Stephen Colbert Gulf of America Fund

The easiest way to help the people affected by the oil spill, is to use other peoples money, (don't I know that?) Stephen Colbert is using Comedy Central's money for that, but he needs our help.

We just need to go to his twitter feed an retweet his tweet that reads:

"in honor of oil-soaked birds, 'tweets' are now 'gurgles. http://bit.ly/cIhZNf"
 
Address the Mess will donate one dollar (up to $50,000 total) to The Colbert Nation Gulf of America Fund to aid recovery efforts in the Gulf after the recent oil spill.

Help Vulnerable Communities Threatened by the Oil Spill

Oxfarm America has put together a Gulf-Coast-Relieve Fund where you can donate some of your money to help.

As they say in their website:

our immediate tax-deductible gift to Oxfam's Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response Fund will allow us to rush financial support to the area and advocate on behalf of vulnerable communities affected by the potentially devastating oil spill.
The oil is expected to cause extraordinary damage to Louisiana wetlands and marshes – a vital source of livelihoods and the first lines of defense for coastal communities against damage from hurricanes. We've been working hand-in-hand with low-income communities along the coast since Hurricane Katrina – and with another hurricane season just weeks away, it is vital that vulnerable populations receive support immediately.

Every little bit helps a little more.

Why I don’t think BP should be boycotted

BP messed up big time! Sure did, but if we start boycotting the oil company we are going to make it harder for them (and us) to clean up their mess.

Her is how it work: BP makes certain amount of money, a big percentage of that is profit, sure. But if we strip that profit away from them, they will be struggling with their regular costs of operation, plus the costs of the disaster and paying all the claims.

So I propose we don’t boycott BP. I propose we take this experience of the last several weeks, to understand that we have to stop depending on such a toxic thing like Petroleum. I know this is not easy. There are thousands of things we use daily that come from oil. We cannot just stop using them next week. But we can start making sense of what things we keep throwing away over and over again (plastic cups, one example) with out realizing we are really hurting ourselves doing so.

So no, we should not boycott BP more than we should boycott ourselves. We should hold BP responsible for what they did, but not forget that it is everyone’s problem, and the Oil Spill is not going to cleanup itself, nor will just BP clean it.

BP should pay for it, sure. We should all make sure that happens. Meanwhile, we should all do what is in our hand to help out.

I am making the video Oil Splash (donate here) and started the new blog Help the Gulf. Internet and video that is what I can do, because it’s what I do best! What is it that you do best that can help?

Don’t boycott BP. Really! That will take away the chance of them paying for all the mess they did, and they should!

Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida

If you are around the Pensacola area, or can go there, here is the website and information for the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida

You can watch this video at the Pensacola News Journal website where the director of the Wildlife Sanctuary offers some warnings about attempting to rescue oil-covered wildlife. So if you really want to help rescuing wildlife in the area, it's best to do it with them. They have information on volunteering and a thought out Rescue Plans on their site.

Volunteer to help in the Gulf Coast

The best way to volunteer to help out in Gulf Coast is by registering or calling one of the websites the Gulf of Mexico States have set up.

Please note that local volunteers will probably have priority, so make sure you have a clear goal and skill that you can bring into the coast if you are from other states.

• Volunteer Louisiana - http://www.volunteerlouisiana.gov/ 800.755.5175
• Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service - http://www.mcvs.org
• Volunteer Florida - http://www.volunteerflorida.org/ 
• 211 Connects Alabama - http://211connectsalabama.org 866.869.4921

Have you had any experience with any of this organizations. Let us know.

Save Wildlife in the Gulf

The most affected by all this will be the wild life. They really don't even have the ability to claim anything from BP, the ones responsible for the spill.

Give them a hand with a few bucks. Check out the video bellow or visit The National Wildlife Federation's website

Oil Splash - an Anti BP Art Short Video

The idea that inspired this blog is Oil Splash, an art video that portrays the general feeling of frustration with the disaster, through highly designed close-ups of people being splashed with oil.

Help us raise funds by visiting and sharing our IndieGoGo Site