Live Earth blogs

mosaic:EARTH - What Inspires You to Make a Difference?

Andy Sternberg — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Add your photo or video to the new mosaic:EARTH digital collaborative tool which showcases a wide spectrum of organizations and individuals working towards a sustainable way of life for all Earth’s inhabitants.

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Live Earth is proud to be a partner in this excellent TckTckTck / OneWorld project launching November 19 in conjunction with the television broadcast of the film Harmony.

Airing at 10p.m. ET/PT on NBC, Harmony documents the activists and leaders who are working to transform the world, address the global environmental crisis and find ways toward a more sustainable, spiritual and harmonious relationship with the planet.

Watch the trailer below and be sure to visit TckTckTck.org or click the widget above to take part!

3rd Anniversary of the Live Earth 07.07.07 Concerts!

Andy Sternberg — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:37:36 +0000

On this date three years ago, we launched an ongoing campaign toward solving the most critical environmental issues of our time along with dozens of partner organizations, hundreds of millions of citizens across 7 continents, and you.

Live Earth 07.07.07: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, featured 24 hours of live music staged concerts in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Hamburg - as well as special broadcast events in Antarctica, Kyoto and Washington, DC - and featured feature more than 150 of the world's best music acts - a mix of both legendary music acts like The Police, Genesis, Bon Jovi and Madonna with the latest headliners like Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson.

You answered the call on 07.07.07 and in fulfilling that pledge and carrying the momentum from that day forward, together continue taking action toward making the world a better and healthier place.

Before you watch the Live Earth concert videos below, make sure you're on our email list as well as the organizations that have been part of this movement since day one, including: the Alliance for Climate Protection, Avaaz, Repower America, 1sky, 350.org, WWF, and The Climate Group.

We remember July 7, 2007 as if it were yesterday. Were you lucky enough to attend a concert in person or did you watch on TV or the web? Please share your memories of Live Earth 07.07.07 in the comments below!

The Disaster Known as Obama's Oil Spill Response

Geoff Livingston — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:15:19 +0000

With his boot firmly placed on BP's $20 billion neck, we've not heard much from President Obama or the federal government about the oil spill. Perhaps contented with their villain, the White House lets Thad Allen run the show while U.S. media interest in the oil spill statistically wanes. Yet, the situation continues to worsen for the economically stricken Gulf states.

One of the most interesting changes in my opinion resulting from last weeks citizengulf trip was my view of the Obama response. I left contented, I returned utterly dismayed.

The Obama Administration has its hands around fouling up processes to make life difficult for locals, while not engaging enough to make difference. The list can be staggering: First Amendment violations, not forcing clean-ups from BP, a failure to streamline claims processes, continued ethical violations, a local government's decision to allow children to swim in tar infested waters, lack of transparency about water toxin levels, etc.

What the Obama administration has successfully done is position culpability. It has failed to help suffering American citizens, from fishermen to yes, gas station owners throughout the Gulf. The Obama Administration clearly does not have its hands around the oil spill disaster.

Whether it's declaring a federal disaster to assume the powers necessary or changing internal "rules," the Obama Administration needs to step up its response. We don't want a PR response, we want results. Stop blaming BP, start helping people.

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.

Green-Roofed Home Melts into Spanish Coastline

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:03:10 +0000

Green architecture is always a refreshing site. But this stunning green home featured at inhabitat.com is nothing short of inspirational.

Nestled along the Cantabric Coast of Spain, the Urrezkoenea House, makes light of the stormy and steep landscape. Architect Peña Ganchegui's design takes an unusual approach to maximize daylight while lowering the home’s exposure to the elements. The unique turns and green roof of the home also creates an organic tension with the heavy concrete walls. Cantabric Coast home, green roof home, natural daylight, home built in hill, Spain green roof, Peña Ganchegu The architect describes the home as being at the end of a road, which then turns into a pedestrian path cresting the roof of the home. The inside is well lit, taking advantage of the high northern facing celestial windows. This home was made for walking through, like a Richard Serra sculpture where each step reveals a previously hidden vista. As the home melts into the landscape the green roof serves to provide high insulation and controls storm water runoff.

Check out the photo gallery at inhabitat.com.

Have you noticed any green rooftops in your neighborhood?

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Victims Need Our Help Now

Geoff Livingston — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:02:37 +0000

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog. Today he reports from the Citizen Effect Gulf Oil Spill fact-finding mission.

Our Citizen Effect Gulf Mission (full team reports here) meetings with nonprofits over the past few days wrapped up. Beyond the incredible environmental damage dealt to the Gulf of Mexico, it’s apparent that an equally damaging blow has been dealt to the fishing communities of the Gulf. As we have learned from the Louisiana Seafood Marketing and Promotion Board, the Catholic Charities of New Orleans and others, the vast impact on the Louisiana economy and its cultural way of life have been drastically underestimated by the Obama Administration and BP as reported by the media.

Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Marketing and Promotion Board estimates the problem to be a $100-$200 billion economic calamity (see above video). But because of the ongoing PR and legal culpability that’s being fought between the Obama Administration and BP, Gulf states are floundering.

A national disaster has taken place, but we see no FEMA, no disaster relief, no long-term aid. Ships that can remove 85% of the oil are turned away by the EPA, and foreign help is turned away, too, again thanks to federal regulation.

Instead, a $20 billion pledge from BP is supposed to cover it. Culpable, yes. Capable of addressing the widespread calamity resulting from the oil spill? No. The Gulf may be irreparably harmed by not only the oil spill, but by our reaction to it; namely, the Obama Administration’s failure to declare the oil spill a national disaster, and the general U.S. societal turning our backs on this issue and expecting BP to pay for it.

My fellow Citizen Effect Gulf Mission goer and leader Dan Morrison painted an interesting view of it: “The more I learn on the trip, the more it becomes clear that BP can’t and won’t solve this economic disaster. The economic and social problems facing fishing communities due to the oil disaster are local problems that need local solutions. Put it another way: there is no one large top down solution and program that can address this problem). While it is hard for the country to see the impact of the oil spill on fishing families (they are not covered in oil like birds), the stories about how a families livelihood and way of life are endangered are real and tangible.”

The Unfathomable Depth of the Issue

BP’s Vessels of Opportunity program has 2100 vessels signed up, but only 500 working. These guys are not working, and their deckhands are not working. Tony Martinez, owner of the Breton Sound Marina (above) corroborated this. On our trip east yesterday, we heard similar reports from the son of a Vietnamese Fisherman in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Those are the commercial fishermen. Consider the unlicensed ones who harvest fish on a cash basis, the deckhands for these people, as well as those commercial fishermen who may not report all of their income.

These folks cannot get money from BP or the Obama Administration because they don’t have IRS reports. In essence, because they haven’t played by the system, they will be crushed by it. They are out of luck, and at the mercy of nonprofits serving the region like Catholic Charities of New Orleans, Second Harvest and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

The losses will be just staggering for the fishing community. But it extends beyond Gulf seafood. Restaurants and tourism are hurt in all affected states. There’s also Louisiana’s other big industry: Oil. Regardless of the politics behind the moratorium, you are talking 100,000 jobs dedicated to the Louisiana oil industry. Consider job losses of 150,000 people in a region already hit by Katrina and in a recession.

FriendsoftheFisherman.org was a fund started by the Lousiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board to help the commercially licensed fishing families affected. It has four corporate partners Entergy, Rouser’s, The New Orleans Hornets, Abita beer have started it. The Board’s goal is to raise $100 million in total money. Further the Board’s LouisianaSeafoodNews.com shows real stories of fisherman.

But what about the non-commercial licensed fisherman and the deckhands? In addition to the on-the-ground fantastic work of the Catholic Charities and their partners HorizonRelief.org has been set up by Kevin Voissin, eighth generation oyster fisherman. He is taking oil and selling it in vials. Yet Voissin’s work will not be enough to resolve the long-term crisis facing the fishing culture in the Gulf.

A Way of Life Crushed?

As discussed in my Plight of the Fishing Family post earlier this week, this reaches far beyond money. We are talking about the possible destruction and ending of a culture.

Gulf fishing communities in the United States have gone back generation upon generation. It’s been the subject of movies (Forest Gump comes to mind) and has even inspired unique fashion and phrases like “down on the bayou.”

The cultural impact of taking away a profession for more than year — let’s be frank here, the overall devastation on the fishing industry will go well beyond 2010 — cannot be underestimated. While the environmental damage the wetlands has been sustaining over time may have accomplished the same result in 30 or 40 years, the sudden end via the Deep Horizon disaster breaks your heart.

Kerry (pictured above and see his story here), a sixth generation fisherman said it best to me: “My father always told me this business was a dying one. But no one imagined it would happen like this.”

What is the answer? Just as we know gulf fishing may have ended, most fishing families aren’t ready to give up yet. Getting them to suddenly become educated or get new vocations — in an ongoing long-term recession — will take more than recognition of the issue. It will take a nationally supported, yet locally driven, community wide solution.

From the Gulf: Learning to See the Invisible

Jill Foster — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:00:00 +0000

By Jill Foster, member of the Citizen Effect Gulf Mission this week.

I traveled to the Grand Isle for the first time this week, expecting to see a community of locals. The goal, along with fellow Washington, DC bloggers on CitizenEffect's Gulf Mission blogging trip, was to meet and learn from fishing families about the oil disaster - hoping to find ways to help out. Despite beaches being inaccessible due to disaster response, I assumed neighborhoods and eateries would still be active hubs for local folks we could talk to.

But it was all quiet.

Those visions I had of neighborly conversations on porches or in the popular diner or beachfront restaurants were nowhere.

Other things became apparent there though and elsewhere in the state, making me uneasy for the environment here:

Grand Isle beaches are roadways now traveled by huge humvees transporting supplies and staff to cleanup sites. As logical as this scenario may be for response efforts, it brought home this point: containing oil in the Gulf has consequence to not only water life but species from shore environs too;
As for the Grand Isle's perceived emptiness, that's the telling factor: according to many I've met, that area is a big family vacation spot. The fact the cleanup effort restricts access creates an inevitable drain on the local economy;
teams of local deckhands and fishermen are now working on oil containment in the inner marshes. Our CitizenEffect bloggers and myself enjoyed meeting many of them in St. Bernard's parish. They showed fantastic pride in their efforts, managing vast amounts of orange booms hoping intensely to protect the inner marshes and surrounding marina. Yet a few entered into side conversations on how vulnerable they see the inner marsh area. They know if efforts don't succeed, their life as fishing families will evaporate.

What I've come to consider is how much the unseen maintains heavy impact here -- shore life unseen by beach based rescue vehicles; unseen local populations that normally fuel local summer economies; and Deep Horizon oil absent from inner marshes (but angst of its arrival pervades generational fishing communities).

So far from blogging experience this week, invisible and evident factors both stimulate concern and dread on what comes next.

Photo Grand Isle Humvee by Geoff Livingston, Creative Commons.

Get Involved in the Gulf Coast Benefit Concerts on July 1!

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:53:28 +0000

This Thursday, July 1st, artists, musicians and activists worldwide will unite to benefit those directly impacted by the Gulf Coast Oil Spill. Proceeds from all participating venues will be donated to The Gulf Restoration Network, a nonprofit committed to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the natural resources of the Gulf Region for future generations.

Click here to watch video from the events.

The organizers have created an ambitious goal: Gather music venues around the country to donate ticket sales on July 1st and create an online giving platform that encourages donations to the relief efforts. The fundraising goal is set to $500,000, which will be directed to the Gulf Restoration Network, a nonprofit providing assistance to the people, wildlife and wetlands affected as well as advocacy work throughout the Gulf Coast.

Artists include: Rebelution / Galactic / Kaki King / Mickey Avalon / Ben Lee / Guitar Shorty / Iglu & Hartly / Ivan Neville / Cisco & Shwayze / Walter Wolfman Washington / Sarah Borges / Coco Robicheaux / Beardo / Wicker / Lost Bayou Ramblers / Rotary Downs / Daryl Hannah / Dave Faustino / Ed Begley, Jr.

The organizers of the event include: Nic Adler, owner of The Roxy on the Sunset Strip; Megan Jacobs of The Roxy, Casey Phillips, talent buyer for venues including Tipitina’s in New Orleans and Viper Room & The Mint in Los Angeles, and Sloane Berrent, founder of Answer With Action and creator of The Causemopolitan.

Revenues from ticket sales will be donated to help the fishermen and their families along the Gulf Coast cope with this disaster in addition to wildlife and wetlands restoration for the Gulf Coast. Over 25 venues have been confirmed and more are being added every day. Artists performing include national as well as local acts across the US.

"We know through music and the generosity of people that we can help make a difference in the Gulf Coast." Adler says. "We hope this inspires others to make a donation, attend an event and get involved."

The wetlands and wildlife are in desperate need of our attention as oil continues gushing from the Gulf of Mexico more than two months after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Let's come together to shine a light on those most affected and raise funds toward recovery!

Find a July 1 benefit near you at http://www.meetup.com/Gulf-Coast-Benefit-For-Fisherman-and-Wildlife.

Follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Visit this Live Earth video page for the latest photos, video, and more from the events

Let's make a difference now!

The Plight of the Louisiana Fishing Family

Geoff Livingston — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:52:21 +0000

The Citizen Effect Gulf Mission team sat down yesterday with Natalie A. Jayroe, president and CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans (serving 23 south Louisiana parishes). Our ongoing goal remains finding an actionable way for Americans to take positive mindful ways to act in the wake of the Deep Horizon disaster.

Jayroe told us her view of how the fishing families of Louisiana have been affected by the oil spill. The following post is based from that conversation.

An area the size of Great Britain was devastated with Katrina. The entire region had to rebuild, and nonprofits and community realigned themselves to rethink New Orleans. Five years after Katrina they are seeing another devastating disaster, and, it's been very tough on many fishing families. in once case, a fisher committed suicide.

There is nothing finite right now on how to handle the post oil spill economy. One step forward has yet to be determined. There are 49,000 Louisianans that have fishing licenses, and in all 150,000 people are affected immediately. The oil drilling moratorium has put another 40,000 people out of work.

The secondary and tertiary circles of job loss have yet to be felt in the Gulf. The ripple effect could be huge. The local economy is tourism and oil, so both of the big economic drivers of the state have been challenged.

Fishing is an up and down business. The fishing families of Louisiana are traditional and self sufficient, and do not gladly take government benefits. Fishing families take advantage of federal benefits at a rate 10-20% lower than the rest of the state. They don't accept help readily. They don't like case work. They just want to go back to work.

Five or six generations of fishing families live by the tides. When this is taken away from them, there is little chance to take on a new career.

Their next job opportunity is often oil rigs. So they are less likely to take swipes at BP, it's a huge part of their economy.

The fishing families think about how they are going to get through this today and tomorrow. Most of them are still trying to keep the oil off the shores. They liken it to fighting a war, and hope they will be able to shrimp next year. If there's a way to survive they will do it. They are about subsistence and survival, and they will what they have to live with the land.

To create that next generation of sustenance income would require the community to take on a lot of education work. You would need to do a lot of front line activity with the community to evolve. They would need to band together. Given the fiercely independent culture of the fishing families here, it's a dubious outcome...

The environmental impact from the oil spill will likely be felt for decades, stifling the marine life and fishing industry. The BP Deep Horizon oil spill may have permanently devastated this fishing culture.

Long Term Impact for Second Harvest

Second Harvest knows this issue will continue a long time after the oil spill is capped. It could take years. The organization estimates that more than 47,500 fishing homes may eventually require food assistance as a result of the Gulf oil spill.

Because it's not a national disaster declared by the President, federal food commodities (via disaster SNAP) can't be given out.Fact Check: Louisiana Department of Social Services. If Obama declares the oil spill a National Disaster, BP would no longer be liable. The bailout fund is not necessarily going to benefit the Gulf directly. That means disaster resources are not making it to the Louisiana parishes today.

The organization has already provided 200,000 meals through disaster relief sites in the impacted areas since May 1. The demand is making a direct impact on Second Harvest's stores before hurricane season, stretching their resources. BP has paid the organization $350,000 to replace these resources.

Second Harvest Food bank became the largest foodbank in history following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The foodbank distributed 8 million pounds of food in September 2005 alone.

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.

Thousands Join Hands Across the Sand in Support of Clean Energy

Andy Sternberg — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:19:50 +0000

Clean energy advocates and activists joined hands at hundreds of events on Saturday, in a display of unity against off-shore oil drilling and hopefulness for a clean energy future. Hands Across the Sand is a movement that is "not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry."

Check out more videos and photos from the June 26th Hands Across the Sand events!

7 Amazing Solar Powered Vehicles

Live Earth — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:34:28 +0000

Credit: Global Green Challenge

The sun is shining. Hot weather makes gas expand. Gas emissions contribute to global warming. Dontcha wish there was a better way, like cars that ran on solar power? There is, although they're experimental and in the development and gee-whiz stages. Who knows if solar cars will ever take off (maybe solar hybrids?). In the meantime, put on your sunglasses and check out these contenders.

Click here to read the full story at Treehugger.

Photos of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill from a Seaplane

kk — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Kris Krug is a photographer, geek & activist based in Vancouver. Follow him on Twitter @kk.

“From the air I could see 3000-5000 feet of black smoke… and what seemed like one fire was actually dozens of fires… recently heard a story of a captain who was rescuing sea turtles and realized that they were getting caught in the skimming nets that were being lit on fire.. the captain ended up checking up on the nets too much that BP let him go from his contract… the reality is that all kinds of wildlife are getting caught in the nets… and no one is getting them out before the burns.”

Photographer Kris Krüg, audio interview with Arjun Singh

For over 60 days straight the Deepwater Horizon oil well has been leaking thousands of gallons of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The tremendous amount of damaging has been stacking up the facts to register this event as a full on catastrophe for the Gulf and its coastal communities. No one has been spared when it comes to the effects of this leak. From wildlife habitats being destroyed, to fisherfolk being out of work for their fishing season, to dead marine life washing up on the beaches, there is something blatantly obvious about this situation: the Deepwater Horizon oil spill must be stopped.

All of this cataclysmic emotion and frustration has fueled the organizing of TEDxOilSpill, an event taking place in Washington, DC on June 28th. This event will host a lineup of speakers who have emotional connection to the situation in the Gulf, including scientists, researchers, policymakers and photographers. The TED-inspired event will focus on the topics of energy policy reform, Gulf of Mexico marine life research and media collected from the TEDxOilSpill Expedition team. The Expedition team consisted of writer Darron Collins, photo editor Danielle Sipple and photographers Kris Krüg, Duncan Davidson and Pinar Ozger.

Bearing witness to the situation that is unfolding in the Gulf really puts into perspective the lack of comprehensive news coverage coming out of the area, with media blackouts, misinformation and coverups. Traveling along the Gulf coast lining Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the team spoke to cleanup relief workers, displaced fisherfolk and local residents. Taking to the skies, they flew over the Southern Louisiana marshlands directly to the Deepwater Horizon oil well itself, otherwise known as ‘the Source’. Witnessing from an aerial perspective the oiled beaches, oil burns on the water surface, and a litter of tiny boats making very little progress against this immense spill was very disheartening. In fact news has just surfaced of an out of work fisherman in Alabama who committed suicide over the lack of effort in cleaning up the oil spill.

Dozens of small islands in the Barataria Bay marshlands are the homes and nesting areas to wonderful species of seabirds. Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans and even Roseate Spoonbills can be seen all on the same shore, with nests side by side. Unfortunately these small islands and these seabirds are getting hit very heavily by crude oil washing up on the shores and sometimes covering the seabirds’ feet, feathers and even their entire body. These islands are extremely remote which means getting to them can be very difficult in the cleanup attempts. Viewed from a boat ride led by an out of work fisherman, the islands were filled with dirty, forgotten boom and their beaches were absent from any sign of cleanup workers.

Taking to the skies one last time was one of the best ways to grasp the true size of the oil spill. This flight proved to be an eye-opening journey into the depths of the actual size of this oil spill. Flying from the Source directly to the coastal area of eastern Alabama, the team discovered the shocking fact: the flow of oil from the Source was a constant slick all the way to the shore of Alabama. Slow and steady, a mixture of dispersant and crude oil was yards from beach lines that had people sunbathing in beach chairs. The most shocking realization was that everyone had bits and pieces of information, but really no one had any idea where it was going, when it was going to hit and who was safe.

The expedition may be over but the emotional situation in the Gulf worsens as each day goes on. Cleanup crews work 24 hours a day in the coastal area while failed solutions are tried repeatedly at the Source. The size of the oil spill, the devastation of the constant leak and the cultural destruction of communities is overwhelming and saddening. The ironic scientific reality is that innocent marine life are being poisoned by their deceased ancestors in our glorified greedy actions. The only hope is that this is a wake up call for the greater situation at hand which is our dependency on fossil fuels. This hope comes at the price of so much loss. This is not okay.

Here are photos by Kris Krüg from the last seaplane journey to the coast of Alabama:

A boat involved in the cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico approaches a large patch of some extremely concentrated crude oil.

Just a few hundred yards off shore in Gulf Shores, Alabama, boats skim oil from the surface as the giant oil slick quickly approaches the tourist-filled beach.

Large patches of dark crude oil gather along the water’s edge in I DONT KNOW WHERE.

In parts of the Gulf of Mexico the crude oil collects together and appears dark red. This gives the appearance of blood which is not ironically lost on the fact that oil leak is more of a gash in the earth’s surface.

A lone boat wades through the blue water of the Gulf of Mexico. A small pathway can be seen where the boat has passed, pushing the oil to either side.

One of the ways BP controlled the media coverage of the oil spill was booking up virtually every available seaplane hour in the Gulf coast area. Luckily, our seaplane captain Dickie was fed up with how BP was trying to control the airways. A lucky situation arose which gave this rogue pilot complete flight clearance, even to the ‘Source’. Dickie and his seaplane was a rare find for the Gulf Coast during this time.

Despite the fact that this is an underwater spill at 5,000 feet, crude oil is collecting at the water’s surface. The oil that is seen on the surface is a mere percentage of what lies beneath, at thousands and thousands of feet.

Some boom protects the open waterways of Louisiana marshlands; out of work fishing boats attempt to skim oil from the water’s surface; the oil slick is so much bigger than we can imagine or even see.

This is one of the relief well drilling stations in the Gulf of Mexico. These relief wells have been hailed as the solution to relieve pressure from the weakened and continuously leaking Deepwater Horizon well. Unfortunately completion for this project is slated for August, months after the initial leak.

Oddly resembling a scene from the game Battleship, this is actually the Gulf of Mexico right at the source of the oil leak. Each massive ship, aiding in the relief or cleanup effort, looks tiny against the massive oily backdrop.

The best defense for the oil is literally to scoop it out of the sand and water. This large blob of oil lands upon the shores in Alabama which results in the need for the industrial size machinery.

Iridescent oil streaks the beautiful aqua blue Gulf of Mexico. Once the crude oil mixes with the dispersant and starts to travel, streaks can appear like this.

The beautiful marshlands of Southern Louisiana are being threatened and/or systematically destroyed by the Deepwater Horizon leak. Once oil hits the shores of the marshlands and coats the marsh grasses, there is really no hope of survival for the greenery.

When the dispersant works against the crude oil leaking in the Gulf of Mexico, it essentially works the same as dishwasher detergent would work against grease. This unfortunately makes the surface water appear discolored and soapy looking.

Whitecap waves in the Gulf of Mexico at this time can be an unfortunate occurrence. These waves can carry very strong currants which can be one of the greatest downfalls of this ever-expanding oil spill.

Boats that are currently working in the Gulf of Mexico can come back into harbor, after a day of sailing through the crude oil, looking absolutely horrific.

Two boats race towards each other in one of the dark waterways of the Southern Louisiana marshlands.

A perfect day coasting in a fast boat along the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico are becoming ones of the distant past. The effects of this oil spill will be felt for years to come.

The first line of defense against the encroaching oil slick is surface protective boom that act as a barrier. Unfortunately the boom when unattended or left to the whims of weather changes can be highly ineffective.

There are so many working parts of the cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico that it can seem disjunct yet potentially effective. Unfortunately the size of this oil spill makes is fairly difficult to see how effective any of these efforts are doing.

The darker colors within the oil designate the areas of the thickest crude oil.

An aerial flyover view of Gulf Shore, Alabama shows the lively community and culture that is being directly affected by this oil disaster.

Black garbage bags line this white sand beach in Alabama. The only question on everyone’s minds is: WHAT IS IN THE BLACK GARBAGE BAGS?

Catching the seaplane wing in this view of the Deepwater Horizon oil well really puts the grand size of the whole operation into perspective.

This picture perfect image of a jet setting boat gliding through clear water, upon closer inspection, is a cleanup boat heading out to the oil spill ‘Source’ along a seemingly untouched stretch of Gulf water.

The beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama is lined up with beach chairs in anticipation of tourists’ arrival to the sandy shores. Yet the reality is that two boats are skimming oil off the top surface of the ocean just a few hundred yards out from the shoreline.

Breathtaking marshlands and their unprotected waterways are in danger of being infected with the fast moving oil slick. Two boats travel through the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and leave streaks through the iridescent oil settling on the surface.

The site of the oil leak creates a massive dark cloud of oil that looms darkly over the entire cleanup operation.

A large boat, carries accommodation units for workers’ working in the Gulf of Mexico, travels through murky waters.

A small look into the seaplane that flew over the Expedition Team over the Gulf of Mexico.

This ominous view is the very unsettling reality of the Gulf Coast situation. A long boat works tirelessly against the growing oil spill as small blobs of oil move quickly and steadily to the endangered marshland shores. The reality is that no one or nothing along the Gulf Coast is truly safe.

There is no two ways about this situation. There is a massive oil leak in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, it has not been stopped and communities, cultures, wildlife and natural habitats are dying. The company that is in control of this leak is controlling information, spreading misinformation and continuing to endanger workers and wildlife on a daily basis.

The saddest part of this whole situation is that the OIL IS STILL LEAKING.

Please join one of the 115 TEDxOilSpill Meetups that are happening on June 28th.

Educate yourselves with some more information below:

Help Support the TEDxOilSpill Expedition Team

TEDxOilSpill event

Static Photography heads down to the Gulf with TEDxOilSpill Expedition

TEDxOilSpill Expedition Team Takes to the Skies

Louisiana Wildlife is Threatened as Oil Washes upon Coastal Shores

PBS Article: An expedition to the Gulf by Darron Collins

BP Sends PR Professionals to Gulf to Pretend to Be Journalists

Horrifying Video of Kids playing on oil-covered Destin Beach, Florida

Flashpoints: Pacifica Radio Station interview with Kris Krüg (starts at 32:38)

BP Press Release Theatre: Flying Higher

BP Press Release Theatre: Ballet at Sea

Free Prosecute BP Sticker

TEDxOilSpill Expedition photos by Kris Krüg

TEDxOilSpill photos by Duncan Davidson

TEDxOilSpill photos by Pinar Ozger

Photos from Barataria Bay: Oil Threatens Wildlife on Louisiana Coast

kk — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:59:15 +0000

Kris Krug is a photographer, geek & activist based in Vancouver. Follow him on Twitter @kk.

This past week the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team spent time in the Southern states that line the Gulf of the Mexico documenting the disaster that is slowly unfolding in Gulf waters. Exactly two months ago the Deepwater Horizon oil well owned by British Petroleum sprung a terrible leak thousands of miles under the water's surface. The oil well has been leaking an estimated 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf on a daily basis, with little to no stopping it . This catastrophe has effected so many areas of the Gulf Coast, not just touching upon the beaches and devastating the fisherfolk communities but also displacing hundreds of birds from their homes. Overall the amount of damage is infuriating.

A collective call to action and response has emerged from this unsettling situation into the formation of the TEDx Oil Spill event that is happening in Washington, DC on June 28th. The TED-inspired event will feature speakers from the NOLA areas, scientists who have studied in the Gulf of Mexico, policy makers about energy reforms on a government level and photos from the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition. Photographers Kris Krüg, Duncan Davidson and Pinar Ozger, alongside the documentary words from Darron Collins, will curate the images for the event from this past week.

One of the most heart wrenching communities that are affected by this disaster are the native wildlife to the Gulf Coast. Marine life, bird species, fish and mammals are all being caught in the effects of the oil spill, either by having their habitats destroyed or literally getting covered in crude oil. Either way the effects are monstrous and fatal in most areas. The wildlife are innocent bystanders and yet seem to be taking some of the biggest hits when it comes to the devastation. Bird and wildlife rehab centers have been setup through the Gulf to attend to the hundreds of birds that require serious oil cleaning.

The Expedition team had the chance to head out into the Southern Louisiana marshlands with a local fisherman as a guide around some of the most inhabited bird islands. These photos depict the horror that is being committed in this area: stunning landscapes and overpopulated habitats are being destroyed by crude oil being washed ashore. The truly sad thing is that most of the wildlife has nowhere to go as many have young that have just hatched.

Many of the boats that are helping with various aspects of the cleanup effort often come back into the harbors and bays with massive amounts of oil coverage. The unfathomable amount of oil that is being spilled into the Gulf is often unseen as the majority is at deep sea levels yet it is very easy to see the crude oil smeared across the sides, boats and topside of the boats coming back in from the Gulf. Everywhere is being affected by this catastrophe.

Here are some of the photos by Kris Krüg of the journey to Bird Island:

Dozens of laughing gulls take to the blue skies over a small island in the marshlands of southern Louisiana.

This beautiful bird is a brown pelican and was just released off the endangered species list just over six months ago. These birds are one a few species that is feeling the effects of the oil spill the most.

A beautiful underside view of a laughing gull in full flight.

Often times these surface floatation devices called booms are the first line of defense against the travelling oil spill. Most coastal areas through the Gulf of Mexico are lined with them.

From a distance it is surely hard to distinguish rocks from the hundreds of birds that cover the shores of this Southern Louisiana island. Many of these birds have nowhere to go and end up hanging out on the oiled banks.

The oil spill that has come from the leak in the Deepwater Horizon oil well is primarily a deepwater leak. This means that the mass majority of the crude oil that is spilling into the Gulf is spilling out waters miles below the surface. What oil that is seen on the surface is merely a fraction of the damage.

A large boat awaits departure into the Gulf of Mexico in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

In the early morning light a lone brown pelican flies just under a brewing storm cloud in Louisiana.

Two large brown pelicans fly against a blue sky backdrop.

While in Grand Isle, half of the TEDx Oil Expedition team was able to head out into the marshland waters with the assistant of Captain Joseph. The other half of the team, fiercekitty and Darron Collins stayed on the mainland.

What appears to be oil pirates capitalizing on the oil spill are actually cleanup workers attempting to vacuum the crude oil out of the water. This technique is not very successful but Kevin Costner just released new machines that are much better at this task.

Boom that is used as a defense against the migrating oil is only effective when it stays in the water. Unfortunately the boom is fairly lightweight and is susceptible to movement by weather conditions.

Many local Gulf residents are frustrated by the mere fact that the oil spill has singlehandedly destroyed the main livelihood of the fisherfolk communities. The oil spill had the disastrous misfortune of happening at the beginning of the fishing season.

Brown pelican babies congregate on this small island in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Many of these birds are very young which proves to be an extremely vulnerable stage of life as their survival rate is being compromised by the destruction of their habitat.

The early morning brings in an early storm to the shoreline of Grand Isle in Louisiana.

Many of the fisherfolk have been unable to fish for this year's season due to the contaminated Gulf waters. In lieu of their normal liveliood, many fisherfolk have been hired for the cleanup response instead.

The aftermath of a boat that has ventured into the Gulf of Mexico. In many coastal harbors it is commonplace to see such boats as this oil-caked one.

A single laughing gull travels through the stormy skies of Grand Isle, Louisiana.

A rogue pirate flag flies high on this supplies barge.

More boom, a protesting poster and an island that is shaped like a seahorse.

These boats in the past were used for shrimping but have been put out of commission due to the oil spill. For the past two months they have been scooping up surface oil instead.

A brown pelican attempts a landing in a sea of oil-soaked marsh grasslands.

Two brown pelicans fly side by side in the blue sky. These relatively small pelicans can have wingspans up to 8 feet.

A brown pelican swims low to the oily waters in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Many different groups and organizations are taking part in the Gulf cleanup effort. Here a US Coast Guard boat makes it way out into the waters.

A sign just off the shores of the marshlands states a warning to watch out for petroleum popeline crossing. It is unbelivable how much of the Gulf of Mexico is being drilled for oil.

More protest signs and severely oiled boats line the waterways in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

When effective the boom in the water acts as a sponge for the crude oil that reaches the top surface. Once the boom is heavy with oil, it is replaced.

Despite the environmental destruction that is going on around them, young pelican parents come back to their island habitat to feed their very young offspring.

Real estate and housing prices in coastal cities have sky rocketed in the past two months due to the oil spill. Thousands of cleanup workers are working just in the coastal areas, for sometimes weeks on end, and they all need housing accommodations. Some have resorted to having housing on the waters like this barge unite.

An oil covered buoy gets stuck in the boom.

The back end of this boat, which normally was white, was soaked by the crude oil from the Gulf. There are some parts of the oil spill that coat the water in this dark brown color.

Such beauty in such a devastatingly dark place. A streak of hot pink flies through the air as a brightly colored Roseate Spoonbill glides in through the sky, high above the oiled island below.

The most heartbreaking realization about this whole situation is that the oil is still leaking into the beautifully diverse and rich Gulf of Mexico. The facts and images are terribly overwhelming and can leave one feeling truly helpless. The effects of this catastrophic event will be felt for years to come.

For more information:

Help Support the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition Team

TEDx Oil Spill event

Static Photography heads down to the Gulf with TEDx Oil Spill Expedition

TEDx Oil Spill Expedition Team Takes to the Skies

TEDx Oil Spill Expedition photos by Kris Krüg

TEDx Oil Spill photos by Duncan Davidson

TEDx Oil Spill photos by Pinar Ozger

Aerial Photos Document Oil Spill's Impact on Marshlands and Wildlife

kk — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:54:05 +0000

Kris Krug is a photographer, geek & activist based in Vancouver. Follow him on Twitter @kk.

The last few days have been a non-stop journey through the coastal area of New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana Marshlands for the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team. The team of photographers, videographer and writer have been exploring the land and the sky in order to understand the story of the Oil Crisis here in the Gulf. A couple thousands photos and multiple blog posts later, the team is gathering media coverage from a witnessing POV for the June 28th TEDx Oil Spill event in Washington, DC.

In the first couple of days of the expedition, the team divided their time through Mississippi and Alabama, following the expanding oil spill coverage and documenting the communities of the Gulf Coast states that have been affected. The last few days have had a heavy focus on Louisiana, especially with the team paying close attention to the southern marshlands. Unlike the rest of the Gulf Coast beaches, these marshlands have been hit fast and hard from the unending oil spill, with devastation to the natural wildlife being particularly horrific.

On Thursday the team split ways: half of the team headed to a activist rally at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge while the other half of them headed into the air for a three hour journey to the 'source' of the oil spill , the Deepwater Horizon oil well. Photographers Kris Krüg, Duncan Davidson and Pinar Ozger spent the next three hours capturing some of the closest and low altitude footage of the source of the oil spill, the oil rigs, the wildlife and the marshlands in the Gulf. Booking the Gulf seaplane was not an easy feat for the team but the journey with their rogue pilot produced amazing images, even if it started some air traffic control ruckus.

There is a mixture of happiness in the quality of images that have been captured by the entire experience is tinged with the monstrous realization of the whole scenario in the Gulf: this is a Disaster in the largest magnitude. Just the facts alone tally up to an insurmountable well of emotions: whole communities' livelihoods are being destroyed, environmentally the oil is eroding landscapes that are never to return, various populations of wildlife are being stranded, alive and dead, but the worse fact of all is that the oil leak has not stopped. The effects since the explosion on April 20th are merely effects of a continuous oil leak while the actual longterm devastation is impossible to even imagine.

Each of the people involved in the expedition have been swimming in emotions all the while trying to stay on top of the Gulf story as it is happening. Often times local residents in the Gulf Coastal cities, especially the more remote ones, are so eager to tell their stories with emotional distress so that the rest of the world can hear their cry. Economically workers involved in the cleanup response are found to stray away from contact with the team or any source of media, or in more rare occasions, will connect with information only in complete anonymity.

The devastation of this oil disaster has many levels of atrocity, environmental, economical and emotional. All of the national news coverage of this event has created a massive emotional sympathetic response to the Gulf Coast yet the dreadful reality is that the Gulf of Mexico is does not have that luxury of sympathy. It is dying alongside its culture, communities and residents.

With a heavy heart the TEDX Oil Spill Expedition has a few more days down in the Gulf of Mexico. Armed with their cameras and words, they will continue to bear witness to the struggle, the destruction and the devastation of the Gulf Oil Disaster.

Here are some more photos taken by Kris Krüg on the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition:

The Deepwater Horizon oil well is locally known as just the 'source'. Each of these large boats is in various areas of oil cleanup, like oil collection and gas burning.

A sign at the Gulf Restoration Network states a very obvious and simple way to respond to the global crisis of our dependency on oil.

Each of the states provides its own area oil relief and clean-up crews. Most of the jobs are locally held, with a few areas resorting to outsourcing the jobs from the North.

There has been much debate to what is actually in these trash bags. The up-to-date information is that these bags contain absorbant shredded material that is being used to cleanup up the oil excess.

Photographers Pinar Ozger and Duncan Davidson get ready to board the seaplane down to the Southern Louisiana marshlands.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to numerous species of birds that are being displaced, stranded or killed because of the oil disaster. Luckily these footprints on the early morning beach lay proof of healthy bird activity.

The Discoverer Enterprise is one of the processing ships surround the Deepwater Horizon oil well. The Enterprise is trying to process a percentage of the crude oil that is captured at the source of the leak. A few days ago oil processing came to a halt on the Enterprise after the ship caught fire from being struck by lightning.

The Southern marshlands of Louisiana have been some of the hardest hit areas of the oil spill. This particular natural environment has gravely devastated by multiple tragedies and is unfortunately disappearing at a rate that is unrepairable.

A large boat carrying protective boom travels through the deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico.

Many local residents of the Gulf Coast are particularly fed up with frustration at the unresolved oil disaster. Some residents have taken to making signs and art that vocalizes their frustrations and unanswered questions.

Many local airports are refusing to fly media over areas of the Gulf that are affected by the oil disaster. Luckily the Expedition team scheduled a flight with a pilot that was welcoming to the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team.

Areas that are affected by the oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon well are often discolored and iridescent. The color of the oil ranges from deep orange, brown, dark blue and even blood red.

Much of the Louisiana marshlands are made up of clusters of islands. Since the April 20th start of the oil leak, these islands have been completely isolated by protective boom to prevent surface oil from washing upon the shores.

Crude oil floats to the surface of the Gulf of the Mexico.

The city of New Orleans is desperately trying to stay within high spirits, despite the lack of tourism and downfall of their local economy.

The exterior beaches of this small Southern Gulf island are drenched in dark, black crude oil. Often times there are too many small islands for the limited amount of cleanup workers to attend to.

This grid map located in the offices of the Gulf Restoration Network is a cohesive collection of all of the oil wells located in the Gulf of Mexico. When contextualized in this format, the numbers can be staggering.

The campaign directors and communications managers of the Gulf Restoration Network in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This oil production platform was one of many seen on the plane ride out to the source.

The empty piers and beaches in Alabama are covered with signs that advise to stay out of the water due to the harmful chemicals used in oil spill cleanup.

A large wave of crude oil spreads rapidly through the Gulf of Mexico.

The TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team covered over 300 miles in their journey on the seaplane.

A lone ship navigates through the devastated surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The rainbow discoloration of the water is resulting effect of the chemicals that are being used in the oil spill cleanup.

For weeks workers have been laying two different kinds of protective boom around Gulf Coast shores in order to prevent any oil from washing upon shore. Unfortunately the boom is susceptible to displacement from extreme weather like thunderstorms and heavy winds.

Oil collections are burned on the surface; Darron Collins, WWF writer, answers interview questions about wildlife cleanup; Southern Louisiana marshlands are tinged with oiled beaches.

A casualty that has formed by weeks upon weeks of the leaking Deepwater Horizon is a the formation of excessive plumes of underwater gas. This gas is burned by large ships at the location of oil spill.

Fisherfolk, who were out of work due to the oil spill, were often hired as skimmer boats. Collectively two boats would drag boom across the surface of the Gulf, collect oil and then set the crude oil on fire.

Photographers Duncan Davidson and Pinar Ozger enjoy a moment in their seaplane flight.

The smaller white absorbant booms look completely blackened by the onslaught of crude oil collecting at the water's surface.

The beauty of the disappearing marshlands is more than a loss of an environment. It is a loss of a staple in Louisiana culture.

Just on the outskirts of the Deepwater Horizon source, a large dark cloud of oil collects on the water's surface.

The Louisiana marshlands have been a main source for scouting oil lines and transporting oil industry related machinery. While nature has carved out organic pathways in the marshlands, all of the straight pathways were manmade by the oil industry.

The Gulf of Mexico has the familiar look of soapy water. This is an effect of the chemicals that are being used in the cleanup effort.

A large flock of Laughing Gulls stand next to heavily oiled marsh grasslands. These marshlands are the nesting grounds to hundreds of birds.

Various types of boats are scattered all over the Gulf of Mexico to help with all areas of the oil spill cleanup effort.

This entire oil beach is covered with Brown Pelicans. With such horrific timing the Brown Pelican was released off of the endangered species list just 6 months ago.

Despite economic downfall the city of New Orleans has a city heritage that is deep rooted in its musical culture. The lively streets of the city are filled with musicians playing in clubs and on the street corner. The future of street musicians is in serious jeopardy by new city laws that extend noise curfews in certain areas.

The architecture of the city of New Orleans is unlike any of the rest of the nation.

It is relatively unknown to the public how pervasive the oil industry and its growth have taken over the Gulf of Mexico. Each of these black dots is a an individual oil rig.

Photographer Duncan Davidson shoots some stills from the open window of the seaplane.

Another lone boat makes its way through oil-laden ocean waters.

The lack thereof in direct response to the deepwater collection of crude oil is unsettling and overwhelming.

The Deepwater Horizon well has been leaking for exactly 6o days straight. Every attempt to relieve the leak or even completely seal it have failed miserably. In the end, the integrity of the well is falling which further complicates any future attempts of completely stopping the leak.

Ending on a somber but happy note: this is the Bourbon Street Brass Band whose ten plus members are working street musicians. This was their last night playing music without a legislated curfew on the corner of Bourbon and Canal Streets. Despite the emotional state of the city, these musicians carried their spirit strong and proud.

The TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team has a few more days left in the Gulf of Mexico. Please check back for more photos and witness information around the developing understanding of the Gulf Oil Disaster.

For more information:

Help Support the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition Team

TEDx Oil Spill event

Static Photography heads down to the Gulf with TEDx Oil Spill Expedition

TEDx Oil Spill Expedition photos by Kris Krüg

TEDx Oil Spill photos by Duncan Davidson

TEDx Oil Spill photos by Pinar Ozger

The Ultimate Free Agent: @BPGlobalPR

Geoff Livingston — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:47:25 +0000

BP's onslaught of ads claiming responsibility continue to drown our media pipes. Their online use of social media -- adamant broadcasted messaging on conversational media forms -- infuriates online citizens. But one person - Leroy "@BPGlobaPR" Stick - continues to lampoon BP's efforts, turning the despicable into the ridiculous.

Cleaning up oil spills is expensive. Buying judges so we can keep drilling? Relatively cheap. http://ow.ly/21W3bless than a minute ago via webBP Public Relations
BPGlobalPR

In Beth Kanter and Allison Fine's new book The Networked Nonprofit, they talk about the concept of Free Agents, individuals who crash into the walls of traditional nonprofits using social media tools. These agents force change by breaking control paradigms and having conversations with people, building their own movements.

As Leroy Stick demonstrates, the Free Agent concept goes beyond the nonprofit world and extends to the larger social media ethos. His @BPGlobalPR effort represents the ultimate free agent. An argument can be made that Stick has done and continues to do more to hold BP (and frankly the Obama administration) to accountability online than any other organization or entity.

In his one major public discussion of his actions (Leroy Stick is an anonymous handle), Stick explains his motives: "I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer were bullshit PR statements. No solutions, no urgency, no sincerity, no nothing. That’s why I decided to relate to the public for them."

Communications pundits have chased their own tails in circles analyzing the impact of Stick's efforts. One thing remains certain. BP can't tweet its way into good graces.

As I mentioned in my interview with NPR on the topic, when you have a two-way channel like Facebook or Twitter, you're expected to have a conversation. You have to embrace everyone, positive AND negative. When people feel ignored, their anger just grows. And that's exactly what BP continues to do -- broadcast and not talk. Most of us stopped listening a long time ago.

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.

TEDx OilSpill Expedition Documents Effects of Gulf Coast Oil Spill on Communities

kk — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:55:34 +0000

Kris Krug is a photographer, geek & activist based in Vancouver. Follow him on Twitter @kk.

The recent Oil Spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has been on everyone's mind and media outlets for the past month. Between horrifying photos, misleading information and many failed attempts at stopping the gushing oil well, a growing national frustration has mounted into a direct collective responsibility that something has to be done.

A group of environmentally passionate geeks gathered together to organize a TEDx Oil Spill that is scheduled to happen in Washington, DC on June 28th. This TED inspired event will bring together the powerful voices that have responded in a call to action over the various facets that amounted to our current oil crisis, including our dependency to fossil fuels, our irresponsibility to our environment and the unregulated parade that is environmental policy.

As a precursor to the June 28th event, an TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team of photographers, writers and videographers has been sent to the Gulf to capture footage and media. The team consists of Static Photography photographer Kris Krüg, TED photographer Duncan Davidson, videographer Pinar Ozger and WWF writer Darron Collins.

The team is scheduled to be covering the coastal areas for a full week, witnessing and documenting the local response to the oil spill, the effect it has on the local coastal communities and the general hold that BP has on the Gulf itself since April 20th. The team has been on the ground for just two and half days yet has covered over 600 miles of the coastal Gulf between Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The next few days on the Gulf will prove to be trying and crucial for the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team. They are scheduled to take to the air and to the deep waters covering remote areas of the Louisiana marsh. One of the tested areas that the team will be visiting is the original location of the Deepwater Horizon oil well, known to the Gulf coastal communities as merely 'the Source'.

The Expedition team is carrying the responsibility of bearing witness to the effects that the size of this disaster has caused while reporting back a responsive catalog of media that includes comprehensive footage of what is sensationally neglected by various controlled news filters.

Here is the first collection of photos from photographer Kris Krüg from his journey on the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition:

A motivational quote in a bait n' tackle shop on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

The entire gulf coast is peppered with oil rigs surprisingly very close to the shoreline. Here two oil rigs sit side by side just off the coast of Alabama.

Many wildlife, including various types of seabirds, have felt horrific effects from the Gulf oil disaster. A team of EPA workers checks on some various seabirds, including the recently removed from the endangered species list Brown Pelican on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Large fisherfolk communities have been displaced from their livelihood of fishing as an effect of the oil spill. Pictured here are various boats, having been docked for weeks in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The initial first line of defense for the coastlines is excessive miles of protective boom that acts as a superficial means of stopping the approaching crude oil. Every body of water in the Gulf area has boom laid within it.

The TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team holds an evening meeting to discuss the day's findings as well as the upcoming schedule for the next few days.

A most distressing apparent fact is that many of the seabirds photographed are not actually diving into the water, with good reason. Here a flock of Brown Pelicans catch some rest on some rocks in Alabama.

An environmental cleanup boat is docked in Alabama, awaiting departure; massive storm clouds torment the crisis ridden Gulf; a very brave Brown Pelican attempts a dive along side an oil rig.

Whatever oil touches it stains a deep rust color. In the areas where massive collections of crude oil are not present, the effects of the oil saturation in the Gulf of Mexico can plainly be witnessed.

A 3-State Fisherfolk Press Rally gathered in Biloxi, Mississippi and was largely organized by the displaced Vietnamese fisherfolk communities. Youth leaders and activists created signs with major concerns that need to be addressed by the communities that are being affected.

Local celebrity Billy the Exterminator came out and supported the 3-State Fisherfolk Press Rally in Biloxi, Mississippi. Billy, alongside his Louisiana based exterminator company Vex Con, has a reality television show on A&E called the Billy the Exterminator.

Brown Pelicans perch upon random signs and posts throughout harbors and bays in the Gulf; a sky view of a New Orleans bridge.

An American Pollution Control boat carries what appears to be hundreds of feet of boom in a small harbor in Biloxi, Mississippi. Often faulty the boom is the first line of defense for targeted coastlines.

Road signs in Alabama. In just over two days the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team covered over 600 miles of the Gulf coast.

Boats in Mississippi supervise boom laying; photographer Duncan Davidson carries the tools of the trade; beaches in Alabama are stained with the effects of the oil spill.

A biblical quote offers some religious solutions to the crisis stricken communities in the Gulf states.

The normally white sands of Perdido Beach in Alabama were stained with the rust of oil ridden waters. Each wave that broke upon the shore brought more oil and tar balls.

Photographer Duncan Davidson takes a moment to cool off in the sweltering southern heat; a crew member from the Vex Con exterminator company; a crowd gathered for the 3-State Fisherfolk Press Rally in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Many unused, docked fishing boats are lining the harbors of Gulf coastal towns. Very large areas of the Gulf have been deemed unsafe for fishing and drastically cut into the economic livelihood of many families.

Beautiful blue Gulf coastal waters are outlines by red lines of boom. Just off the coast of Alabama a large collection of crude oil is waiting to hit the shores. Whenever a portion breaks off and travels the 3-5 miles to shore, beach cleanup crews are ready and waiting.

One of the many oil rigs that sits in the Gulf of Mexico; a Brown Pelican soars high above the waters; rescue boats organize boom in Mississippi.

Local media interviewed participants of the 3-State Fisherfolk Press Rally in Biloxi, Mississippi.

This devastating and ominous sign hung along the wooden walkway at Perdido Beach in Alabama. Not only is the gulf being contaminated by thousands of gallons of crude oil, but the already compromised environment is being furthered polluted by harmful chemicals as as a means for cleanup. Unfortunately the toxicity of the oil mixed its cleanup chemicals is worsening the state of the Gulf of Mexico.

The TEDx Oil Spill Expedition has just begun so please check back here for more photos from Kris Krüg as he continues to document what is going on with the oil disaster in the Gulf. For more information from the entire TEDx Oil Spill Expedition team, please check the official TEDx Oil Spill Expedition website.

For more information:

Help Support the TEDx Oil Spill Expedition Team

TEDx Oil Spill event

Static Photography heads down to the Gulf with TEDx Oil Spill Expedition

TEDx Oil Spill Expedition photos by Kris Krüg

TEDx Oil Spill photos by Duncan Davidson

TEDx Oil Spill photos by Pinar Ozger

Nike Uses Recycled Bottles to Make World Cup Jerseys

Andy Sternberg — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:47:12 +0000

Nine of the 32 national teams in the World Cup are wearing state-of-the-art, lightweight jerseys made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles on the pitch.

The United States, Brazil, Australia, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Serbia, and South Korea national teams are oufitted in these green threads produced by Nike. While clothing companies such as Patagonia have been using recycled plastic bottles for years, Nike took an innovative direction in green fashion, melting the plastic down to yarn to create the fabric that makes up the kits.

Transforming bottles into fabric is called downcycling: turning something difficult to make (in this case, impermeable hard plastic) into something easy to make (breathable fabric).

The process saves raw materials and reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent compared to manufacturing virgin polyester.

About 13 million bottles were diverted from landfills to make the uniforms.

Fashionable, environmentally friendly, AND up to 13 percent lighter than the previous Nike kits.

How BP Swept Dispersants Under the Rug

Geoff Livingston — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:47:44 +0000

The PR battle has continues between Obama and BP. With the climax occurring today between BP top brass and Obama at the White House, another major danger continues to spread in the Gulf, BP's widespread use of Corexit toxic dispersants. More than 1,000,000 gallons has been deployed by BP in an effort to break up surface and underwater oil.

Corexit is deadly (image by boxhai). It is toxic and it has even been banned from use in BP's home country, the United Kingdom. Both state and local officials have asked BP to stop using it (versions Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A), and for a small period environmentalists complained.

BP evaded responding, issuing brief statements and ducking the issue.Since then the drama about compensation and culpability has drowned out the pressure on BPs Corexit usage. BP is content to let is stay under the rug, and the company continues refusing to listen to its U.S. regulators.

Whether the reasons are simply same old incompetent irresponsibility or a cover up by BP doesn't matter. The toxic impact on the marine environment cannot be underestimated. The Gulf is getting destroyed by two types of toxins, the crude oil from Deep Horizon and BP's Corexit dispersants.

Until pressure is brought to bear on BP, we can count on the company letting the toxic chemical versions of Corexit stay under the rug. Don't let the government BP media war distract you from the true dangers the oil spill presents: Reckless destruction of our marine environment and livelihood.

Special thanks to Leigh Durst and Jimmy Gardner for suggesting this topic.

P.S. Citizen Effect's Dan Morrison and My Yu will join me on a mission to the Gulf on June 27 - July 1 to help affected fishermen. Details are here.

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.

Watch the FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert Live TODAY at 6pm GMT / 2pm ET / 11am PT

Andy Sternberg — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:59:47 +0000

For football (soccer) fans around the world, the FIFA World Cup - which takes place every four years - is the most anticipated event of all. This year, for the first time ever, the World Cup is taking place on the African continent, in cities across South Africa.

To celebrate the rich culture of Africa, the tournament is kicking off with a monumental celebration concert -- the first-ever FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert -- on Thursday June 10. The concert, will be broadcast live around the world from Orlando Stadium in Soweto/Johannesburg at 8pm local time (6pm GMT / 2pm ET / 11am PT) at worldcup.vevo.com.

WATCH LIVE AT WORLDCUP.VEVO.COM

Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, Shakira and Juanes are among the artists who will perform alongside Hugh Masekela, Mzansi Youth Choir, Soweto Gospel Choir, K'Naan, Angélique Kidjo, BLK JKS, The Parlotones, Tinariwen, Vieux Farka Touré, and Vusi Mahlasela.

Click here to read more about the artists.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to 20 Centres for 2010, the official charity of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

Suffering Through BP's Facebook Ad Campaign

Geoff Livingston — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:27:46 +0000

Much has been made about BP's questionable advertising campaign, from President Obama's call out of the $50 million expenditure to ethical questions and search engine placements. Experiencing this inappropriate overspend on Facebook has been quite troublesome.

The above ad was served to me over Memorial Day weekend on Facebook. It clearly demonstrated that while Facebook is using my posts and links as a means to serve me ads, it doesn't work. The ad features BP, a company I have been blogging negatively about for several weeks, and one of my local friendly competitors John Bell, head of Ogilvy 360 DC. John's a good guy, but that isn't going to sway me to support BP. Thus, Facebook privacy violations or not, the ad tech wasn't smart enough to really work.

My reaction, I clicked the ad to go away. When prompted for my reasons, I clicked on the offensive choice. Fast forward 10 days and I have been served the BP ad or a variant of it almost a dozen times. No matter how many times I click "offensive" or "misleading" the ad keeps coming back.

Facebook's continuing disregard for its members is clear. And it makes me feel zero loyalty to the organization. AOL once thought it was undefeatable, but technologies and the Internet change. We know there's no respect for privacy here, but if Facebook's ad tech can't even respect a user's request, when a better, free solution comes movements will happen.

As top, BP. No one believes this company any more. The spin has become too much. From what we were led to believe -- the world's most progressive energy company -- to the factual reality, the world's most irresponsible oil manufacturer; everyone sees a company shooting out hot air.

You can't buy trust, especially once trust has been violated. The only way out of this for BP, again, is to fix the well, clean up the environment, take care of the damaged Gulf economy, and simply report progress using PR and social media sites. Aggressive claims of being moral and right will fall on deaf ears. Yet another communications gaffe for BP.

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.

California May Be First State to Ban Plastic Bags

Live Earth — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:18:58 +0000

California is one step closer to a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags.

Last Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 1998 and will be voted upon this Friday by the full Assembly.

If passed and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, who has shown support for the move, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.

San Francisco made history when it became the first city to officially ban plastic shopping bags in 2007, making it a pioneer of the outlawing of common to-go plastic products.

Read more at Earth911.com. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com