OH NO! OIL SPILL IN THE BAY!

Heylo! This is Norma and Kary. Have you heard about the oil spill in the bay? We did, and now we feel sad and frustrated. 58,000 gallons of goopy oil is floating around in the bay, all because of a single accident involving a ship and the Golden Gate Bridge. WHAT A MESS!!!! Not only one life will be affected, but many lives will be affected. Special birds are found covered in oil and unable to clean themselves, pools of oil can be seen on the beach, and we don't even know whats going on under the water! WHAT A DISASTER!!! Something similar to this happened a long time ago, did we really need a repeat? We think that more money should be put into the clean up project because it is most definitely important!! The creatures in the bay are suffering just because we want our material goods. Think about it.... this wouldnt have happened if that ship carrying all those products from Korea never came here in the first place. If we hadn't demanded those products, then nothing terrible would have happened! also, if it takes 58,000 gallons to sail a ship from the U.S. to Korea, where does all that burned up oil go to? The air?? thats not good either! Unfortunately, what has happened has happened and all we can do now is try to clean up our gigantic mess. Whattaya think?

-Norma & Kary



Before the Oil Spilled
Personally, I know it was 1) a shock, and 2) terribly heart-wrenching when I heard about the second biggest oil spill in the history of the Bay. 58,000 gallons, a mariner who had years' experience in the Bay and acted like he didn't know what the hell he was doing, and many wildlife and sea animals given a death sentence.... It hurts to know that all this, in our tech-savvy and environment-concious society, can still happen--and it can still happen right at home.

But has anyone considered why the boat that spilled oil all over our beloved waters was in the Bay to begin with? It carried "bunker oil," which is basically the scum that's left over after gas companies (like Shell) filter the "best" part of the oil out and sell it as gasoline to gas-hungry, SUV-driving consumers. The residue? It's put on boats and gets shipped out to who knows where. Not to mention the gas used to power the boat that sails the junk out of here!

People are ready to wash birds with dishwashing liquid to "save" them (though in reality, if the bird has already injested any oil at all, it will die, no matter how clean it is), but who is talking about the causes of the oil spill, and the long-term problems our oil addiction causes? Before the oil spilled, the system of carrying bunker oil out of (and over) the Bay was left unchallenged as part of the bigger system of oil companies.

Before the oil spilled, we were all happily aware that our oil addiction was bad, and happily oblivious to the way we even get our oil at all.
And to me, it seems like we're still happily oblivious to the real issues even after the oil spill, even though we care very much about the birds.

-Anjie Diaz.