Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 24, 2010

Workers try to clean up oil along the beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana, May 21, 2010. | Photo credit: REUTERS/Sean Gardner

Day 33 of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, extremely frustrated about the lack of action from our federal government on the British Petroleum oil spill, has announced that Louisiana will wait no longer for federal help nor permission from Team Obama and will begin building sand barriers to protect the fragile, threatened coastline from further damage.

Much like Arizona waiting for years — nay, DECADES — for the federal government to help resolve the escalating illegal immigration onslaught. Finally, after becoming frustrated and with more drugs and guns coming into the state, more people being killed, or more property being destroyed by illegal aliens, Arizona took its own action. Elected state officials decided to legally craft an illegal immigration law (purposefully written to mirror the existing federal law) that would give local police the authority to question and subsequently arrest those who are in our country illegally when they are involved in or suspected of being involved in other law-breaking activities.

How many days did it take for Team Obama to jump in and help Haiti, in full photo-op/press-spotlight-mode, after its earthquake? It sure as heck wasn’t 33 days… and how is Team Obama faring on the devastation from floods in Tennessee and other states? Reminder: it took 12 days for Obama to visit the Gulf following the rig’s explosion.

Good for you, Gov. Jindal. Louisiana should not have to take the lead in what is a historic oil spill catastrophe that occurred more than 50 miles away from his state, and is a primary federal government responsibility of national protection. I commend you for following the rules, but finally saying, “Enough is enough.” Save your receipts, sir… although I doubt Obama will jump on reimbursing Louisiana promptly since he hasn’t yet given LA the permission to do it.

From NECN, Jindal tired of waiting for approval, to build sand booms:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said the state will not wait for federal approval to begin building sand barriers to protect the coastline from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Oil has pushed at least 12 miles into Louisiana’s marshes, with two major pelican rookeries awash in crude.

Gov. Jindal was critical of the amount of boom his state received to ward off the oil seeping toward the coastline. But his major gripe comes at the expense of the Army Corps of Engineers, who have yet to give the go-ahead for the building of sand booms to protect the Louisiana wetlands. He used photographic evidence of oil breaking through hard booms, soft booms and another layer of protection, before being finally being corralled by a sand boom built by the National Guard.

“It is so much better for us. We don’t want oil on one inch of Louisiana’s coastline, but we’d much rather fight this oil off of a hard coast, off of an island, off of an island, off of a sandy beach on our coastal islands, rather than having to fight it inside in these wetlands,” Gov. Jindal said, making the case for sand booms.

The governor said he has been forced to protect Louisiana without the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers, which is weighing the ecological impact of the construction of more sand booms.

“We are not waiting for them. We are going to build it,” Jindal said.

“We can either fight battle — we can fight this oil — on the Barrier Islands 15 to 20 miles off of our coast, or we can face it in thousands of miles of fragmented wetlands,” Gov. Jindal said, clearing favoring the first option. “Every day we’re not given approval on this emergency permit to create more of these sand booms is another day when that choice is made for us, as more and more miles of our shore are hit by oil.”

Michelle Malkin comments…

This is leadership on the front lines, not just on the sidelines. Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal has been working non-stop over the past month to protect his state from the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill — and from the bureaucratic delays in the Obama administration.

[...]

Obama has sent the Justice Department to look at the oil spill. Inquiring minds want to know: Are they going there to uncover things…or cover things up?

From ABC World News, BP Oil Spill: Gov. Jindal Asks for Permission to Build Barrier Islands:

Gov. Bobby Jindal warns BP and the White House to help or get out of his way.

Jindal is still waiting for the federal government to provide millions of feet in boom and to approve an emergency permit for a state plan to dredge and build new barrier islands to keep the oil from reaching the marshes and wetlands.

Jindal is so desperate for the islands, he’s said he’ll build them even if it sends him to jail.

The death toll of wildlife continues to grow…

A dead Northern Gannet covered in oil, Grand Isle Beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana, May 21, 2010. | Photo credit: REUTERS/Sean Gardner

From Reuters, Over 300 dead birds are likely Gulf spill victims:

LOS ANGELES, May 24 (Reuters) – More than 300 sea birds, the bulk of them brown pelicans and northern gannets, have been found dead along the U.S. Gulf Coast during the first five weeks of BP’s huge oil spill off Louisiana, wildlife officials reported on Monday.

The 316 birds found dead along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — plus 10 others that died or were euthanized at wildlife rehabilitation centers after they were captured alive, far outnumber the 31 surviving birds found oiled to date.

The raw tally of birds listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as dead on arrival at wildlife collection facilities include specimens obviously tainted with oil and some with no visible signs of oil contamination.

But all are being counted as potential casualties of the oil gushing since April 20 from a ruptured wellhead on the floor of the Gulf because of their proximity in time and space to the spill, said Jay Holcomb, who directs a rescue center for birds in Fort Jackson, Louisiana.

The specimens eventually will be analyzed to determine more conclusively if the birds were contaminated with oil from the BP spill, he said.

[...]

The birds known to be hardest hit by oil in the Gulf so far are those that feed by diving into the water for fish, including the brown pelican, removed last year from the endangered species list, and the northern gannet, Holcomb said.

But shorebirds, wading birds and songbirds will increasingly be put in harm’s way as more oil washes onto beaches and into marshlands.

Oil impairs the insulating properties of birds’ feathers, exposing them to cold and making it difficult for them to float, swim and fly. Chemicals in the petroleum also can burn their skin and irritate their eyes. They also end up ingesting the oil when they preen, damaging their digestive tracts.

Other wildlife at immediate risk in the Gulf are sea turtles, dolphins and whales.

More than 150 sea turtles were reported washed up dead or dying at last count a week ago and were being examined as possible oil spill victims, though no outward signs of oil contamination were readily apparent, wildlife officials said.

Still, that number is considered higher than normal for the Gulf region at this time of year. Results from the first batch of about 40 turtle necropsies — the animal equivalent of autopsies — were expected soon.

In addition, at least a dozen dead dolphins have been reported as stranded in the spill zone.

Related:
RedState: We’ll Make *You* Pay For What *We* Own That We Have *No* Clue About Solving
Gateway Pundit: Coast Guard Says BP Plugged Oil Leak in Gulf and Jindal Furious: Rips Obama For Dismal Response to Oil Spill Disaster and Obama Holds San Fran Fundraiser with Barbara “Ma’am” Boxer… Tea Party Breaks Out and Dem Congress Jumps Into Action… Will Quadruple Gas Tax After Gulf Oil Spill and Gross. Naked Code Pink Wackjobs Slathered In Crude Oil Protest at BP Headquarters (Video) and Kirsten Powers: Obama Administration’s Response to Gulf Oil Spill “Is Not About Campaign Donations, It’s About Incompetence” (Video) and Thick Blobs of Tar Begin Washing Up on Alabama Shore – Obama Goes Golfing and Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Under Gulf… Obama Shoots Hoops and Breaking: BP Successfully Inserts Mile-Long Pipe to Siphon Oil From the Disastrous Spill and Leaked Report From April 28 Shows US Government Believed Gulf Spill Could Become “Unchecked Gusher” and It Begins… GOP Reps Call for Investigation into Obama Administration’s Slow and Weak Response to BP Gulf Oil Spill and Obama Takes Break From Campaigning… Visits Oil Slick Disaster 12 Days Late
Nice Deb: Psssst…Chrissy – Don’t Give Him Any Ideas…
Frugal Café Blog ‘Zone: The Gulf & Golf: Oil Continues to Gush & Contaminate Louisiana Coastline, Bureaucrat Commission Named in Lieu of Actually Getting Involved, & Obama Golfs… Again (video) and Gulf Oil Spill Enters Louisiana Wetlands… Kevin Costner to the Rescue? (video) and For Now, Success Reported in Gulf: Efforts to Siphon Oil with Mile-Long Tube Doing the Job, Volunteers Cleaning Birds Covered in Oil (video) and How Does White Water Rafting at the Grand Canyon Help Control Gulf Oil Spill Disaster? Interior Chief Tom Strickland Says Vacation Was “Work-Focused” and Rush Limbaugh on “Obama’s Katrina”: Timeline of Obama Not Taking Swift Action to Contain the Gulf Oil Spill and Big Oil $$ Bonanza: Obama Raked in Millions from BP Over Last 2 Decades, LA Sen. Landrieu Also Rec’d BP Money, Investigation into Obama’s Slow Response to Oil Crisis and You Knew This Would Happen: Libs Blame GW Bush for Gulf Oil Spill Disaster, Obama Blameless & Praised (audio-video)
Another Black Conservative: Obama is the biggest recipient of BP cash in 20 years
Diary of a Mad Conservative: Here it comes again – another EMERGENCY! But what about the oil spill?
Doug Powers, Michelle Malkin: Obama’s Tireless Efforts On the Basketball Court and Golf Course Cause BP to Successfully Insert New Pipe to Siphon Oil to Surface
Patterico’s Pontifications: Obama Golfs as Oil Gushes
The Powers That Be: Obama’s Tireless Efforts On the Basketball Court and Golf Course Cause BP to Successfully Insert New Pipe to Siphon Oil to Surface and Obama’s Teleprompter Expected to Tell Him to Get Pissed Today
Michelle Malkin: No wonder finger-pointing Obama wants oil spill finger-pointing to stop
Amused Cynic: Congress is holding hearings on the wrong gusher…
Politico: Obama biggest recipient of BP cash
GayPatriot: Our Big Oil President
Brian Sussman, American Thinker: Taking Advantage of an Oil Crisis
Legal Insurrection: “Limited Federal Government = No Government” (or something like that)
New York Times: U.S. Missed Chances to Act on Oil Spill

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