Weekly News Roundup – April 19, 2013

Mary Price | Last Updated: January 8, 2016

Want to know what National Wildlife Federation was up to this week? Here is a recap of the week’s NWF 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.

April 18-On the eve of the three-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, five prominent Floridians called for investing money from the federal oil spill penalties into restoring the ecosystem of the Gulf Coast.

“Three years ago, Escambia County was threatened by the worst environmental disaster in US history,” said Grover Robinson, Escambia County commissioner and chair of Florida’s Gulf Consortium. “While we sustained damage to both our environment and economy, through both good fortune and hard work, we have cleaned up and visitors have returned to our beaches, hotels and restaurants. Still, restoration cannot fully occur until we implement the RESTORE Act which will provide a wonderful opportunity to repair those damages to the Gulf of Mexico region.”

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.

A recent National Wildlife Federation report, Restoring a Degraded Gulf of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Three Years into the Gulf Oil Disaster, assesses the current status of wetlands and key species in the Gulf.

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: