mexico.
• Restoration must take a comprehensive ecosystem-scale approach—this means addressing everything from freshwater inflows to our estuaries to our offshore marine environment.

Make a Difference at the Hearings

The public engagement sessions are part of the Council’s efforts to ensure robust public input throughout the entire process. And it is of dire importance that the public – you, me, and your uncle Bob – get out to these hearings to voice support for using all of the RESTORE Act dollars slated for ecosystem restoration on comprehensively restoring the Gulf of Mexico

RSVP for one of these upcoming public meetings:

Tuesday, March 12
Texas – Doors open at 5:15PM and the program will be 6:00 to 8:00PM
Pasadena Convention Center, 7902 Fairmont Pkwy  Pasadena, TX 77507

Wednesday, March 13
Florida – 6:00 PM EST
Karen A. Steidinger Auditorium, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 Eighth Ave. S.E., St. Petersburg, FL

Help protect Gulf dolphins! Ensure that the Department of Justice holds BP fully accountable for restoring Gulf habitat! And make sure that money is spent on ecosystem restoration not pork!