Can the Gulf Coast still be saved?

Forty-six days ago an oil rig under contract to British Petroleum exploded and collapsed, killing 11 people and causing a hemorrhaging of oil that has led to arguably greatest environmental disaster in American history. The demands from Gulf Coast residents that our government must protect us may seem overblown to some. But for those of us working to put the Gulf Region back on the path to an environmentally sustainable future, these pleas have been at the center of protests, public rallies, lawsuits, and legislative advocacy for more than a generation.

In my home state of Louisiana, for example, sacrificing communities to corporate polluters has been equated with economic development. Since the 1920s and continuing to this day, elected officials in Louisiana have extolled the economic benefits of some of the most toxic and hazardous industrial operations in America.

These industrial operations are not only located in the Gulf of Mexico; they can also be found further inland, next door to homes in small communities where massive amounts of toxic pollution have decimated the ability of predominantly African-American residents to fish, hunt, and farm. Louisiana officials have not mourned the loss of Reveilletown, Morrisonville, Sunrise, Diamond, and Bel Air — historic African-American communities that have been uprooted by the petrochemical facilities nearby. Nor have they valued the coastal areas — the homelands of several indigenous peoples — that have been eroded in large part by the extensive network of oil and gas pipeline canals cut through wetlands.

Before he was Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal oversaw the state health department that was notorious for refusing to even investigate the harmful effects of industrial pollution on public health. As Governor, Jindal opposes President Obama’s recent moratorium on deepwater oil drilling as if the BP deepwater oil drilling catastrophe never occurred. In the midst of the BP oil disaster, Governor Jindal’s message has not changed: our communities are expendable.

But what exactly is Obama’s message? His scheduled visit today to the Gulf Coast region is an opportunity to validate the demands of so many Gulf Coast residents who long for a healthy and safe environment.

WATCH ‘MORNING JOE’ COVERAGE OF THE OIL SPILL AND OBAMA HERE:
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Obama should respond to the oil gushing from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico as he would to a foreign invading army, not as a mess left up to BP to handle. He should set up barriers to defend coastal areas from any more oil washing ashore. The president should ensure that every person involved in the clean up work is equipped with respirators and other protective gear.

He should order BP to pay interim compensation for a period of at least six months and no less than $12,000 to all the fishers, shrimpers, and other seafood industry workers now out of work. He should immediately make available to the public the work plan, including timelines and benchmarks, for drilling the relief well that appears to be the last option for stopping BP’s oil gusher. He should convene public forums to listen to the residents of the Gulf Coast region and address with specificity our concerns.

These steps may seem small, but they are a giant leap from the dismal circumstances we now face. By taking these steps, Obama would be modeling the leadership that many of us may no longer expect from our elected leaders in the Gulf Coast region.