Susan Shaw's Lecture on the Oil Spill

The lecture given by Susan Shaw brought up many new facts that I wouldn't have known about. She spoke about the fact that priorities are being mixed up, the clean-up efforts are becoming counter-productive and that the environment will be the one who has to pay the price.

Shaw mentioned that the government and BP were making an enormous effort to protect the marshes, and close to nothing to protect the ocean. They wanted to protect mankind from the effect of the oil in the Gulf, are leaving the animals to die in the water. She explained that even with the effort to protect mankind from the oil, that numerous accounts of men on the cleanup ships passing out because of the volatile fumes coming up from the oil slick on the surface.

Another point that Susan Shaw brought up was that the clean-up efforts were becoming counter-productive. Corexit 9500, the chemical they are using to breakdown the oil, is even more toxic than oil, and we are approaching the 2 Million gallon mark with it. Even if we clean up the oil, it is leaving behind the Corexit, which will still kill the wildlife.